No company went brighter than Billabong in the mid-to-late 80's with their fluoro range of duds, and no-one wore them better than their poster boy Mark Occhilupo. Brash and flash, Occy always looked the goods whether it be sporting a pair of pink corduroy strides or a matching white tracksuit that wouldn't last one mixed wash with the rest of his ensemble.
Coming next: long hair and wetsuit shorts.
Notes from the wildest surf contest ever staged in Australia.
Generational change, design revolution, and a controversial format all unveiled on the Narrabeen sands.
Formerly an industrial hub with a piggery, an abattoir, sand mining, and a whaling station.
Exactly ten years ago, the Volcom Fiji Pro was cancelled, precipitating a big wave session for the ages.
Riding a logoless Maurice Cole reverse vee in November 1991.
It's been twenty-five years since Jay Moriarity, then an unknown sixteen-year old, paddled out at big Mavs and went down in a blaze of glory. No inflatable vest. No worries.
They call it Pro-tech now!
"If that wave had come off, things could've been different" - Adam Robertson on being cruelled by Parko at his beloved Bells
Comments
you think there's any logical reason occ has a dildo in his mouth in shot six?
Holy fuck it's easy to forget just how ghey surfing was in the 80's.
No wonder people harbour such a deep hostility to surfing corporations....that shizz leaves some deep psychic wounds.
Thanks Stu ( i think) for reminding us.
BTW, is that you on the far right (with the tuck-in) in the group shot?
There are some situations in which I'd be rapt to be mistaken for Mitch Thorson, throwing a 'hello sailor' salute with pink shorts tucked higher than my belly button certainly ain't one of them.
It is with some amazement that I see men wearing those clothes. My immediate impression is that it's very European, something that I wouldn't have thought Australian men would wear. I think it's great. I'd like to see a return to it.