Nick Dutton is co-founder of Mami Wata, a global culture-shaping African surf lifestyle apparel brand, where he is CEO and Head of Marketing. The brand launched in 2017, with the aim of connecting the world to African surf culture. From a market stand in Cape Town, the brand grew to stores in Cape Town, a store on Abbot Kinney Blvd in LA, and operations in South Africa, the UK and USA.
Mami Wata has collaborated with brands including Moncler, Vans, The Elder Statesman, Tracksmith and Billabong. It is sold in 15+ countries at some of the world’s best stores. In 2022 Mami Wata published the acclaimed AFROSURF art book, which reshaped the global narrative on the surf origin story (it was first documented in Africa in 1658) and has sold 20,000 copies. In 2023 the brand was a winner of a Nelson Mandela Change Maker award for its work supporting African youth surf therapy. In 2024 the brand published its second coffee table book, AFRO SPORT, which tells the history and forecasts the future of the continent through the lens of sport and design.
Prior to MamiWata, Nick’s career in advertising includes executive roles at some of the world’s leading creative advertising agencies, where he worked on some of the world’s most effective and creative brands including Snickers, Jaguar and Volvo.
