Born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia in 1973 by Gordon Merchant. Designing and creating board shorts at his home and then selling them to local surf shops was how Billabong started off. Surfers soon realized the durability of Merchant's shorts that was the result of his triple-stitching technique. Merchant understood that his company needed to expand to achieve success, so Billabong started to sponsor contests, which increased the public's awareness of Merchant's products and the company expanded. By the 1980s, Billabong board shorts were present throughout Australia. These days Billabong is a big player from both the coast to the mountains all over the world.