Cover Story | Ben Kepes
KEEPING IT KIWI Ben Kepes’ quest to return quality, ethical manufacturing to New Zealand By Claire Wright
At first glance, you wouldn’t guess that Ben Kepes, co-founder and director of Cactus Outdoor, was a high school dropout. Son of refugees to New Zealand and expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and study medicine, Ben chose to go against the grain and took on an electrician’s apprenticeship – until he figured out he didn’t like it one bit. From there, it was going along for the ride with friends Gwilym and Rob as they started Cactus in 1992 as a way for Gwilym to earn extra cash for climbing expeditions through selling chalk bags. They ended up getting serious and securing a contract with New Zealand Post, creating bags for posties to help carry the load and combat recurring back pain from the job. They didn’t know it at the time, but 28 years later, Cactus would remain one of the few New Zealand brands that would still be manufacturing in New Zealand, with other companies opting to go overseas to take advantage of cheap labour. Making high quality gear that “wears in, not out” was only the start in the push to get behind New Zealand’s revitalised apparel manufacturing industry.
12 | September/October 2020 www.canterburytoday.co.nz
