From left field quirk, to skater cool, onwards to surfer thug, before ending in the octagon, Life's A Beach clothing have run the full gamut of fashion. Whatever trend was being wheeled around L.A.B jumped on board, riding it into the ground before ditching it and reinventing themselves again.

Surfers would know the company best as 'Bad Boy', those tragically nineties duds worn by Johnny Boy Gomes with the grimacing cartoon face, but that was just one chapter in their lookbook.

Life's A Beach began in the early-80s in Chicago, miles from any beach, by three guys who didn't surf. Jeff Theodosakis, Mark Sino and Brian Simo were motorcross riders who stitched up a few baggy boardshorts that sold well enough for the trio to transplant to California. There they fell into the booming surf and skate industries meshing them into an elemental street style.

Mark Gonzales rode for them, Mike Vallely too, while on the surf team they secured the signature of Brad Gerlach. Their team was a veritable carousel of cool...and then the image went downmarket.

Life's A Beach introduced a character into their marketing promo. Created by Mark 'Boogaloo' Baagoe  the logo featured a flexing git with a crew cut, a cartoon iconoclast who carried the bad boy tag and became a brand within a brand. Before long the roles were inverted; 'Bad Boy' clothing took centrestage while 'Life's A Beach' dropped to the side. Quirk was out, bristling chest-beating machismo was in.

Which made team riders a simple pick. Johnny Boy Gomes had a terrific history of violence. He once held a screwdriver to a hapless surf journo's throat. He punched Jodie Cooper in the face. JBG lived up to the new company image just by being himself and the company directors, no doubt, were thrilled.

An article in a 1987 issue of the LA Times said of Life's A Beach: "The company is headed for at least $6 million in sales this year, and it's doubtful anyone over the age of 21 has ever purchased one of its products."

Realising they'd struck a rich vein, Mark and Brian Simo then created No Fear clothing, their ads often featuring uplifting existential slogans such as "Second place is the first loser." No Fear trademarked more than 50 similar slogans. Meanwhile Bad Girl clothing made stylish garments for the fairer sex and wonderful windscreen stickers too.

By the turn of the millenium Life's A Beach, Bad Boy, and No Fear had jumped onto the extreme sport bandwagon with gusto: motorcross, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and sadly, surfing. When UFC cage fighting became popular Bad Boy found its natural home and they've stayed there since.

These days the companies have split into different entities: Bad Boy services wannabe MMA fighters; Bad Boy Club makes Kmart-level streetwear; Life's A Beach play to their 80s skate heritage; while No Fear survived a 2012 bankruptcy and recently released a new wakeboarding range. None of them make surfwear anymore.