Quiksilver
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- The name of this clothing company is purposefully misspelled. See also Quicksilver.
Quiksilver is an Australian based corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of surfing inspired clothing. Its logo consists of a large wave, with a mountain in the background.
The company also markets a line of apparel for young girls and women, under the brand Roxy, named after the daughter of one of the founders. Its logo consists of two copies of the Quiksilver logo, one reflected, forming a heart.
History
Quiksilver was founded in 1969, when Torquay surfers Alan Green and John Law came up with the idea of selling wetsuits for a living. They redesigned the wetsuit, creating one that was specifically designed for surfing, and over time, introduced a range of surfwear products, at a time when there was little competition.
They were successful enough in Australia that they caught some attention overseas, and in 1976, agreed to sell the distribution rights in the United States for several million dollars. This was followed, in 1984, by a move into the European market, and the creation of Quiksilver Europe. More recently, they have begun a foray into the Asian market.
The company went public on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1986. In 1991, they established the Roxy brand - an idea which was later copied by market rival Rip Curl. Over the years, Quiksilver have branched out from wetsuits, into surfwear, sunglasses, and in the 1990s, also into the snowboarding and skateboarding markets, this move to expand their domination of boardsports was marked by their purchase of the successful snowboard and skateboard manufacturer, Mervin Manufacturing. This was followed by the company's 2004 acquisition of DC Shoes, and the 2005 acquisition of Skis Rossignol, a major French ski manufacturer.
In 2003, the company made another expansion, creating Quiksilver Entertainment to produce related television programming. It has produced the 54321 action sports program for Fox Sports, and the Surf Girls series for MTV.
Quiksilver today
Quiksilver operates around 150 stand-alone stores in major cities across Australia and the Pacific, Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Their products are also sold in many other outlets across the world. In addition, the company operates a number of separate Roxy stores.
As of 2006, Quiksilver sponsors around 500 amateur and professional surfers, snowboarders, and skateboarders. Among them are surfer Kelly Slater and skateboarder Tony Hawk. They also have the naming rights to the Quiksilver Pro surfing tournament in Fiji.