Premium ad-free surfcams, dawn surf reports, forecaster notes, long range surf forecasts... Get Swellnet PRO for $7.33 per month Premium ad-free surfcams, dawn surf reports, and more... Get Swellnet PRO for $7.33 per month

  •  

    They say that when someone has a near death experience their life flashes before their eyes. And if corporations are people - as the US Supreme Court says they are - then it's only fitting to revisit the forty-something year journey of Quiksilver following this week's Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement.

    We'll leave aside the company's health prognosis to flash upon their marketing output starting from the mid-70s onwards, first in print and then into the ever-expanding electronic mediums: video, DVD, and web clips.

    One thing that can be discerned is that up until recently the surfing aesthetic - best described as the ephemeral assemblage of fashion, insignia, and style - very closely matched the output from Quiksilver, which was testament to the company's hold on surfing culture.

    1970s elementary marketing in full, if understated, effect. Quiksilver boardshorts as worn by Tom Parrish at left, and Dane Kealoha on the right.
  • 1978: 'A sense of style' betrays 70s sensibilities but the colour palette is from a decade yet to come.
  • Chris 'Critta' Byrne and Wayne 'Rabbit' Barthomolemew.
  • Late 70s and the tag line remains polite.
  • It's a quick shift into star bursts and 80s swagger. "If you can't rock'n roll don't fucken come."
  • Hard-core surfing. Rabbit at left, and Peter McCabe top right holding down the adventure angle for Quik.
  • 1984: The logo gets an overhaul, the graphics updated. Richard Cram, Backdoor.
  • The bruddahs...and only one pair of black shorts between them.
  • Late 80s and Quiksilver advocate for a good eduction. Jake Spooner is at left, while Adam and Luke Faunce cop a playground dressing down.
  • 1987: Quik follow up Kong's Island, a 16 minute surprise hit, with Mad Wax. A similarly hammy, and ridiculously popular, branded film.
  • 1987: The Eddie Aikau Invitational gets held at Waimea Bay for the first time and Mark Foo gives the surfing world its most famous dictum.
  • Early 90s. Quiksilver moves into neoprene with Tom Carroll as co-owner, test pilot, and chief promoter.
  • Tom Carroll, off tour and out of a wetsuit plays the jetsetting adventurer.
  • Early 90s and a new campaign - Surfers Of Fortune - featuring Titus Kinimaka and Ken Dann and the art of Simon Buttenshaw.
  • A slew of films followed Mad Wax, some with cinema release and others were purely video, lending themselves to forensic study by eager groms.
  • In 1995 Quik experimented with the first remote contest swapping bums on seats for quality waves and a slick VCR package.
  • Late 90s through the noughties saw the range expand: covermounts, bio-pics, DVDs, web clips.
  • 1999: The Quiksilver Crossing sets sail and the Indies Trader circles the globe under the auspices of the UN and a revolving roster of surfers.
  • Tom Carroll, a regular aboard The Crossing indulging in Mentawai perfection (and boys at sea horseplay judging by the crop).
  • Kelly Slater won his 10th world title in 2010 and The Quiksilver Foundation donated $10,000 to 10 charities chosen by Slater.
  • It's a return to the roots, old logo, familiar graphics, for this ad featuring Dane Reynolds.
  • 2015, True Wetsuits: Pushing the outside of the envelope with this baffling fashion/ function melange.

Comments

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 12:15pm

As the old joke goes - I hear theyre paying $20 for a deposit down at the sperm bank.....

That makes the towel under my bed worth about 3 grand .

That chick in the green bikini certainly inspired a few dollars worth of emissions in my younger days.

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 12:16pm

And that's why I'm not buying your Troopy Blowin.........

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 11:31pm

Ha! Made me laugh Rabs:)

sharkman's picture
sharkman's picture
sharkman Saturday, 12 Sep 2015 at 10:04am

hows the floods treating you?

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Saturday, 12 Sep 2015 at 1:59pm

No worries, an incredible amount of rain but a little further inland copped the brunt of it.

Sea water is filthy brown coinciding with a 15ft+ swell.

sharkman's picture
sharkman's picture
sharkman Saturday, 12 Sep 2015 at 2:24pm

hows Fuckashima bearing up , no radio active surf , did yu get to surf while the swell was around?

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Saturday, 12 Sep 2015 at 2:27pm

Apparently Tepco released a couple of hundred tons of radioactive waste water but in the grand scheme of things a drop in the ocean (an olympic size swimming pool holds about 25,000 tons) and no surfing- stymied by wind and work.

Tomorrow, Monday looking good surf-wise.

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 12:20pm

Some classic pics there!! The one of TC, how ripped is he (his stomach)!! Powerhouse.....

freeride76's picture
freeride76's picture
freeride76 Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 12:51pm

I think I can see MR's nutsack coming out of those boardies.

Halfscousehalfcockneyfullaussie's picture
Halfscousehalfcockneyfullaussie's picture
Halfscousehalfc... Friday, 11 Sep 2015 at 1:43pm

I had a chuckle at that comment blowin....a supreme dad joke that I'll probably recycle

velocityjohnno's picture
velocityjohnno's picture
velocityjohnno Saturday, 12 Sep 2015 at 7:35pm

Wow the green bikini.
Back when the models had 3% more body fat than today; and everyday people had 15% less.

sampro's picture
sampro's picture
sampro Friday, 18 Sep 2015 at 4:42pm

The "Crossing" days were where my consumerism was in full force. As soon as I see those ads it takes me to another world of teenage lust for Indonesia, brands and "freedom".