BILLABONG

Billabong – Lifes’s Better in Boardshorts

Burleigh Heads is a surfers’ stronghold in southeast Australia. There, Gordon Merchant founded Billabong in 1973. Simple board shorts for a few surfer friends where the initial spark for an international success story.

From a pure surf brand, Billabong has evolved to the world’s most successful board sport brand in the segments of snow, surf, skate and wake. With high quality products, a unique sense of life is being conveyed and communicated to adolescents around the world. The company’s main business segment is the creation, production, distribution and marketing of functional wear (wetsuits, snow wear), young urban board sport fashion, according accessories and surf hardware. With two main and two pre collections per year, Billabong services core shops, sports and trend retailers as well as chain stores, web shops and its own retail areas in 100 countries worldwide. Due to continuous and healthy growth as well as the constant improvement in all departments, Billabong has become the leading boardsports brands it is today.

Since 2000, the company is market-listed in Sydney. Burleigh Heads is still a surf hot spot in 2013, and the company is still based in this wonderful place. Aside from the international headquarters in Australia, Billabong has local headquarters in Hossegor (France), Osaka (Japan), Irvine (California, US) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).

Billabong continues to invest in the sponsorship of young snowboarders, surfers, skaters and wakeboarders. With international mega events such as the Billabong Air & Style Innsbruck-Tirol, the Billabong World Junior Surfing Championships in Australia or four events as part of the surf world championship in Tahiti, Brazil (women’s and men’s) and Hawaii, Billabong offers athletes a professional platform to pursue their passion.

Billabong snowboarder Jamie Anderson (US) has won the TTR-Tour multiple times and won several gold medals at the X-Games. Joel Parkinson (AUS) is the reigning surf world champion. Up-and-coming surfer Jack Freestone (AUS) won the junior championship 2012 for the second time after 2010. German wakeboarder Fredy von Osten is the current world champion in his discipline. Wolle Nyvelt (AUS) was Transworld Snowboarder of the Year, and since the beginning of the year, Bode Merrill (USA), one of the most versatile snowboarders is part of the Billabong Team. The Billabong riders come from all corners of the world, some of them being young talents who win local contests, others of them being experienced (world-)champions in their disciplines. It’s the passion, experience and talent of these athletes that continuously shape the brand’s positive development.