The History of Board Shorts

Native Hawaiians originally surfed naked, but when missionaries arrived, they banned the practice. Over time, the sport became popular again and men would typically wear heavy one-piece tank suits made of wool. The modern board short is often traced back to Moru Nii, or M.Nii, a tailor in Oahu who created durable twill shorts for surfers that became known as Drowners. In the 1960s, Hang Ten began making cotton trunks and evolved into California’s first major surf apparel brand. The company was also one of the first to use quick-drying nylon when it became available. Around the same time, Quiksilver was formed in Australia and quickly became legendary for its line of technical board shorts. Soon after that, a surfer named Gordon Merchant began making his own board shorts and selling them out of his van; his operation evolved into the successful Billabong brand. In the 1980s, board shorts gained more stretch with the introduction of Lycra as well as higher waistlines and neon colorways. In the 1990s and 2000s, board shorts went in the other direction, becoming loose and very long. In the last decade or so, board shorts have settled into a practical above-the-knee length and are made using very high-performance fabrics. From those offered by established surf companies to options created by pro surfers, there are a wide variety of board shorts to choose from today, and the garment remains inextricably linked to warm weather and the sport of surfing.