Ed D’Ascoli founded Xcel in 1982, working from the bedroom of his Sunset Beach house. D’Ascoli found no shortage of inspiration from the world-class performances on display at his doorstep; and the opportunity to create and to connect high-performance products with the athletes who demanded them was irresistible. Xcel’s passionate focus on product development would become the defining characteristic of the brand. Developing wetsuits in Hawaii came naturally to D’Ascoli, having grown up surfing New Jersey’s chilly Atlantic coasts. While temperate Hawaii waters rarely call for any more than 2mm neoprene, Sunset Beach and other North Shore breaks are incredibly challenging and demand world-class products for maximum performance. Drawing upon his enthusiasm and experience helping establish Victory Wetsuits (Japan) as an international brand, D’Ascoli quickly laid the foundations of a core wetsuit company that would revolutionize the industry and push the cutting edge of material and design development.