In the mid-70s, U.S. surfers Jeff Hackman and Bob Buzz McKnight had already caught on. They were quick enough to know that something cool in Australia, the surfing mecca of the 70s, would be even cooler back home in America. On the other side of the globe, Australian surfers Alan Green and John Law had designed a unique board short with Velcro fly, wax pocket, and a special, quick-drying base material. The boys knew something good when they saw it, and they capitalized on the venture. Hackman and McKnight borrowed the concept of the shorts, and they were in business. They started Quiksilver (their creative misspelling, not ours), produced a few shorts, and soon found demand skyrocketing as word of mouth spread. Well, the two boys back home were right, and the new board short sent them to the top. Quiksilver became one of the hottest names in the surfing world during the 80s. The company has remained afloat thanks to their aggressive advertising, and their expansion into girls surf apparel with the offshoot Roxy in 1993.
Timeline:
1969: At the Rip Curl factory in Torquay, Australia, Alan Green starts working on prototypes for a new kind of board short, using aspects of wetsuit technology, such as snaps and Velcro flies.
1970: Quiksilver boardshorts with a swan logo make their first appearance in Australian surf shops. Soon replaced by the first "Mountain and Wave" logo.
1974: U.S. manufacturing (Quiksilver) first exports boardshorts to the Lightning Bolt shop in Hawaii.
1976: Jeff Hackman is granted the Quiksilver license. Jeff Hackman and Bob McNight team up to start Quiksilver USA in Newport Beach. Start selling boardshorts out of the back of a green VW bus.
1978: Quiksilver sponsors its first team riders, Rabbit Bartholomew and Bruce Raymond. Rabbit goes on to win the world title.
1980: Quiksilver introduces "Echo Beach" boardshorts featuring radical print design with polka dots harlequins, stars and checks.