Quiksilver is a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of surf-inspired

apparel 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 ...

and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Victoria, but is now based in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and

boardsport Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with any sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are consider ...

-related equipment. The parent company changed its name in March 2017 from Quiksilver, Inc. to Boardriders, Inc., and is the owner of the brands Quiksilver, Roxy and DC Shoes. In 2018, Boardriders acquired Billabong International Limited, gaining the Billabong, Element, Von Zipper, RVCA and XCEL brands. Authentic Brands Group bought Boardriders and its associated brands and intellectual property in 2023. Quiksilver manufactures and sells a wide range of products that include sportswear ( swimsuits),

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 ...

( T-shirts, polo shirts, flannels,

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. Jackets without sleeves are vests. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and ...

hoodie A hoodie is a type of sweatshirt with a hood that, when worn up, covers most of the head and neck, and sometimes the face. The most common 'pullover' style hoodies often include a single large knife pocket or muff on the lower front, whil ...

s, pants, shorts),

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protective clothing, protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature. *Shoes and si ...

(

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

sandal Sandals are an open type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can sometim ...

s), and accessories (

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

s, backpacks, and

wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch, often used to carry small personal items such as physical currency, debit cards, and credit cards; identification documents such as driving licence, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, b ...

s). The company also produces a line of apparel for young women, under the Roxy brand. Another line of apparel for women is sold under the brand Quiksilver Women.

Recent corporate history

Quiksilver purchased Skis Rossignol for $560 million in 2005, but sold Rossignol on 12 November 2008 for $37.5 million (30 million euros) in cash and a $12.5 million note (10 million euro). Quiksilver owned golf-equipment maker Cleveland Golf until 31 October 2007, when it sold the company to a Japanese sporting-goods company. In 2009, Moody's included Quiksilver on its Bottom Rung list of companies most likely to default on its debt. As of 2013, Quiksilver operated 834 stand-alone stores in major cities across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa]. At that time, the two types of Quiksilver-operated stores were known as either "Boardriders Club" or "Factory" stores. Their products were also sold in many other outlets across the world, such as PacSun, the Fells Point Surf Company, and the Ron Jon Surf Shop. With PacSun's decline in retail prominence, Quiksilver and other brands suffered diminished sales. In addition, the company operated a number of separate Roxy and Quiksilver Youth stores. As of 2013, the company suffered a financial slump for six years and initiated a turnaround plan in an attempt to resolve this. In September 2015, the company filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

. Co-founder of Quiksilver Bob McKnight stepped down as CEO on 11 January 2013. He then acted as executive chairman, until retiring in October 2014. Andy Mooney, who was formerly chairman of Disney Consumer Products, was CEO from 2013 to 2015. Mooney stepped down as the CEO and was replaced in March 2015 by longtime employee Pierre Agnes to restructure the brand. In 2015, Agnes was promoted from president to CEO. Quiksilver emerged from bankruptcy in early 2016, and the company once again became privately held, with Oaktree Capital Management as the majority shareholder. By the end of 2016, their retail presence had significantly diminished after restructuring by Oaktree. The company's name was changed in March 2017 to Boardriders, Inc., and it is the owner of the Quiksilver, Roxy, and DC Shoes brands. Boardriders purchased Billabong International Limited in 2018. On 30 January 2018, the global CEO of Boardriders, Pierre Agnes, was declared missing after his powerboat washed ashore without him near

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

, France, after he radioed in to delay his return in thick fog conditions. A search operation by air and sea was launched the same day. The search was called off a few days later, as he was declared lost at sea and presumed dead. Dave Tanner, the company's former chief turnaround officer, became CEO on 6 February 2018. Boardriders, Inc. owns Quiksilver, Roxy, DC Shoes, Billabong, Element, Von Zipper, RVCA, and XCEL. In April 2023, Authentic Brands Group made a binding offer to acquire Boardriders, Inc. for US$1.25 billion. On February 2, 2025, Liberated Brands, owner of Quiksilver and Roxy retail stores in the US, filed for

protection, listing assets and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. The company announced the closure of all remaining Quiksilver and Roxy locations in the US, with liquidation sales beginning a week before the bankruptcy.

Roxy

In 1990, Quiksilver launched its sister brand for young women, Roxy. The brand was shuttered after the 1991 surf industry crash, but revived by Bob McKnight and Danny Kwock in 1992, signing Lisa Andersen in 1993. It was differentiated from the main Quiksilver line "for fear it would damage the men's brand", according to Randy Hild, the company's senior vice president of marketing. Roxy was chosen because it sounded like a punk band or club (likely

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

and The Roxy respectively), and is also the name of the daughters of both CEO Bob McKnight and founder Alan Green. About 30% of Quiksilver's sales come from the Roxy line. Since inception, Roxy has grown to be the largest action sport fashion apparel company for young women. In addition to apparel, it now also produces accessories, homewares, hard goods (snow and surf), wetsuits, footwear, and books. It has sub-brands for its children's ranges, Roxy Girl and Teenie Wahine. In the spring of 2013, the " DVF loves Roxy" collection was released as a one-time limited-edition collaboration line of swim and beach wear as well as accessories.

Brand image

The Quiksilver brand's logo, designed in 1973 by founders Alan Green and John Law, was inspired by Japanese painter

Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...

's woodcut, '' The Great Wave off Kanagawa''. It depicts a large wave with a mountain on a red background. Roxy's heart-shaped logo was created by duplicating and reflecting the Quiksilver logo and rotating both copies at a 45-degree angle.

Controversy

In 2023, a news article from Beach Gri

reported that Quiksilver directly copied a design from a small company, Ola Canvas, and their Blackball boardshorts. Quiksilver posted the design on their Instagram account on February 14, 2023, and Ola Canvas posted a response five days later.

References

External links