Billabong Clothing For Men & Women

The brand Billabong was born on the beaches of Australia and was very much the style of surfers and a beach lifestyle. Billabong has grown over the years and is now back to it's roots of being a beach born brand foccussing of quality.

In 1973 Gordon and Rena Merchant began producing handmade boardshorts under their flat overlooking his beloved Burleigh. They were tough as teak, able to withstand not only the elements, but also able to absorb the sort of punishment that local juniors Guy Omerod and Rabbit Bartholomew would put those first issued trunks through.

From those humble beginnings, Billabong was born.

Gordon buried himself in his North Burleigh factory for the next few years and Billabong gradually made ground on the more established labels. His no frills, practical approach to boardshort manufacturing paid dividends, as Billabong grew steadily until his little homespun factory literally burst at the seams.
It was out to West Burleigh, a modern factory and warehouse and much more work for Gordon and Rena. Sure a lot of low pressure systems, plus the waves they generated, passed by the coast during those years, but Gordon's Kombi stayed put.
It became obvious to the Australian Surfing Industry that here was a man, driven by the desire to produce the highest quality, best cut boardshort on the market, and by the early 80's Billabong had achieved it's primary objective.

During the 80's Billabong went International, firstly exporting to California, Japan, New Zealand and Europe and then finally licensing, but only after each international licensee had achieved Gordon's benchmark of dedication, honesty and prudent business savvy.