THE STORY OF QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS IF YOU CAN’T ROCK’N’ROLL DON’T FUCKEN COME
MARK RICHARDS, C.1976
Bob McKight, C.1970
FOUNDED IN 1969, ‘QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS’ CREATED THE WORLD’S FIRST SURFING BOARDSHORTS, ESTABLISHING THE ICONIC SHAPES, GROUND BREAKING ART AND AN AESTHETIC THAT WENT ON TO DEFINE A GENERATION. WITH HAND SCREEN PRINTED CONTEMPORARY ART, TAILORING AND QUALITY FABRICS AT THE HEART OF THE ‘QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS’ ETHOS, THE LABEL INTRODUCED ICONIC NEW CUTS, FROM ‘THE YOKE’ – THE FIRST TAILORED WAISTBAND, TO ‘THE SCALLOP’ HEM, AND ‘THE ARCH’, THAT ALL WENT ONTO BECOME THE BLUEPRINT FOR BOARDSHORTS AND THE SWIMWEAR INDUSTRY THE WORLD OVER.
DANNY KWOCK, NEWPORT BEACH 1980’S.
SIXTIES CULTURE FOR US WAS ALL ABOUT NOT WORKING AND GOING SURFING. SIMON BUTTONSHAW, ARTIST.
BUTTONS, PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF DEVINE
MARK RICHARDS, OFF THE WALL, 1978.
IT WAS GREENY’S WIFE WHO CAME UP WITH THE QUIKSILVER NAME. WE WERE DOING THIS FUSION OF MATERIALS AND NEW PERFORMANCE GARMENTS AND SHAPES, AND IT WAS LIKE A MELTING POT OR SOME CALDRON OF IDEAS, LIKE THIS BOOK SHE WAS READING AT THE TIME. SHE JUST CAME OUT WITH IT AND WE LIKED IT. QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS WAS BORN SIMON BUTTONSHAW, ARTIST.
JEFF HAKMAN
KELLY SLATER, 10 YEARS OLD, NEWPORT BEACH.
IN THE 60S WHEN WE FIRST CREATED QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS, THEY WERE INDIVIDUALLY HANDCRAFTED. ALAN GREEN, FOUNDER.
ALAN GREEN, QUIKSILVER OFFICES, TORQUAY.
IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WE NEEDED THAT DIDN’T EXIST, WE JUST WENT OUT AND FOUND IT AND THAT’S HOW THE SNAPS, DETAILS AND CUTS DEVELOPED. ALAN GREEN, FOUNDER.
WE’D SURF ALL DAY AND AT NIGHT WE’D DRIVE DOWN TO THE PALAIS IN WOOLAGON TO DRINK AND MEET GIRLS, WHICH WOULD GET US INTO FIGHTS WITH THE LOCALS, ROUGH TIMES BUT IT WAS ALL GOOD NATURED.... THATS WHERE THE QUIKSILVER BOARDSHORTS BRAND STATEMENT CAME FROM, A NIGHT AT THE PALAIS DUBBED ‘IF YOU CAN’T ROCK N ROLL DON’T FUCKEN COME!’ IT WAS THE PERFECT SIMON BUTTONSHAW, ARTIST.
1969 Quiksilver introduced the v-shaped yoke to improve the shape and fit of the boardshort around the surfers waist. The iconic v-shaped waistband was created.
MARK RICHARDS, OFF THE WALL, 1976.
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THAT’S HOW WE RAN THINGS BACK THEN, WE DID OUR OWN THING COMPLETELY AGAINST THE GRAIN. SIMON BUTTONSHAW, ARTIST.
NEWPOrT BEACH CREW, 1980’S.
1979 Quiksilver introduced the scalloped hem to compliment the yoke waist by reducing restriction and allow greater movement while surfing. The scallop shape merged style and function into one timeless and iconic short.
JEFF HAKMAN, NORTH SHORE, 1976.
MARK RICHARDS AND CRAIG ANDERSON, NEWCASTLE, 2011
MICHAEL HO, 1970’S.
CRAIG BRAZADA, PRESTON MURRAY, TOM CARROLL AND DANNY KWOCK AT 54TH STREET.
DANNY KWOCK, NEWPORT BEACH, 1980’S
ORIGINAL ‘ECHO BEACH’ AD FEATURING DANNY KWOCK
1981 Quiksilver introduced the arch panel that followed the natural lines of the surfers body at the hip hem. Not only hugely functional, the unique shape and panels would later be used to create and house Quiksilver iconic artwork and colour blocking
THEY HAD TO LOOK GOOD, LOOK FINISHED, EVEN IF YOU TURNED THEM INSIDE OUT, IT’S JUST THE WAY SOCIETY WAS BACK THEN, EVEN THE IDEA OF AN UNLINED, UNSTRUCTURED JACKET WAS UNHEARD OF. ALAN GREEN, FOUNDER.
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