‘For any Australian surfer who grew up in the golden era of the ’60s they (Platts Boardshorts) were the most coveted piece of surf wear in the country, before anyone even spoke of a “surf industry”. Tim Baker

In 1956 when Mike Doyle & Bob Cooper visited Australia for the USA, showcasing the ‘Malibu’ surfboard, it unleashed a frenzy of intrigue and aspiration among the fresh faced, preppy youth of Sydney’s Northern Beaches. It wasn’t long until beaches were over run with ‘teenagers’ trying their skill at mastering a board on the waves.

By the summer of ’59 the ‘Malibu Movement’ had started and surfing was finding it’s home in the heart of Australia’s east coast. Colliding with this revolutionary time and space were developing surfers and developing names like Midget Farrelly, Nat Young, Bob McTavish – all close friends of Kevin Platt and avid fans of his mothers made-to-measure, custom board shorts.

Dee Why and Freshwater would become a magnet for young surfers looking for more challenging breaks to test their skills. Just s stone-through-away, the Sydney’s suburb of Brookvale was quickly becoming the board manufacturing hub of Australia. Demand was immense and again developing shapers and developing names would go on to write their names into surf history, Gordon Woods, Barry Wallace, Scott Dillon, Denny Keyo, Greg McDonough just to name a few.

As the demand for boards increased, so did the demand for suitable surf wear. Platts was right on the cusp of that wave and quickly moving from manufacturing surfwear from the Platt family home on Carlton Rd to their own factory, employee local seamstresses and opening one of the first ever surf stores on Pittwater Rd.

Over the coming years history continued to shape the boards, the shorts and the boys, it was time to take Australia’s surfing best to the world.