The Volcom surf clothing company was created back in the early 90’s by the American surfers, snowboarders, and skateboarders Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall. The board sports fanatics couldn’t have foreseen their surf clothing company growing to become the huge snow, skate and surf brand that it has now become. The Shred Head online surf shop are now proud to stock the amazing Volcom clothing range, including some awesome Volcom tee shirts, board shorts, hoodies, and clothing accessories. So enjoy and wear the Stone with pride!
Here is a little more about the creation of the Volcom brand and its climb to become one of the coolest surf, skate, and snow brands on the slopes, streets and in the water.
During the heavy March snow fall of 1991, Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall set off on a snowboarding trip that would change their lives forever. Tucker had just been laid off work and he left for a trip to visit Nathan Fletcher and Mark Gabriel in Tahoe. After riding four days of fresh powder on the slopes, Richard called work with the excuse that they were snowed in and he extended his stay. The board sport fanatics awoke every morning to be greeted by two feet of fresh snow. It was their first real experience riding powder. Needless to say they were stoked and the new obsession wouldn't stop.
Richard Woolcott quit his job two weeks later to take some time off and snowboard. He and Tucker had talked about their dreams of starting a surf clothing company during the snowboarding trip but nothing was really sorted. Later that spring, the Woolcott and Hall came up with the idea of starting a board sports company based around surfing, snowboarding and surfing. After an initial $5000 from Richard's dad, the 2 surfers started the process. The guys first came up with the name Volcom, and then the stone logo that we all know and love.
The Volcom brand would incorporate a major philosophy of the times, "youth against establishment". This energy was an enlightened state to support young creative thinking. Volcom was a family of people not willing to accept the suppression of the established ways. This was a time when snowboarding and skateboarding was looked down on. The U.S. was in a recession, there were riots in LA and the Gulf War. Change was in the air and rock bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam expressed it the best.
For the first two years, Richard and Tucker travelled around the world on wild journeys with friends riding whatever they could. The business side of things was minimal initially. The headquarters of Volcom were set up in Newport in Richard's bedroom and all sales were run out of tucker's bedroom in Huntington. The two knew nothing about how to make surf branded clothes but that didn't matter. It was all about spirit and creativity. Clothing sales for the first year were $2600.
Since those wild beginnings, the Volcom Stone has spread slowly across the world. The surf company has matured but continues to run off the same philosophy it started with. The Volcom thinking now flows through its art, music, films, athletes and clothing. With surfers such as Bruce Irons, Dean Morrison, Ozzie Wright, skateboarders such as Dustin Dollin, and Geoff Rowley all wearing the Volcom Stone with pride.