"Brazen and blatant."
The surf industry’s implosion happened so quickly, and so thoroughly, that has yet to fully register. Only a baby handful of years ago, brands like Quiksilver, Billabong, Hurley, RVCA, Volcom hung on surf shop racks, each almost different, all sort of their own thing. Then, in the blink of a pterygium eye, big New York private equity firms swooped in, buying the lot, throwing them all into one gross bucket filled with lye and boiling down for their once-iconic logos that could be slapped on anything from beard oil to women’s bathing suits for men to timid surf champions.
Yuck.
And no longer of interest to the surf fan… except. Apparently the zombie designers who now toil under the yoke of “investor value” have run out of inspiration and are poking into the world, looking to “borrow.
Enter Ola Canvas. The small Costa Mesa atelier has been making core and true pants, jackets, tees and boardshorts for real surfers for the better part of five years. It’s best seller, the blackball. A simple trunk seen here being enjoyed by Jackie Freestone.


Well, apparently Quiksilver’s composition team saw, liked and almost identically borrowed for Griffin Colapinto.


Baldfaced.
Ola Canvas took to the public court to make light complaint, describing its mission etc. and how being ripped off by soulless goons ain’t cool before ending with, “Ironically Quiksilver’s tagline says a lot. ‘When life is in the balance, yours should be too.'”

Quiksilver’s tagline is “When life is in the balance, yours should be too?”
What the hell sort of absolute garbage is that?
Worth a boycott right there, if you ask me.
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$120US for a pair of boardies!! Thats like $600 aussie fuck me
Was pissed for them, now meh!!
Needs boardie’s plain black/blue – $50AUD shipped in a day.Highly recco
Otherwise every kmart big w these days sell for $15
These pricks all made too much money
Yep, Needs boardies so good
Florola
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Made my own boardies once, way cooler than anything in the shop, ended up nude first surf though.
I hope youre a girl. I dont wanna be duckdiving behind a freeballer.
You’d love it
I bought some cheap boardies on the street in Kuta like 25 years ago (maybe for 3 bucks) they were some quick dry material in grey with colour blocked panels, super long below the knee and had cool pockets where I could keep some cash and a key. Same, first surf they split along the all the seams and were flapping behind me on every wave throughout my whole sesh. I didn’t think to go in early. Holiday goers and beach sellers all had a giggle at me as I passed by trying to hide my little party peepee.
EDIT: changed fry to dry, I didn’t mean to write fry in the first place.
fry be better !!!
Danny Kwock rocked the coloured circles for Quik in the Echo beach era. Everything is a copy of everything else, there’s nothing new under the sun, we should all just kill ourselves etc https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Quik for the win! Cheeky little Costa Mesa atelier.
Boycotting is hard work. Been an O’Neill man for a couple decades anyway, something about that eye patch and their support of gnarly barley all these years.
Diksilver. Feel sorry for the reps who have to sell this lie.
Errrrrm yeah…
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I think Florence ripped off Ola too….
Que the angry flotilla … https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
More as the story develops / fizzles out.
How much design input you reckon JJ puts in Florence? Doesn’t come across as a fashion-oriented micromanager type.
The core is expensive af these days
I’ve never bought those brands because they have always been pretty lame, but on what planet does $120USD for a pair of board shorts make sense
Would love to support the Ola Brotherhood. But a quick e-commerce glance is informing me their t-shirts are more expensive than any pair of boardies I’ve ever purchased. That said, I’m open to initiate a business collaboration. 75% off merchandise and I will testify where Quiksilver touched me in court.
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Check out this corelord, about to go shred Rockaway with his friend Yuri
Great job Chas!
Such ugly surf trunks. I wouldn’t wear the original ones or the Quik copies, even if they were free.
The top ones are cut for hand jiving nose rides the bottom for cult like zen. They are different designs.
I”LL NEVER BUY QUIKSILVER AGAIN!! oh wait, I never have since about 1995.
Always a trailblazer. Thank you for your service.
Congratulations. We have similar birthdays. I’m celebrating 27 years this year. Thankful for everyday.
Wait till you see 90’s quick at the thrift shop. Buy it and resell it for 5 times what you paid.
Been seeing this happen on Ebay. Crusty old shirts like KS7 Rusty etc.
Whenever I’m back in Colombia all the homeless people are wearing quik. I guess they send unsold stuff down there. Back to the ghetto dog roots!