Golden Breed


Golden Breed is a surf Lifestyle clothing brand, initially starting in California in 1969. The Male/Female logo was used by surfers, before being developed into a brand. The Textile Company Don Rancho Corporation initially launched the brand internationally, with a separate license to produce a range of items in Australia, held by John Arnold.

History

Golden Breed initial designs were created by Francis "Duke" Boyd, who had originally created designs for Hang Ten. The term "Golden Breed" had been used in some promotional material for Bing Surfboards. It was then used as the title by Dale Davis for his Surf Film "Golden Breed" in 1968. Boyd had co founded Hang Ten, sold it in 1970, and then immediately founded Golden Breed. Golden Breed was one of the first companies to sponsor surfers and competitions. One of these events was the famous "Golden Breed Expression Session," an event where there was in fact not competition - the surfers turned up and everyone was just paid $200 to surf a similar pattern part of the beach, as a demonstration, while people watched. This fitted in with many people at the time's viewpoint that surfing shouldn't be competitive.
In its heyday of the 1970-1980s, Golden Breed was one of the most famous Surf wear labels, very prevalent in the surfing scene.
The company ran into financial strife in the 1990s. It was then purchased by an Australian company, and is presently now producing clothes, with a number of outlets in Australia.