After 3 decades the Platt family is proud to be back at the helm of the original Platts Surfwear company.

Up until the mid 70’s, Platts was family owned and operated, leading the burgeoning growth of the Australian surf wear industry. Unlike the emerging profit-driven brands of the era, Platts didn’t shift from ‘surfer’ focused, Mum & Pop operator to steely clothing label as it could have, they sidestepped the rise to wide spread commercialisation – keeping things cottage and handmade was the Platts way.

As Platts developed through the 60’s and early 70’s it was fiercely guarded by Jean and Lance – only allowing selected retailers to sell Platts at key locations in Australia and overseas. Going from a sewing machine on the dinner table to running three factories to keep up with demand, Jean and Lance preferred to keep things local. Platts was a company driven by passion and not the bottom dollar – Jean and Lance were not really interested in competing, preferring to let Platts change hands rather than lose their grassroots connection.

Through the 80’s and 90’s Platts changed hands several times, having limited success as a ’boutique’ brand but never really finding its groove after it left family ownership.

However, stories from the Northern Beaches, of Jean, Lance, Kevin and early names of surfing fame became like campfire tales of simpler times, filled with nostalgia, of what could have been and what was lost in soul of surfing as big business took over.

There was something about Platts that lived on in the heart of the ‘purest’, it created a hallmark of a time everyone wanted to return too, a time when surfing was simply about surfing. It’s almost as if authentic Platts was put on pause… encased in time but still alive in the hearts of early surfers, a beacon of better times. Gone – but certainly not forgotten.

The Platt family have grown increasingly proud of the original company Jean, Lance and Kevin built and what it means to Australian surfing history.

Through the highs and lows of surf culture in Australia, now is the right time to dust off the old ‘surfriders’ and ‘sandhoppers’, to dig out the vintage mags, huddle around the legends of the good ol’ days and breath life back into the true essence of surf.