Company history

Hurley was founded in 1979 by 23-year-old Bob Hurley (along with partner Bob Rowland and Business Manager Joe Knoernschild) as Hurley Surfboards/international Pro Designs (I.P.D.). Hurley worked for 5 years as a surf board shaper for various companies; including Lightning Bolt; Wind-an-Sea and Wave Tools. While becoming known as one of the premiere shapers in Southern California, Hurley licensed the U.S. rights to the up-and-coming Australian surf brand Billabong, and formed Billabong USA in 1983. Founding Partners in Billabong USA besides Hurley were Bob Rowland (General Partners), and as limited partners - Chip Rowland, Mike Ochsner, Joe Knoernschild, Tom Fletcher and Bill Hurley. In 1998, the U.S. licensing rights for Billabong were up for renewal after the Company had grown to over $70M in sales in America. The USA management team decided to not renew the USA license for Billabong USA - and in 1998 Hurley International was born. Founding working Partners of Billabong USA Hurley, Knoernschild, Ochsner and Bill Hurley transitioned over to Hurley International. Billabong USA's designer; Lian Murray, also became a partner with the newly created Hurley International.

On May 12, 2002, the company was sold to Nike, Inc. for an undisclosed amount of money, and after many outcries from the surfing community for brand independence,  the brand still maintains relative autonomy to this day from its Nike parent. Hurley's Corporate Headquarters is in Costa Mesa, California, USA.

Today, Hurley brand clothing can be found in shopping malls in such stores as Buckle, PacSun, Zumiez, XlR8 in Daytona and others. As new designs come into Hurley merchandising, old ones will be replaced so that there is minimum duplicates in clothing designs.  Hurley also has an online site in which clothing can be ordered directly.

A major part of the company's success has been the endorsement of pop-punk bands such as Blink-182. Furthering their involvement in the music industry, Hurley is currently a major sponsor of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.

Team