Billabong Clothing

Gordon Merchant was the surf doctor and had that unique knack of being able to pick just the right break to suit the conditions. Remember, there was a time before the internet and webcams. On one such safari Gordon was stoked when he stumbled across the surfing utopia they call the Gold Coast. A place where the surf goes off 300 days a year and there is 20 miles to share with all the others on the eternal search.

With the Gold Coast surf industry still in its infancy; Gordon introduced tucked-under edges to surfboard shaping and Rabbit Bartholomew and Michael Petersen suddenly found themselves propelled to the top of the local surf rankings. With a hand in the development of leg ropes, Billabong were about to become a surfers best friend.

From a garage in Burleigh Beach,Queensland, Rena Merchant and Gordon produced their first handmade boardshorts in 1973. Built for double overhead conditions, Billabong board shorts were tough enough for future surf legends Guy Omerod and Rabbit who tested these first prototypes. Billabong Clothing blew with the sea winds across the globe and were the choice of brand for living legends like on the Billabong Surf Team like Mark Occhilupo, Munga Barry, Share Dorian, Taj Burrows, Sunny Garcia and the A list of surfers goes on.

Since those beginnings Billabong Clothes has expanded its product range to include Billabong snowboard outerwear, watches, accessories and skateboard apparel. Billabong clothes are an articulation of youth culture and are best known as a core board sports and lifestyle brand that appeal to people both young and mature, male and female. The Billabong Girls range is also very comprehensive and covers just about every possible clothing item in a fashion range. Highlights from their surf fashion collection always include their Billabong Bikinis.