Greg Noll Oceanwear Set to Splash
Surfboard shaper Greg Noll and surfwear industry veteran John Bernards intend to open their new apparel company, Greg Noll Oceanwear, in January in San Clemente.
“We’re just looking at space now,” said Bernards, chief executive of the new venture. “We’ve already got orders rolling in the door for this sportswear, so we’ll start out with 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.”
Noll, who has been shaping surfboards since 1951, previously licensed out his name to a Long Beach sportswear maker. The license was officially transferred to Noll and Bernards about three months ago, Bernards said. Noll, Bernards and surfer Chris Bredision, the third principal, have invested $1 million in the new business, Bernards said.
The new line will make its debut at the Magic trade show in Las Vegas in February.
“We’ve already got orders for goods and we don’t even have a line,” Bernards said. The first full line will include surf trunks, shorts, knit shirts and print shirts and will sell in surf shops and specialty stores.
Other well-known surfboard shapers who launched apparel companies include Bob Hurley of Costa Mesa-based Hurley International (he was Billabong’s U.S. licensee before launching his own company) and Rusty Preisendorfer, founder of Rusty Apparel in Irvine.
