Surfing has been antiestablishment ever since missionaries discovered local Hawaiians riding their longboards in the nude. Today’s global popularity of surf gear is measured in millions of dollars – thanks in no small part to the dudes featured.

RVCA

When they first met on Oahu’s North Shore, Pat “PM” Tenore was 15 and Conan Hayes was 13. By the time they crossed paths again it was 2000 and Pat was designing clothes and Conan was a surfing professional. They pulled their efforts to launched RVCA, a mix of street and higher fashion, board sportswear, and conceptual design. The name pronounced roo-kah came from a late night epiphany by Pat where the V is used a Roman U. Hayes passed on a surfing contract to concentrate on the company full time. Although the brand is often grouped with other surfwear companies, distribution, in a department stores like Barneys and Fred Segal, backs up Tenore’s claim that RVCA so happens to sponsor a surf team and a skate team but their an apparel company first and foremost.

RVCA sets itself apart with its collaborations with contemporary artists like Ed Templeton, graffiti artist Eklips and Neck Face, illustrator Andrew Pommier and most recently Eric Wasson.

QUIKSILVER

Quiksilver’s claim to surfing fame is nothing less the invention of the original board short by two SoCal surfers in the late 60′s. Fast forward to 2009, and the company is raking in more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Signing Kelly Slater, who has won 9 World Championships, surely didn’t hurt Quiksilver’s profile. The company also markets a line of apparel for young girls and women, under the brand Roxy.

The company’s DC and Hawk brands are also synonymous with the heritage and culture of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, and its beach- and water-oriented swimwear brands include Raisins, Radio Fiji and Leilani. The Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange, and LOOK brands are leaders in the alpine ski market, and the Company makes snowboarding equipment under its Rossignol, Dynastar, DC, Roxy, Lib Technologies, Gnu and Bent Metal labels.

Quiksilver also carries a line of high-end apparel and accessories under its QuiksilverEdition brand. In the fall of 2008, Quiksilver introduced its newest brand, Quiksilver Women’s, aimed at the 18 to 24-year-old demographic. Quiksilver also supports the worldwide boardriding community through its self-titled foundation launched in 2005. The Quiksilver Foundation works to provide environmental, educational, health and youth-related projects to worthy boardriding communities around the globe.

VOLCOM

Volcom’s three-sided stone logo represents the triumvirate of board sports – surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding – that dominates the modern action sports. While most of the industry’ brands trace their histories to the coast, Volcom started on a mountaintop and worked its way down. In 1991 founders Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall were on a snowboard trip in Tahoe that inspired an obsession with fresh powder and a commitment to starting a riding community.
The passion found it’s pace, and the company’s philosophy “youth against establishment” struck a chord with the target market. $286 million later, Volcom still holds to their motto that youth against establishment encompasses the attitude of self-expression and being an individual.

VANS

In the spring of 1966, The Van Doren Rubber Company begin it first day of business, the customer came into the Anaheim store which was stocked with empty shoes boxes, were told to come back in the afternoon to pick up their shoes. That gave founder Paul Van Doren and partner Gordy Lee time to run over to their factory and make them. All 12 twelve customers returned and since then, Vans has been one of the most consistently popular brands in the States.
Vans maintain it’s billion-plus revenue in the skate shoe industry. For surfers, it’s a link to the dream of sliding down a curving wall of water in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the world’s premiere big wave series, held on Oahu’s famed North Shore, home of the legendary Banzai Pipeline. The Pipleline will remain just a pipe dream for most, considering the few that have completed the wave, not including musician Jack Johnson that had to receive 150 stitches in his forehead and knocked a few of his teeth out, his career path veered from becoming a professional surfer to becoming a musician.

LOST

Lost, the brand began its life in 1985 looking suspiciously like a graffiti tag. Since then the logo has gone under several surgeries, but the philosophy behind the “black sheep of the surf world” hasn’t changed. Founder, Matt “Mayhem” Biolos calls his company the “cockroach” of the industry”. Pro skate park builder Jack Murphy, designed the ramp outside the current Irvine headquarters after The Lost House was condemned in ’96, where it manages the various arms of its business, including skate gear, surfboards, and surf videos.

BILLABONG

Australian label Billabong was founded in 1973, in Gordon Merchant’s flat overlooking Burleigh. He and his wife made board shorts from fabric they stored under their bed, then hand-carried the results around to local shops. The label came into its town thanks to its association with a young surfer named Mark Occhilupo, popularly know as Occy in Cronulla. Billabong still maintains its worldwide headquarters in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, but the employee roster has grown to more than 1,400 people in 8 countries, including Brazil and Japan.
On it’s 25th Anniversary in 1998, Billabong moved into the new premises at 1 Billabong Place, Burleigh Heads, featuring a state of the art new factory.  One feature of the new complex is the Polynesian style Retail Showroom, which stands proudly at the forefront of the factory, displaying the largest range of Billabong product anywhere in the world.

The finalists for the 2009 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy were announced this week following yet another remarkable year of surf.  Following 12 months of enormous events from Europe to South Africa to Australia to California and beyond, over 550 entered images have been distilled down to this year’s elite nominations for the chance to win $130,000.

HURLEY

Bob Hurley was 23 when he started a successful board shaping company in Costa Mesa, California, in 1979. A few years’ later, he signed a American licensing deal the Australian surf company Billabong, which he built into over a $70 million business. When it came to renew the license, Bob felt it was time to go out on his own and so he did. Hurley International launched overnight to a mainstream label, becoming one of the fastest-growing surf brands of all time.

The founder’s vision, experience, and distribution contacts had much to do with his success, but also the help from pop-punk band blink-182, who wore Hurley T-shirts and caps when performing and on their episode on MTV Diary, is what really helped spark the brand. Four years later, after its launch, Hurley International became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nike Inc.