The Australian surfer Richard Meldrum and his wife, fashion designer Jo-Anne Meldrum, founded Hot Tuna in 1969 whilst living in Taree, approximately 10 miles inland from the beach, in New South Wales, Australia.
Famous Piranha Logo
Hot Tuna drew its inspiration from the Australian surf culture and came into its own during the 80s and 90s as the Hot Tuna piranha fish logo was seen on boardshorts, hoodies and T-Shirts at beaches across the world. As time has past a long list of great surfers have worn the Hot Tuna Piranha in their careers, including Trestles 2003 champion Aussie Richie Lovett, Robbie Page (for his feature in the surf classic North Shore), former WCT top-5 rated Australian surfer Rob Bain, big wave surfer Beau Emerton, the naturally gifted surfer Drew Courtney, and the surfer with the smooth-as-silk frontside cutback Shea Lopez.
Champion Event Sponsorship
The Hot Tuna surf brand still has its roots at the beach, sponsoring surfing events such as the WQS Hot Tuna Central Coast Pro at Soldiers Beach on the Central Coast of New South Wales, the Hot Tuna Summer Classic at Gunnamatta Beach on the Victoria coastline in Australia, and the Hot Tuna Summer Of '69 at St Agnes in Cornwall, UK. Hot Tuna also sponsor a number of surfers from across the globe, some of which include; Shea Lopez (formerly ranked 11th on the WCT and battling back from injury in the WQS), British Professional Surfing Association (BPSA) Tour Champion Micah Lester, Californian surfer Bron Heussenstamm, progressive surfer Toby Atkins, and fearless big wave rider Cody Graham.
Supermodel & Hot Tuna Partnership
More recently Hot Tuna have brought Australian fashion model and expert Elle Macpherson into the fold, and looking at the new Hot Tuna ladies range of surf clothing and bikinis it has worked to great effect. Hot Tuna remains one of surfing's authentic brands and is committed to its original values, for which the iconic Hot Tuna Piranha logo has come to stand: great surf clothing, the sport and spirit of surfing worldwide, and good times.