RVCA is a

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

–based clothing company owned by Authentic Brands Group.

Etymology

The logotype for RVCA portrays the letter A without a crossbar, resembling an uppercase

lambda Lambda (; uppercase , lowercase ; , ''lám(b)da'') is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant . In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is derived from the Phoen ...

(Λ). The name resembles the Greek ''ρούχα'' (uppercase: ''ΡΟὙΧΑ''; ) which means 'clothes' in English. The RVCA logo is based on the two chevrons, the V & the A, representing the brand's ethos "The Balance of Opposites" as stated by RVCA founder PM Tenore.

History

RVCA was founded in 1999 by Pat Tenore and Conan Hayes, a professional surfer from

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 ...

. Billabong purchased RVCA in July 2010, and then Boardriders acquired Billabong in 2018, taking ownership of RVCA, Element, Von Zipper, and XCEL. On February 2, 2025, Liberated Brands, owner of RVCA retail stores in the US, 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 ...

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

Culture

RVCA was associated with

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

surf culture Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish ...

, Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ), and

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. The company sponsored skateboard and surf team. They also sponsor prominent BJJ competitors and prominent MMA fighters. RVCA clothing is found in skateboard/surf shops and numerous other shops. Because of its art focus, RVCA was also associated with the street

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

subculture. RVCA was involved with various contemporary art galleries such as KNOWN Gallery.

RVCA Training Center

Because of its Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA focus, RVCA founder Pat Tenore (who holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) built a BJJ/MMA gym known as ''The RVCA Training Center''. The training facility was located at RVCA HQ

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

and the Head Coach was Jason Parillo. The training center closed in September 2023.

Affiliated people

MMA

* B.J. Penn *

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English former mixed martial artist, sports commentator, analyst, and actor. He competed in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ...

Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally as Cris Cyborg and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos, is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and Professional boxing, professional boxer who com ...

Rafael dos Anjos Rafael Souza dos Anjos (; born 26 October 1984), also known by his initials RDA, is a Brazilian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

* Rose Namajunas *

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz () is an American politican and retired mixed martial artist and Submission grappling, submission grappler. Ortiz is best known for his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC ...

* Luke Rockhold *

Vitor Belfort Vítor Vieira Belfort (; born 1 April 1977) is a Brazilian professional boxer and retired mixed martial artist who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, and Middleweight d ...

Marlon Vera Marlon Andrés Vera Delgado (born December 2, 1992), also known as Chito Vera, is an Ecuadorian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of February 25, ...

Mackenzie Dern Mackenzie Lynne Dern (born March 24, 1993) is an American and Brazilian professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner currently competing in the women's Strawweight (MMA), Strawweight division of the U ...

* Gilbert Burns * Jalin Turner * Sean Strickland

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

* Lucas Leite * Marcus Almeida * Guilherme Mendes * Rafael Mendes *

Keenan Cornelius Keenan Kai-James Cornelius is an American martial artist. His competitive achievements include what is called the Double Grand Slam in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, having won double gold medals at four major tournaments: the World Jiu-Jitsu Champions ...

* Jackson Sousa dos Santos * Kade Ruotolo *

Tye Ruotolo Tye Ruotolo (born January 22, 2003) is an American submission grappler. A competitor with his twin brother Kade since the age of 3, Ruotolo is currently the youngest IBJJF World champion at black belt level in the history of the sport. At th ...

* Patrick Chancey

Boxing

* Seniesa Estrada

Notable sponsored artists and sportspeople

Among the artists sponsored by RVCA as part of the Artist Network Program (ANP) are Mark OBlow,

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

Barry McGee Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American artist. He is known for graffiti art, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin. Life and education Barry McGee was born in ...

, C. R. Stecyk, III, David Choe, Kelsey Brookes, KRK Ryden, Matt Gordon,

, and Tommy Guerrero.

Past surf team members

* Kala Alexander * Makua Rothman

Past skate team members

* Andrew Reynolds * Curren Caples * Kevin "Spanky" Long * Christian Hosoi *

Mark Suciu Mark Suciu (pronounced Soo-Choo) (Born August 3, 1992) is an American professional skateboarder from Saratoga, CA, based out of New York City. In 2021, Suciu was named ''Thrashers Skater of the Year. Early life and education Mark Suciu ...

* Evan Mock

Past MMA fighters

* Rose Namajunas * Fedor Emelianenko *

Aaron Pico Aaron Pico (born September 23, 1996) is an American mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He started out his career in Bellator MMA, w ...

* Luke Rockhold * B.J. Penn * Gilbert Burns *

E-Sports

Summit1g Jaryd Russell Lazar (born April 23, 1987), better known as summit1g, is an American Twitch (service), Twitch streamer and former professional ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player. After retiring from competitive esports, Lazar became a we ...

* Relentless Gaming

Chefs

* Matty Matheson

References

External links

RVCA.comBoardriders Inc.
{{MMA Team List Clothing companies of the United States Companies based in Costa Mesa, California Swimwear manufacturers Surfwear brands Clothing companies based in Los Angeles Mixed martial arts training facilities Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025