Since 1969, Quiksilver has been blazing the trail for an entire culture and the industry that it spawned. We have a shared passion for living in the moment and using that passion to awaken the spirit of adventure that rests in all of us. It’s the spirit that defines eras, discovers waves, invents styles, throws parties, wins World Titles and more. It’s been there since the very beginning and keeps us pushing towards tomorrow. At the core of it all, it has not changed. Generations of Quiksilver celebrates that by sharing the stories that shaped our brand’s past, present and future — because authentic never fades. It’s It’s It’s It’s
not a history lesson. not a message to the misguided youth. not a “back in my day”. about the feeling of now.
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That’s where we started. Right here, in a small garage in Torquay, Australia. We were driven by boards, doctoring up shorts, dedicated to creating something that had never before been seen. A short that was made to surf in — really made to surf in. Something that would work with you in the water and embody all the youth, excitement and creative energy that makes surfing what it is. We needed something original. And so Alan Green and John Law made the first pair of Quiksilver boardshorts right here in 1969. Little did they know what would come of it all.
70’S BOARDSHORTS TIMELINE UPDATE TO FOLLOW GENERATIONS STYLE GUIDE
Suffice to say, the ‘70s were simpler times in terms of boardshorts. Most people had one pair. Most pairs had one color. But no matter how many pairs were kicking around on the market, there could only be one best. As MR puts it, “I got my first pair of Quiksilver boardshorts in 1970 and I remember thinking they were revolutionary. They made surfing in boardshorts a pleasure.” Revolutionary, back then, meant a waistband that fit right and a scallop design to prevent them from getting hung up on your thighs every time you did a turn. In those days, there were plenty of people making boardies but nobody was really getting it right. Until Quik came along — oh, and we lied about that whole one color thing.
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As the old story goes, MR had Alan Green and John Law custom build a pair of red and pink boardshorts. Two colors! “I got to pick my own colors and they would custom make them to my design. I wasn’t sponsored, but I wore them because I loved them. They may look a bit short and tight by today’s standards, but that was the height of fashion back then.” So, there you go. Boardshorts in the ‘70s. They rode high and they fit tight. They were one color... well, sometimes two or three.
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And what, exactly, do you do with something that’s boring and predictable? Grab some bright paint and make it pop! Boardshorts in the ‘80s took a sharp turn from the modest days of the ‘70s. This was largely due to a movement called Echo Beach — a wild few years when Newport Beach turned into an eclectic carnival that changed professional surfing for good. A new style was born, in terms of both surfing and surf fashion. As far as wave riding goes, Echo Beach spawned a new breed of professional surfers. Until then, the only people making money were the ones winning contests. Echo Beach, in all its neon glory, marked the first time people could make a career out of getting photos ran in surf magazines. Thus, the “photo pro” was born.
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In terms of style, Echo Beach ushered in a new era of boardshorts. Nobody had time for predictability — especially not Danny Kwok. He introduced a style of boardshort that defied the very concept of boring. They featured colors bright enough to blind the sun, lengths that avoided the knee like a plague, tight fittings and patterns that were half pop, half art and all in your face. “What was so remarkable about the whole Echo Beach thing was that it grew out of a bunch of young people having fun and being creative about their personal style,” says Danny. “It was colorful and fun, and it was all centered around making people happy. That’s what surfing is all about.”
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Oh, the ‘90s. When neon died and grunge was born. Cool time, right? Maybe not. “It wasn’t about how cool you were,” Hoy says. “Nobody was trying to be anybody or anything like that. It was all about being yourself and owning it.”
“I think they went from being so short you’d be falling out of them in the ‘80s to being so long you’d catch your knees on them and trip over yourself in the ‘90s. It went from too short to too long!”
Sometimes being yourself and owning it meant growing your hair long and getting a tattoo. Sometimes it meant surfing as fast as you could and turning the volume up to 12. Sometimes it meant wearing boardshorts so long you’d forget you had knees. What was that all about?
Too short to too long. Too bright to too dark. Too loud to too subtle. So on to so forth. There was a certain beauty hidden in all the drastic diversity of the ‘90s. And, if any of it proves anything, it’s that sometimes the in-between moments are when everything seems to feel just right.
“I remember boardies kept on getting longer and longer and longer,” Hoy laughs. “And they’d get more and more and more uncomfortable as it went along.”
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Indeed, it was not. Out with the below-the-knee, loud and lucid prints of the ‘90s. In with the more refined aesthetic of the 2000s. It was also time to really focus on technology. And why not? We had, after all, survived Y2K.
Beyond that, most designs were relatively simple. Patterns. Shapes. Stripes. More patterns. There was no time to fuss with creating a generationdefining style. This was a new millennium. This was the era of technology.
Fashion wise, there was a lot of deja vu. Boardshorts had finally been around for long enough to start drawing inspiration from the past. You could look back and move forward at the same time! Take, for example, Slater’s Star Trunks. Design wise, those infamous boardies were only slightly different from a pair that 1978 World Champion Rabbit Bartholomew had been digging decades ago — they were simply reinterpreted with modern materials. New or not, they certainly became a piece of Slater’s stardom.
And so the 2000s spawned some new boardshort fabrics. Stretch became king and Quiksilver came out with Diamond Dobby — a raised inner lining that eliminated rash by exposing you to 30% less fabric. Welcome to the future. Make yourself comfortable — literally.
