Beloved Japanese-Australian surf brand Banks Journal suddenly shuts down after almost a decade in biz

"On Friday, October 13th, we will close our doors for the last time and bid farewell to all of you."

Tears in Byron Bay, Los Angeles and across the Pacific and slightly to the south in Tokyo after the shock announcement that Banks Journal had closed its famous brand after nine years in biz.

“I’m writing to everyone who has lovingly supported Banks Journal since we embarked on this journey back in 2014,” writes Rama McCabe, whom we’ll talk about shortly, and who created the brand along with his Byron Bay pal Tim Cochran and some Japanese investors. “We started this project to merge style and function with a sustainable approach to design and development. We were fortunate to have a unique perspective on coastal living, inspired by our Japanese and Australian heritage.

“We’ve come a long way from our original office in Bondi Beach, Australia, and we wouldn’t have had this opportunity without each and every one of you. From the incredibly talented individuals we’ve had the pleasure of working alongside, to the retailers who always believed in us no matter what, our factories that went above and beyond to provide us with beautifully made products. Last but not least, to all the people who have one of our products hanging in their closet, you’re the friends, family, and supporters who have turned the dream of creating Banks Journal into a reality.

“On Friday, October 13th, we will close our doors for the last time and bid farewell to all of you. Our hope is that you will continue to support our incredible retail partners until the last Banks Journal products have left their shelves, and that you will find an everyday journey with our brand in your life.”

The chisel-jawed nymph Rama McCabe started off at Rip Curl, swung over to Globe, then O’Neill, Critical Slide for a while before joining a Japanese-Australian gang to form Banks Journal.

I remember in 2006, in Fiji, when the then-famous surfer Nathan Webster described me and Rama as Big Dez and Little Dez.

I was thrilled more than Rama, he better looking and dazzling in the water, me, shark-nosed, thin-lipped, flamingo legged, belly fat, but thirty pounds heavier and maybe six inches bigger where it matters. (Height). Sorta same haircut gave us a vague similarity, which I milked.

Over the years I got Rama to design various surf trunks, the high point being our Bill Cosby and Black Enuch trunks, short in the leg, gentle on the hips, grippy on the thigh. Works of art, I think, through sales were slow.

It’s a been wild couple of days for Rama.

His brother Pritamo, the head judge of the WSL men’s tour for the last five years, has just been replaced by Brazil’s Luiz Fernando Steffen Pereira following the near mutiny of Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira and Filipe Toledo after they weren’t gifted victories in every event on tour.