Surf Wear Maker Says Welcome to the Jungle

Jack Denny knows it’s not always good to take advice from well-meaning friends. Industry buddies warned he could not get a surf wear company going successfully with only $9,000.

But two years and close to $1 million later, Denny has proved them wrong with World Jungle.

Not bad for a company that started with five T-shirt and two trunks styles and has expanded to 50 pieces, including jackets, shirts, denim shorts and jeans, hats and bags.

The 27-year-old artist didn’t dive into the competitive surf wear market unprepared. By summer 1990, he had spent six years designing for Gotcha and was spearheading MCD, a division targeting hard-core surfers, when he decided to take a much needed vacation to Bali.

There he found himself surfing in the morning and designing trunks and T’s in the afternoon. “I love making clothes, and I couldn’t stop,” he recalls.

Denny returned with his tiny collection and launched World Jungle on his own, leaving the financial security of his longtime job. He spent the first two seasons working out of his home before renting a studio and warehouse in Laguna Beach. Last year he moved operations to Costa Mesa. Besides getting a larger space, Denny added on business whiz, Macy Barton, 28, who left his job as vice president of production at another local clothing company, Spot Sport.

Sales have spread along the West and East coasts, Puerto Rico and Japan. Next summer, Denny expects to sell his collections at surf points in France, Spain and Portugal. World Jungle sells at county surf stores such as Rockin’ Figs in Huntington Beach, Laguna Surf & Sport in Laguna Beach and Killer Dana Surf Shop in Dana Point. The garb retails for $14 to $100.

World Jungle has found a niche among a breed of dedicated surfers, who can best be described as modern primitives with punk sensibilities. For them, snappy neon and commercialized beach nostalgia lack soul.

Taking a cue from Asian tattoo designs, Denny and his team design ornate fabric prints and graphics with hidden details. Dragon, falcon and serpent motifs are widely used on patches, pockets and pant panels. Decorative bands wrap around sleeves of jackets and shirts to imitate arm tattoos.

“My prints are subtle, darker, a little more underworld. It’s not for those who want to wear the bright stuff,” he says. The collections appear in muted “tattoo” inks, such as teal, green, red, black and pale purple.

“There’s never a shortage of killer designs,” says Denny, who looks to tribal tattoo designs for inspiration. He also brings in young talent--”the hottest surf guys and girls”--to help with the artwork.

The campy class of 1940’s-inspired Polynesian prints have also made their way into summer and fall collections this year.

Besides T’s, trunks continue to sell best--comprising up to one-fifth of a collection during warmer seasons. For fall, Denny has introduced a “toasty line” for customers who take their boards to frozen waters in the winter.

Industry concern over the future of surf wear does not disturb Denny, who says, “surfing is alive and well.” Although some competitors are decreasing their surf focus and cashing in on the current urban street wear trend, World Jungle has not shifted gears. In fact, Denny says his resistance to following some industry leaders gives World Jungle an edge.

“There’s enough hard-core surfers around the world to keep a little killer surf company like World Jungle going,” he says. “Besides, the stores and surfers buying our stuff are stoked.”