QUIKSILVER - QS ROCKIN SKULL SS YTH - MECCA ORANGE

Pretty hard to believe but Quiksilver started out in a garage. Just one of those amazing stories of surfers using creativity to make surfing easier and of course to put off getting a real job and allow them to chase more waves.

It all started in 1968 in a small garage in Torquay, Australia when Alan Green started making wetsuits with Rip Curl and moved on to sheepskin boots for surfers in the cold surrounding waters. He had a $2500 loan from his dad and soon after he began experimenting with designs to create the perfect boardshort – a decent short to surf in — built and designed for surfing. Up until then, surfers had to make do with bulky, heavyweight trunks that led to rashes and limited their performance in the water.
“When we started designing the first Quiksilver boardshorts, we just wanted to make them better than the others. I suppose you could say that was our first mission statement, except that we didn’t know what a mission statement was!”

Green went into business with John Law, another local surfer and by 1975 Quiksilver products were being sold all over Australia. In 1976 Jeff Hakman won Bells and looking for a way to fund his surfing lifestyle negotiated an agreement to sell Quik in the States along with Bob McKnight. In 1983 the brand was distributed in Japan, 1984 Europe, SA and Asia. A listing on the stock market in the US followed. In 1988 the brand made history by signing Tom Carroll, the first surfer on a million dollar contract. By 1995 Quiksilver was turning over $174 million. By 2004 it was a billion dollar company. So 30 years from garage to mega brand.

How about that?!