Ocean Pacific OP...still pretty cool?

The late 70's is when my ocean life started. Op was huge and going to the Op Pro every year was just bitchen! I can still recall Tom Curren's boards with the big Op sponsor laminate on the nose. Back on 3/7/2008 in bfS Commentary, we asserted that Op has done almost nothing cool since the late 70s or early 80s. Mainly, Op stopped creating classic cord shorts and pants, and bitchen print tees. Only back then, it was really the style, not retro-is-the-in-thing garbage. Then the Op Pro was discontinued. Finally, some mega clothing company (likely based in the eastern U.S.) tries their hand at sustaining Op. This was certainly the end of an era.

Through the past few years, Op has been trickling stuff back into the retail stores. I honestly don't think, though, a single indepedent surf shop within a mile of a surfing beach actually carries Op clothes. So, in the past 4 years, I've seen Op at Costco, Wal-mart, and Nordstorm. The Op clothes at Nordstrom were excessivly overpriced, like everything at Nordstrom is. This was kind of like "re-introduce classic Op at nordstrom with exhorbitant prices so well-heeled metrosexuals can buy the stuff and pretend they surf". The Op clothes at Costco have generally just been very lame, except for a few shirts one time. Now the latest Op clothes have shown up at wal-mart. This effort is big, as evidenced by lots of web ads and relatively large floorspace in the stores dedicated to Op.



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I've got to say, though, these Op clothes at wal-mart hold the closest promise to anything remotely similar to the Op clothes from the 70's and 80's. I think this is actually due to the latest trend that "the 80's are back in". Maybe Op actually hired someone who surfed back in 1976 for their expert opinion on design. While O'neill and Quiksilver are busy churning out retro plaid by the ton, Op seems to be getting back to their roots. Op has come up with some collar shirts that could be mistaken as leftovers (classic ones) from the 70s and early 80s. Op has also created some ladies tote bags that are way 70s looking (and they even look worn a bit). Still, though, no nut-huggin cord shorts and pants. Saldy, the Op bags are made in China. There are also some printed t-shirts with some old-school looking prints (hippy-ish surfers on, but no hot babes). Maybe this is kind of a sell-out, but the stuff looks kind of original (except for rather lame printed and sewn-on references to "1972", when Op was founded.).

I don't think we'll ever see anything as cool as The Op Pro again, Tom Curren's Op-sponsored boards, or Thomas Magnum-length cord shorts, but they are headed in the right direction. Finally. Ok, on to some photos of Op stuff...