The success story of O'Neill as a brand dates back close to fifty years when its founder Jack O'Neill opened his first Surf Shop in a modest garage somewhere along a highway. The original store created everything that was needed to surf and turf, from balsa boards to surfing accessories. It was here that Jack O'Neill first started experimenting with neoprene vests for wetsuits and with a huge following the business of O'Neill as a wetsuit manufacturer came to fruition. By the early 1980’s the original Jack O'Neill Surf Shop had already transformed into an internationally recognized company that sold millions of wetsuits globally and dominated the market trend for the laid back surf lifestyle sports attire that was popular in the Americas, Europe and Japan. 1985 marked the milestone for O'Neill when the company was formally coordinated its international operations and since then O'Neill has become a premier brand for surf items anywhere in the world.