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GENERATIONS OF BOARDSHORTS
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“I don’t want them to be so long that they bind over my knees. This ain’t the early ‘90s anymore.”
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Boardshorts are no longer just for surfing. They’re for going, doing, eating, drinking, sleeping, living. They’re for anytime, everywhere. And since you’re so busy, you need two things: style and comfort. How exactly do you create those two things, Tom? “We think about the principles of a good boardshort rather than just looking at trends. What are the characteristics that make people love boardshorts? That’s the question we always try to answer with our product. Quiksilver has been making the best boardshorts for a long time and they’ve always been unique. That fires us up to come up with leading technology and designs because you have to stay true to the original vision of Quiksilver boardshorts.” 24
True to the original vision means mixing style and innovation. It means creating generationdefining designs and using materials that are more comfortable than anything you’ve felt before. It means fusing performance with art and art with performance — that’s what this decade is all about. “Everybody is going to keep pushing each other,” says Tom. “There’s going to be a lot more progression with materials and construction. Along with being innovative, we’re focusing on the details and making it all look really good.”
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“A good boardshort is one that you want to put on and not take off until the end of summer.� - Tom Purbrick global head of boardshorts
Quiksilver Highline boardshorts are made to enhance every detail of high-performance surfing. They’re the modern embodiment of 50 years of boldly original concepts and designs.
P E R FO R M A N C E B OA R D S H O RTS
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HIGHLINE TECHTONICS
MIkey Wright
“The best thing about boardies is that you can wear ‘em all day long.” P E R FO R M A N C E B OA R D S H O RT S
Kanoa Igarashi
“There’s nothing like a fresh pair.” boardshorts
HIGHLINE DIVISION LAVA
HIGHLINE NEW WAVE PRO
Zeke Lau
“I push the limits of how cold I get just so I can wear boardshorts.” P E R FO R M A N C E B OA R D S H O RT S
Leo Fioravanti
“Quiksilver boardshorts are comfortable, they’re flexible and they dry fast. What more could you need?” P E R FO R M A N C E B OA R D S H O RT S
HIGHLINE LAVA SLASH
F E AT U R I N G
Quiksilver’s Highlite fabric is driven by comfort. The fine weave construction utilizes semi-perforated channels to enhance fabric breathability and reduce dry time. The lightweight, high-grade stretch fabrics provides seamless coverage for rash-free surfing.
N E W WAV E P R O
“We’ve always had a little rivalry...”
That’s what Mikey Wright had to say about his relationship with Kanoa Igarashi and Leonardo Fioravanti. The three of them are right around the same age — only 15 months separate the eldest, Mikey, from the youngest, Leo. And each of them became a part of the Quiksilver family right around the same time.
MIKEY KANOA LEO
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“The three of us got to travel together when we were so young,” Kanoa adds. “We were experiencing life at the same time and at the same pace. You don’t realize it at the time, but those trips shape you into who you are. It was fun to grow up with them — actually, it’s still fun growing up with them.” “We gave each other a lot of shit, but we were always pushing each other in the water,” says Mikey. Seems to have worked. Right now, Leo and Kanoa are considered two of the world’s best young competitors and Mikey has punted his way to a reputation as a must-watch freesurfers. But the story doesn’t end here.
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“ If there are two sections on a wave, he might skip one and do a giant air on the next. Mikey does whatever he wants.”
“ You can watch Mikey just to see what can be done. He makes it seem possible to do a 10-foot air without breaking your leg.”
- Leo
- Kanoa
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“ K anoa is incredibly talented. He doesn’t make any mistakes.” - Leo
“ Kanoa is really technical, crisp and explosive. It’s sick to watch.” - Mikey
“L eo is really powerful, he’s got great technique, and he charges.” - Mikey
“ L eo is so calculated, especially in competitions. He pushes me a lot and molded me into the surfer I am today.” - Kanoa
“It was the most fun ever,” Leo adds. “I remember sneaking into a water park one night with them when we were like 12 — that’s the type of memory you’ll have forever. And whenever we hang out now, we have just as much fun as we did when we were that young. In the next few years, I’m calling the three of us will all be on Tour together.”
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In 2018, Quiksilver has five surfers on the WSL’s Championship Tour, each representing a different region: Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Jesse Mendes (BRA), Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Connor O’Leary (AUS), and Jeremy Flores (FRA). They are the next generation of Quiksilver surfers to make noise on surfing’s biggest stage.
One Team. One Tour.
You’ll know your favorite boardshorts when you see them. Doesn’t matter if they’re dangling from a rack, resting on a shelf or awaiting your arrival on some distant page of the internet. Because, when you see them, you’ll see more than a sheet of fabric stitched together and dyed just right. You’ll see a plane ticket booked and a passport stamped. You’ll see the best day of the year at your homebreak. You’ll see a barbecue with all your friends on the last day of summer. You’ll see the first colors of the sunrise sweeping across the sky from the channel at a tropical slab. You’ll see sets on the head and time in the barrel. You’ll see all the memories you haven’t yet made. You’ll end up getting them. Then you’ll end up sweating in them. You’ll end up bleeding in them. You’ll end up fading them and tearing them and holding on to them forever. Because, to you, they’ve always been more than just another pair of boardshorts.