Miley’s been looking real, real good lately, as she’s been spotted looking like the sort of pop princess the world loves to root for. (Are you reading this La Lohan?) So what gives? She’s been wisely taking the styling advice of our very own Jill Kline who was quick to send MC a box full of our fall favorites. Included was Lost Girl’s Lyric T-shirt, as seen above. Send those achey-brakey hearts aflutter, girl!

P.S. The tee was designed by former Swell hottie Theresa LaVelle!

Your favorite eco site and ours, Treehugger.com, recently spread their arms around Propaganda HQ’s main man Vipe Desai during their profile on project BLUE. And as the exclusive online dealer for all project BLUE merchandise, our name and product shots were all over the place. Read the full article here.

Awww shucks, A Grunewald. You make us feel all tingly inside. If you have something you’d like to share, good or bad, we’re all ears. Just shoot us an email here, and if you move us to tears or change our outlook on life we’ll repost your message and send you something special.

Life has taken on new meaning for us at Swell, as we’ve recently introduced Insight to our stellar lineup. For those new to this Aussie-based brand, get ready to have your world rocked. It doesn’t do them near justice to say they’re the next Volcom or Rvca; but you can bet your Wii savings account that their gear will be at the top of your Christmas list. Recently voted as surfing’s “Breakthrough Brand of the Year” and “Men’s Campaign of the Year” for 2008, Insight is well on their way to world domination. (Click on images for a larger view.)

For a company of few (ha ha) words, their styles send a huge message. FEW New Zealand has become a surf apparel staple abroad, and is on track to do the same in the US. And it’s easy to see why. Focusing on bold colors and prints paired with classic and sexy silhouettes, they’re making a major impact on fashionistas who recognize less is more. Intrigued? You should be. And if you want to know more, we strongly recommend picking up two or three pieces to get their whole story. If you look closely, you’ll find hidden messages about their philosophy built into each garment. Better move fast though, ’cause it looks like their secret is already out.

While Brown Sound may be a piece of California gold, they ain’t no Malibu. Focusing on the sights and sounds of NorCal, they’re way more mellow than melodramatic. Now that sounds like music to our eyes.

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“Drop love, not bombs” best describes Fyasko’s artistic street movement philosophy. Encouraging the world to wear it’s canvas, Fyasko’s intense, hyper and detailed graphics inspire as much as they educate. (Are you a friend of Fyasko’s? Paris and Kim K are. See who else is at their myspace page.)

We set our interns loose at the US Open in Huntington Beach, and wouldn’t you know it, some actually came back with footage of the surf. Wow! Not only are they good looking, but they’re smart and professional too. As it turns out, the conditions were actually decent–a total rarity for the event. Taking a break from her all week partying at the Volcom house, Intern Charlotte managed to capture one of the best heats from day 6.

Interns are so much fun. Everyone should have one –or six in our case. In this clip, Intern Andrew shows us that decorating your work space shouldn’t be left to amateurs. (By the way, Andrew is 18 and single. He currently attends Brown and hopes to open Providence’s first ever Wahoo’s. He’s originally from San Clemente, but just don’t ask him if he knows Ryan Sheckler.)

(Click here to see our exclusive Ted Grambeau gallery on Flickr.)

Born the son of a legendary Australian football coach in the late 1950s, Ted Grambeau’s expected destiny was to become a brilliant footballer himself. But thanks to a self-described “lazy” attitude and a fortuitous injury, Ted eagerly sought out his other interest in surf photography. His early subjects were his mates at their local breaks in Wonthaggi and Foster, back then small country towns in Victoria. While a career as a professional surf photographer was almost unheard of at the time, Ted was nonetheless inspired from his friends letters from exhilarating and exotic locations where “…sticks are 15 cents and as thick as your arm.” First starting off in a prestigious Melborne studio under Brian Brandt, the travel bug got the best of Ted as he was soon off to Bali, Africa, Afghanistan and Tahiti. And it’s this desire to journey far out of bounds and to navigate through difficult, even dangerous, situations that has allowed him to be the first choice in travel editorials. (more…)

Oh what a tangled web she weaves. Meet Charlotte, one of our many stellar summer interns. Fresh, funny and always well-put-together, Char is by far the most ambitious character in the office. Currently a double-major undergrad at Fullerton, she hopes to one day end world hunger through generous donations of Jamba Juice. Having been blessed with a great attitude and killer style, she brightens our office with her megawatt smile and an always sunny disposition. Here, she tells us how Swell couldn’t survive without her.

