Billabong Company History

Billabong International Limited is the holding Company of a global group employing over 1,000 people, involved in the design, production and distribution of surf and board sports' clothing and accessories for male and female markets. Billabong's clothing and accessories are sold in more than 90 countries by its directly controlled operations in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, Japan and Brazil and through licensed operations and distributors in other regions. Billabong's product range comprises over 2,200 product lines in Australia, over 1,300 product lines in North America and over 1,200 product lines in Europe.

These products include:
Billabong Board Shorts / Trunks
Billabong T-Shirts
Billabong Swimwear
Billabong Fleece Tops
Billabong Walk Shorts
Billabong Pants and Jeans
Billabong Wetsuits
Billabong Bags and Accessories.

Billabong is the leading surfwear clothing brand in Australia. Billabong was started in 1973 and was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange August 11, 2000. The idea for the name Billabong was conceived by Gordon Merchant, the founder of the company, in 1973. The traditional “Wave” logo was designed by Gordon Merchant. Other logos have been created by various artists and designers employed by Billabong. The traditional “Wave” logo has remained in use in its original form since it was first designed, however variations of the Wave logo have been introduced over the years as ongoing design process and to promote different categories of products, e.g. girls / snow / skate products.

The majority of the Billabong trade marks are owned by GSM (Operations) Pty Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Billabong International Limited. The “Billabong” and “Wave” trade marks have been registered since 1979. Billabong won the 2001 Best Investor Relations' award in relation to its float on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

Billabong was a finalist in 2002 for the CEPA/Ethical Investor Corporate Sustainability Awards - Australia's most rigorous independently conducted awards on corporate sustainability. Billabong has won awards from Macromedia & Microsoft for innovative technological incorporation of their software and programs. Billabong has also won over 10 awards from various websites which analyse the Internet and select the best websites. Most noteably Billabong won gold on WorldsBestWebsites.com in September 2001.

By 1977, Billabong started making clothing other than boardshorts and started manufacturing shirts, pants, jackets and walkshorts.

The company now generates revenue in more than 60 countries throughout the world. Naturally this requires a vast range of production sources to take account of various climates, quota and duty systems, freight and delivery lead schedules, etc.

Accordingly, the company produces products in more than a dozen countries throughout the world including Australia, America, Asia and various countries in Europe - but in all instances, does everything practically and legally possible to ensure the quality of its products, delivery certainty for its customers and safe working conditions for those employed in its production sources.