This year’s Design for Humanity was all about sequins, pleather and rock and roll! For the third year in a row, Billabong rocked out a sold out crowd at the Avalon, Hollywood for its annual Design for Humanity Charity Event. The charity event gave 100% of ticket sales, in addition to sales from the silent auctions of art and one-of-a-kind designs, to this year’s charity: water, whose mission is to bring fresh drinking water to developing nations by building wells.
The main event: a fashion show with unique and inspiring Billabong swimwear.
This year’s inspiration appeared to be all about classic, head banging, sweat-dripping, rock and roll. A glam rock paradise of sequins, zippers, fringe, neon and pleather strutted down the runway in the form of hot pants and daring one-piece cut-outs. My favorite stand-out piece? A hot pink fringed vest over a skimpy Brazilian cut pleather bikini. Insane!
To top off the rocking swim collection, it was only fitting to follow the show with alt-rockers The Airborne Toxic event and indie pop stars Iglu and Hartly. With hot pants and getting your pants rocked-off, this year’s 3rd annual Design for Humanity was definitely the best yet!
Missed out? Usually I’d say too bad, so sad, but this time you can watch the video and still donate by buying the Billabong Tori Praver bikini. $5 of the sale of this paisley print bikini goes directly to Water, and $5 is enough to give 5 people fresh drinking water for an entire year! Sip on that! Get a the limited edition Tori Praver Bikini HERE.

In case getting a free test drive of some killer new boards, new FCS fins, and the new Rip Curl wetsuit isn’t enough, South Coast added in some Taylor Knox and Tom Curren to show you up in the water. Still not convinced? Free Rip Curl swag. Knew that’d get ya. The only thing you have to worry about is not peeing in the demo suit. But c’mon, you can’t always have your cake and eat it too.

Hot buns and burgers too! What more could you ask for? 

Last Monday L*Space teamed up with the Crow Bar in Corona del Mar for a night of to-die-for burgers and even tastier bikinis. To add to the deathly combo, proceeds from the burger sales went to AmberWatch Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to the prevention of child abduction and molestation. The event left everyone with a belly-full of gourmet goodness, a glimpse at some super cute and unique L*Space bikinis, and a warm fuzzy feeling from doing it all for a good cause. What’s not to love about that?!

Check out some of the featured L*Space bikinis here!

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Hammer pants have made an unexpected comeback. And no one was more surprised about it than these unsuspecting skinny jeans shoppers. If you’re new to the rising flashmob phenomena, prepare to be shocked and amazed.

Irvine, CA – (May 18, 2009) — Billabong USA is proud to announce that highly acclaimed alt-rockers, The Airborne Toxic Event, and indie pop stars, Iglu & Hartly, will perform live at the 3rd Annual Design For Humanity event on June 17, 2009 at Avalon/Bardot in Hollywood. Design for Humanity, Billabong’s charitable initiative, will benefit charity: water (charitywater.org), a non-profit organization that works to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. One hundred percent of ticket sale proceeds will go to charity: water. (more…)

Swell’s most colorful (in terms of nail color and personality) surfer is embarking on an East Coast escapade; surfing, stylin’, and living in a white van down by the river (or wherever he can get away with really). Swell sent him off today with a sparkly banner, clean and freshly stickered van, and two economy-sized boxes of Cheez-Its. 

Read on for more pics and good stuff. (more…)

When: May 7, 6-9pm.* 
Where: Hurley HQ, Costa Mesa, Ca.* 

*See flyer for other dates and locations

The California Surf Project — Quit your job, pack your boards, and surf your way down the California coast….

 Sound like a daydream? The California Surf Project is the fully illustrated travel diary of two surfers who took this trip of a lifetime. Winner of the 2006 Follow the Light Award, Chris Burkard, and Eric Soderquist, a professional surfer, cajoled their Volkswagen bus along Highway 1 from the Oregon border to the Tijuana Sloughs and discovered everything the Golden State’s legendary coastline has to offer. Relive their incredible adventure of surfing perfect waves, sharing campfires with total strangers, and keeping the bus running with duct tape and prayers in more than 200 gorgeous photographs, soulful text, and a professionally produced thirty-minute DVD. This Friday at Hurley Headquarters, check out the movie, art, pictures, and sculptures from the journey and and meet the authors Eric Soderquist and Chris Burkard to talk story.

Taylor Steele’s latest film, “Days of  the Strange”, will make its California debut on Friday, May 8th at the Encinitas Community Center in Encinitas, CA. The $15 per ticket event is a fundraiser for the Kona-California Scholarship, which seeks to help students from Kailua-Kona, HI, pursue higher education on the mainland. The two-screening video premiere will be followed by a performance by the HI Roots, as well as a silent auction and raffle of items generously donated by Quiksilver, Reef, Nike 6.0, Nixon, 808 Stand up Paddleboards, Primo Island Lager, Monster Energy Drink, Clark Little Photography, and John Rowe Photography.

The Encinitas Community Center is located at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive in Encinitas, CA.  Doors will open at 5:30 pm for the all ages showing taking place at 6:00 pm. After the film ends and the first crowd makes their way home, the doors will reopen at 7:15 pm for the age 18 and over second showing, which will occur at 8 pm sharp.

Get the newly released DVD of Days of the Strange HERE

Whoa, back it up! From Hurley’s second edition of Walk the Walk, Hurley’s high school fashion design walk-off, comes this saucy design that urges others to back down. Designed by Virginia Beach’s Lilly West, this is one maxi that does more than just talk the talk. Hurley’s Walk the Walk (WTW) Dress highlights a unique, show-stopping exposed back, costarring this season’s runway Southwestern print and classic girly pointelle cotton. The first to debut in the Hurley collection, this ultra limited edition dress is long on style, but short on supply, so don’t miss out! 

Click to read the more about the designer, Lilly West… (more…)

Brace yourself guys, I’ve got an s-load of information to share. Let’s start with the vitals:

WHAT: The 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is proud to announce its Action Sports Film Series.

WHEN: April 24-30, 2009

WHERE: The Regency Lido Theater at 3459 Via Lido Drive and at Edwards Island Cinema, located at 999 Newport Center Drive in Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

For the big breakdown on the WHY and HOW, keep reading:

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