Our summer internship program launched a few weeks ago, and so far this season’s crop has blown us away. After pouring over countless submissions, we found Nicki’s to be one of the most creative and compelling. Fresh from an amazing merchandise and apparel grad school program in Italy, Nicki has turned out to be way more fashionable than Whitney and a whole lot smarter than LC. As our resident know-it-all for surf industry gossip and anything not hot, here Nic fills us in on why working at Swell is so freaking awesome.

We’ve been busy creating all sorts of chaos lately, starting with the new look and feel of our home page. Can you dig it? Huge, huge props to our talented designers for turning a nightmare into a stunning reality. Now you can easily click through to all our promotions, sales, featured brands, contests and social networking sites. Also, be on the lookout for our new late summer catalog. Our shelves are loaded with new clothes and gear you won’t see anywhere else. Check back daily as new product is arriving on the hour.

After much cajoling and a few death threats, we’ve decided to give you all VIP access to our world famous models. Here, you can observe them in their natural habitat as they behave coyly and restrained for our cameras. Let us tell you this was no easy task, as we had to encourage them for hours with Starbucks and Hills reruns to come out of their cages.

As part of our never ending quest to continuously bring you the best and brightest, may we proudly introduce: Factor 54. Keeping a steady eye on servicing the needs of “unchained youth,” F54 has come up from the underground with standout graphics and styles that link the streets to action sports lifestyles. See if you can get what they’re saying:

“Out of the abyss and into the fire, with all the fury of a hundred aped up saber-toothed cobras behind the wheel of a nitro-fueled fire chicken on a death race to nowhere, comes Factor 54. A doomsday chariot piloted by freaks and zombies with a penchant for not-so-niceties and the ability to blow your mind like a flame-kissed powder keg floating in a sea of gasoline. Pungent belches of neon and the searing spew of huh-whatness pepper the minds eye of today’s unchained youth and quell the conformity in the hunt for individuality. Like the green, sea-legged ewe trying to free itself from the hypnotic stranglehold gaze of the viper wolf, it’s resistance is futile, save for the secret weapon: the poisoned tip halftone honey-dipped brain arrows of “breath of fresh air”edness. Our frope cloaks are the stocked quiver that’ll make any sucker shiver.”

InDecision 2008 officially launched this morning. (Along with a lot of jokes about stuffing the box.) Log on to the Surfer Poll website to cast your vote for the biggest winners of the year. Power to the people, y’all.

Taylor Steele’s latest and greatest, Stranger Than Fiction, is about to embark on its world tour with the first stop hitting La Paloma in Encinitas on June 20. The complete tour dates are as follows:

Friday, June 20th- La Paloma Theatre: 471 S. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Sunday, June 22nd - Hurley Headquarters: 1945 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92672

Tuesday, June 24th - South Coast Cinema: 162 S. Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Saturday, June 28th - Saint Rocke: 142 Pacific Coast Hwy, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

Friday, July 11th- Ventura High School: 2 North Catalina, Ventura, CA 93001

Wednesday, June 25th - Rio Theatre: 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Wednesday, June 25th - Balboa Theater: 3630 Balboa St at 38th Ave., San Francisco, CA

Friday, June 27th- Minor Theater: 1037 H St., Arcata, CA 95521

Thursday, July 10th- High Dive: 513 N. 36th, Seattle, WA 98103

Thursday, July 3rd- Next Door: 43 N. Hotel St., Honolulu, HI

It just goes to show that it pays to bitch and moan. Whether it was our hard-hitting blog post, the increasing public pressure, or the potential $$$ signs became to sexy to ignore, Billabong (finally) gave Greg Long and offer he couldn’t refuse. This past week, the Mav’s champ and two-time XXL winner inked a deal that will have him rocking the ‘Bong, Xcel Wetsuits, and VonZipper. Surfline has more.

