Dakine is an American outdoor clothing company specializing in sportswear and sports equipment for adventure sports. Founded in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, the name comes from the Hawaiian Pidgin phrase " da kine" (derived from "the kind"). While based in Hood River, Oregon (products are manufactured overseas), the company also sponsors athletes from the lifestyle and sporting fields of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

, kiteboarding, and

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

. The company has since abandoned operations in Oregon and moved its headquarters to Torrance, California.

History

The company was founded in 1979 in Haiku, Maui, Hawaii, by Rob Kaplan. In 1986, Dakine moved its base of operations to Hood River, Oregon. In August 2009, Dakine was acquired by Billabong International Limited. for about

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

100 million. The company moved into a new headquarters along the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

in Hood River in June 2013. Also in 2013, Billabong sold Dakine for $70 million to Altamont Capital Partners. In 2020, Dakine laid off most of its employees in Hood River and moved its headquarters to

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, ending its presence in Oregon. As of 2024 Dakine has offices in California,

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, Haiku,

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, and

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

Products

Dakine sells backpacks,

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

, outerwear, luggage, and accessories for men, women, and children.

Team

Surf

Skate

Snowboard

Ski

Bike

*Andrew Shandro *Yoann Barelli *Cecile Ravanel *Airs Jack *Darcy Turenne *Geoff Gulevich * Graham Agassiz *James Wolf *Matthew Slaven *René Wildhaber *Steffi Marth * Thomas Vanderham *Carson Storch

Windsurf

Kite

Social compliance standard

The company has adopted the social compliance standard "Social Accountability International's SA8000"—the standard "is based on the primary international workplace rights contained within the International Labour Organisation conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child."

References

External links

Official WebsiteGerman WebsitePolish Website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127104151/https://dakine.pl/ , date=January 27, 2020

Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Windsurfing equipment Kitesurfing Companies based in Hood River, Oregon 1979 establishments in Hawaii