It started in 2016 when I first went to Tarifa in Spain where I learned kitesurfing and totally fell in love with this sport. It was also back then that I saw the lack of feminine, colourful and nicely shaped surf ponchos for women on the market and that’s when the idea of poncho-hoodies, which you can wear not only after a watersports session, first kicked in.

After living the kite lifestyle in Tarifa for one year, I had to go back to Warsaw to finish my studies and start a job. I didn’t really know how to go back to ‘normal’ life again, the only thing I knew is that I had to find a job that would allow me to work from anywhere, travel and kite. The answer to that was online marketing – I started a job in a big agency – corporation in Warsaw, worked from an office and lived the big city life for 2.5 years, which I hated. I felt stuck, trapped, unhappy and that I was wasting my life, but at the same time I knew that this would ultimately lead me to a freedom-based life that I desired.

At the exact same time I started working on bringing the surf poncho business idea to life, which soon turned out to be a difficult and overwhelming endeavour as for two years I couldn’t find the fabric I was looking for – which would be 100% cotton, velour from one side and terry cloth from the other, but I knew that I would not give up until I find it, which I ultimately did.

2021 was the year when things finally started flowing – I quit the corpo job, started working remotely on a freelance basis and started Ananice, which allowed me to go back to doing things which I love the most – being free to travel and kite.

Ananice has accompanied me throughout this personal journey and has been a reminder to not give up and always follow the things that bring out the genuine stoke* in you. That’s why our brand mission is to SHARE THE STOKE. Hope it will inspire more of you to chase your stoke.

– Iza

*STOKE – the word often used in surfing/kitesurfing slang to describe the excitement that accompanies practicing of these sports