Alan Green and John Law began making boardshorts in Torquay, Victoria, in 1969 because the shorts available at the time were not built for what surfing actually does to fabric. Long sessions, salt water, wax and sun — ordinary swimwear stretched, chafed and lost shape. Their answer was a longer cut, a quick-drying shell and a zip pocket that could hold a key.
That is not a marketing story so much as an engineering one. The details that define a modern boardshort — the waistband construction, the inseam length, the placement of the zip, the way the fabric moves when you paddle — were refined by people who were in the water every day. Nearly every design decision on the current line traces back to that original brief.
The brand reached the United States in 1976 and eventually settled its American base in Huntington Beach, California. The mountain-and-wave mark — a quarter circle of rock, a curl of swell beneath it — became one of the few graphics in surf culture that reads instantly without a word of type next to it.
Today the range runs well past the beach: snow outerwear and insulation for winter travel, fleece and tees for daily wear, footwear and accessories. That breadth is one of the more useful things about the brand, and also the thing worth examining most closely before you buy.
- 1969Founded in Torquay, Victoria, Australia — boardshorts first.
- 1976Enters the U.S. market; Californian surf retail becomes the core channel.
- 1980sBoardshorts move from equipment to a piece of everyday coastal dress.
- 1990s–2000sSnow programme and mainstream retail distribution expand the range.
- TodayThree lines running in parallel: surf, snow and everyday apparel.