Made by one family, at the far end of the world.
The Suckling family has made canvas goods in New Zealand for more than eighty years. Shade Space is that story — sewn into every sail we send around the world.
Scroll — from the 1940s to today
Chapter one · Where we come from
The Kaipara
Shade Systems founder Derek Suckling has always loved the Kaipara. Born there in 1962, he has spent his life on and around its vast harbour — one of the largest in the world — along with the rugged surf beaches of the West Coast, the clear freshwater of the Kai Iwi Lakes, and kauri forests holding trees that were already ancient when the first Europeans arrived. Drive an hour or two east and Northland changes completely: sheltered bays, white sand and some of the best swimming beaches on the planet.
It is a beautiful, unhurried corner of New Zealand, and for Derek it has always been a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. Friendly people, a varied climate, land you can still afford, and Auckland close enough for when you need a city. He has never seen a reason to leave. If you ever make it this far south, come and find us — we will point you to some of our favourite spots and Northland’s best-kept secrets.
Living here also teaches you a great deal about sun. New Zealand sits under some of the fiercest UV on earth, and a Kiwi summer finds every weakness in a fabric, a seam or a fitting. Everything we make has to survive that first.
Chapter two · The heritage
The head machine
The Suckling family has a long history in canvas and leatherwork. Derek often tells the story of his father, Steve, who led a hardworking team of men at W. P. Windust Ltd, making canvas tents during the 1940s.
Back then, whoever sewed the most products in a day earned the right to use the first sewing machine in the row — the “head machine”. The men raced all day for that position, fitting larger pulleys to their machines and making all sorts of other modifications to gain an advantage.
Steve was even known to drink his cup of tea with one hand while continuing to sew flat out with the other — just to save time and stay in front.
The head machine, W. P. Windust Ltd
That urgency — the drive, the refining, the refusal to come second — has flowed through the generations and is still very much alive in the business today.
Chapter three · The turning point
From canvas tents to shade sails
For more than eighty years, the Suckling family manufactured canvas and leather products under various names. Then, in the early 1990s, as the shade sail we know today was being pioneered “Down Under”, Derek decided to fully embrace the new product. He learned everything he could, travelled to Australia, experimented with every fabric he could get his hands on, and introduced his first shade sails to the New Zealand market in 1995.
The Shade Systems name followed in 1997, marking the start of steady growth through ongoing continual improvement and development — with thousands of shade sails designed, manufactured and installed by our team ever since.
Chapter four · The next generation
Why Shade Space exists
Shade Space was created to make our decades of shade sail experience accessible wherever you are in the world. It brings the same expertise, materials and attention to detail behind Shade Systems into a simple online ordering experience. Every sail is still custom-cut to your measurements by a team that has spent generations designing, making and working with shade sails — and we’re always happy to share that knowledge to help you get it right.
The company is owned and directed today by Derek’s three sons — Luke, Nick and Barney. Each brings the same extraordinary can-do philosophy and get-stuff-done attitude their grandfather Steve showed at the head machine, all those years ago.
Real people, not a chatbot
Not sure? Let’s talk it through before you spend a cent.
Talk directly with the family that makes your sail — honest advice, straight from the loft at the far end of the world.