Though formally founded in 2003 by South Bay surfer and artist Andrew Sarnecki, HippyTree more accurately began in early 2000 with a twenty-one-year-old Sarnecki who, at the time, sported waist-length dreads and a car full of spray-paint cans, surfboards and cameras. “Hippy,” the name Sarnecki’s friends fittingly called him, also marked his half-ironic graffiti moniker. (more…)

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ front man Flea is scheduled to host an important night of art, music and film to benefit Surfers Healing Autisim. The exhibition titled “The Environmentally Stupid” will feature works from Quiksilver’s contemporary artists Dana Louise Kirkpatrick and Isaiah Paskowitz, photographers Michael Muller and David Scharff, and filmmakers Pat R. Notaro III and Alejandro DeMetrius. The event will take place on Saturday, May 31, 2008 from 8pm - 11pm at Quiksilver’s siteLA, located at 2252 Sunset Blvd.

The long awaited new digital edition of FOAM Magazine has launched, and it’s their best issue ever. Even their therapist thinks so.

Although you can’t tell from all the monkeying around, the scene a few weekends ago at Riviera Beach was actually a memorial in disguise as friends and family of the late Tim Dowell gathered for the fourth annual costume surf contest in his honor. Organized by his brother John, a surf coach at San Clemente High, the just-for-laughs event has in competitors ride “retro” surfboards from the 1970s and 80s while decked in their full costume attire. Hit the jump to see more photos, or click here for coverage from the OC Register. (more…)

In this our first installment of our PROFILES category, we talk with North Shore lensman Jim Russi. We were lucky enough to have Jim shoot all of the action shots for our Summer ‘08 catalog, including the much talked about cover. Here, Jim opens up about the pros and cons of going digital, and the future of “quality” surf photography.

As a graduate of a prestigious American photography school, how important is formal education is to a successful career in photography?
The most important thing I learned at Brooks was to finish strong with what I had started…. even when the assignment wasn’t fun anymore.
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Several weeks ago we had mentioned that Surfrider had just moved their global headquarters to our hood in San Clemente. (Excuse us, Rancho San Clemente.) They were nice enough to invite us to their open house where we dined on chocolate chip cookies and Stone Brewery’s IPA. As impressive as the spread was, we noticed that throughout their digs small signs were posted that explained the enviro-conscious construction of the building’s design and materials. As you might guess, every square inch was given painstaking attention to ensure that it held up to their high, high, high standards. We asked Olaf Lohr, Surfrider’s membership manager, if he could send us the full details on the build-out. Needless to say, our crappy recycling bins and energy saving light bulbs are pathetic to what they have done. Thanks for ruining our day Olaf! We’ll be thinking of you before we jump out the window. (And no, they’re not the fancy energy efficient, temperature controlled ones like you have.) Go to the jump to view more pictures and read the complete build-out specs.

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How hot does our mom look these days? We keed, we keed. But if our mom or sister came even close to looking this stunning, we’d proudly display their image on our board. And thanks to Headline Graphics, you can too. Based in Cardiff-By-The Sea, HG is giving it their all to revolutionize surfboard adornment through a process called PhotoCloth in which art can be transfered to a fiberglass cloth. The result is a highly vibrant display that is guaranteed never to fade. So you better think twice before memorializing your fondness for anything, as the art is sure to last longer than your relationship will.

If you haven’t already heard on CNN, NPR or Club Jenna, our Summer 2008 catalog dropped last week. Big, big props to our warehouse crew for working those non-stop 48 hours getting the shelves ready, and then another 72 hours fulfilling all the new orders. We thought they we’re going to bitch but we promised them Pinkberry and Red Bulls, and they went straight to work. You might notice a few changes with this latest catalog, namely the size, the introduction to our new W/O line and Alt_Brands section, and the profile on legendary North Shore lensman Jim Russi. One of the biggest names in the game, Russi has been at it for over 30 years and is responsible for some of the most memorable advertising campaigns in surfing’s history. Probably best known for his longtime role with Roxy, Russi has also served as Senior Staff Photographer for all the major US surf publications. We were lucky enough to have him shoot all of the featured action shots, including the cover seen above. Be on the lookout for a Q&A with Russi in an upcoming post.

It’s on! Only Christmas, high school graduation and your dream bachelor party rolled into one could make for day slightly better. Channel Islands will kick off the first leg of their demo tour on April 26 at Seaside in Cardiff By The Sea. You, your mother and your brother are all invited to test the new prototypes that are being considered for the 2009 line. Al himself will be attending each event and is anxious for some serious feedback. And plenty of porta-potties will be on site for anyone who thinks they might pee their pants.