Stüssy all started out in 1980 by American surfer, Shawn Stussy. Shawn grew up in California and had been working with and making surfboards since the age of thirteen. In his early years working with boards he’d scrawl his surname on anything that he did, surfboards, T-shirts, whatever he created. When he was 15, Stussy got hired by a surfboard manufacturer and soon after he graduated he split his time between working as a ski instructor on Mammoth Mountain in the winter and making surfboards in the summer. When he was 24 Stussy settled down in Laguna Beach to open a surfboard business where he continued to put his surname on his boards. Later on, accessories became also part of the Stüssy range and of course, they were inspired by surfing.
Surfboards, accessories and more
The brand really came into its own during a trade show in the early 80s. Stussy would sell surf boards at these shows and had his logo printed on his T-shirt – at the end of one of the shows he’d sold far more T-shirts than surfboards, despite the T-shirts not initially being for sale. From here, Stüssy thrived and went from strength to strength. In 96, Stussy retired from his namesake to live out his time with his family on Hawaii – sounds great. Lucky us that there’s still a wide range of Stüssy accessories available for us.
