The Significance of Surf Apparel

Every cultural movement has its own distinct uniform, a way to be identified, and the surfing culture is no different. For me, growing up in California in the early sixties, the surfwear started out as a pair of denim Levis. We would cut the legs off (hence the name “cut-offs”), and with loose strands of fabric dangling past our knees, we would throw on a pair of hirachi sandals from Mexico and T-shirts with wide horizontal stripes. It was definitely low budget and, more importantly, functional. As the sport and lifestyle caught on, surfers attained a recognizable “look,” thanks to the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean album covers, among other things. From that, a market was created that soon started to swell.

Hobie was the first to dive in, which makes sense, since they were the pioneers in surfboards as well. According to surf mythology and folklore, it was the surfboard design team of Gordon and Smith who are credited with “inventing” the surf T-shirt from their Southern California base in 1961. In a short time, other soon to be legendary surfers and board designers were putting their names on not just their boards, but clothing and stickers as well: Bing Copeland, Dewey Weber, Hap Jacobs in Hermosa Beach and Charlie Bunger out of Long Island were among the first, along with the locally venerated Robert August. To their collective surprise, people outside their circle of friends started buying their products.

As the surfing trend caught on and proved to have longevity, so did the clothing – the “look” – and suddenly it became a money-making enterprise. That’s when the big boys stepped in and took over, with names like Oakley and Hollister in the forefront of this new kind of wave and permanently changing the complexion of surfwear. It is amazing what being a sponsor and having your own self-titled competitions can do for the sales of your product. By the early eighties, corporate America had taken over the surf apparel industry, and it was ugly for awhile, with logos everywhere.

Thankfully, sometime in the early part of the next decade, the roots and soul of surfing recuperated and the grassroots level of surf apparel rebounded. Homespun, independent, real surfers noticed a gap in the fabric, so to speak, a need for authenticity, and they filled that void. Surf apparel companies with names like Gotcha and Pacific Beach Surf Shop steadily gained in popularity. This was partly due to the fact that they were basically unheard of. The Surf Club in Santa Cruz, California thrived in that manner, as well as by limiting the number of items they would sell in any given yearly quarter. Suddenly, limited was good and it made people want their products. At the same time, specialty surf apparel needs were being filled by even more obscure businesses. For example, after having supplied mainstream surf apparel, lululemon switched gears and became attentive to surfers with yoga awareness. Out of Mexico, Dos Olas filled the organic chasm, and the list of unique specialty design goes on…hopefully endlessly. Like the summer.