Quiksilver's New Boardshorts Combine Compression and Taping Technologies
Innovation oftentimes sprouts from borrowing ideas outside of the expected niche. Surf lifestyle brand Quiksilver examined performance wear of other sports—including football and swimming—and came up with a form-fitting compression garment specially designed for the athletic demands of surfing.
Named the “Reactor Boardshort,” it has the loose and free appearance of a boardshort with a hidden supportive layer underneath. It retails for almost $200 and launched this year in Quiksilver stores and specialty surf shops, including Jack’s Surfshop in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Quiksilver will continue to offer it for Spring 2012 with new adjustments and refinements on the outer layer of the shorts, which use the company’s signature Diamond Dobby stretch fabric.
Because surfing demands quick and snappy movements that originate from the core part of the body, the Quiksilver shorts were designed to support the muscle groups that are the most extended. Compression “taping” is strategically placed to follow the muscular contours in the upper leg and lower back areas, which support the muscles back into their natural positions after being stretched for a fast trick.
Quiksilver’s Australian design team consulted with Australian physiotherapist Malcolm Brown and his method of “taping” to support the muscles.
“Malcolm has worked with many of Australia’s top athletes with their recovery from major injuries,” said Luke Watson, marketing director for Quiksilver. “He has been using the same taping method we have, in the short, for several years.”
This isn’t the first time that Quiksilver has dabbled in compression shorts. In 2003 it launched the “Superbank” boardshort, which also incorporated an internal compression component. The “Reactor Boardshort” is the first time that the patent-pending Xplosive Technology compression and taping features have been used together.
Like all of Quiksilver’s athletic garments, the “Reactor” shorts are being tried and tested by the company’s team riders.
“Jamie Mitchell [10-time world paddle board champion] is wearing them. Plus a lot of our surfers are using them for training out of the water,” Watson added.—Rhea Cortad
