ONeill

First Ever Wetsuit

Jack O'Neill – Inventor of the first ever wetsuit – "I just wanted to surf longer"

After growing up on the West Coast of the United States, Jack O'Neill settled in Northern California as a young man. Inspired by the awe-inspiring natural beauty of the NorCal region, Jack found it increasingly agonizing to make a living as a window and skylight salesman. In particular, Jack felt an especially strong bond with the rugged NorCal coastline and untamed ocean, and was spending as much time as possible in the bone-chilling water. Whether Jack was surfing, body surfing, swimming or sailing, the ocean provided him with a welcome release from everyday pressures.

The more time Jack spent in the ocean, the more time he spent researching and developing a solution to the problem posed by the waves of Northern California: how to withstand the sub-50° water temperatures for longer periods. Jack wasted little time in rising to the challenge posed by Mother Nature, shifting his creative and innovative mind into gear. Reflecting on those first years of experimentation with plastics, as well as his reputation as the pioneer of what became the world's first wetsuit, Jack summarizes the seemingly insurmountable challenge he faced with beautiful simplicity: "I just wanted to surf longer."

He started with flexible plastic foam, one of many technological developments to emerge from World War II (O'Neill served in the Army Air Corps). Sandwiching the porous material between thin sheets of plastic, Jack stuffed it into his trunks and discovered that at least part of him stayed warm. It was hard stuff to work with and almost impossible to weld together, but he was starting to get interested. When he discovered neoprene foam carpeting the aisle of a DC-3 passenger plane, he knew he was in business. Literally.

First Surf Shop

It was in 1952 that Jack opened the first Surf Shop in a garage across the Great Highway. He shaped a few balsa surfboards and sold accessories like paraffin wax and a few vests he started gluing together from neoprene. When the vests started selling, Jack decided to go into the wetsuit business. His friends laughed. They asked him what he planned to do for business after the handful of surfers in the area had bought one. Jack said he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

The Surf Shop became a local gathering place, and the number of surfers began to grow. O'Neill flew in talented surfer/shapers like Phil Edwards to make boards, and wetsuit sales climbed. Jack developed designs for a shorty and a long john, and eventually a long-sleeved beaver-tail jacket. Soon surfers were riding more waves, and riding them better, in large measure because they could now enjoy longer sessions in cold water, thanks to Jack's neoprene suits.

O'Neill was founded in a San Francisco highway garage by Jack O'Neill in 1952. From that point forwards, the brand has become synonymous with the region in which it originated, and is now widely regarded as the original Northern California surf and snow brand.

Since those humble beginnings more than 55 years ago, the brand has always remained inextricably linked to the unique natural and ideological climate of Northern California – a true product of its environment.

Characterized by its beautiful and wild coastline, redwood forests and snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, NorCal's rugged natural environment, monster waves, frigid water temperatures and ferocious snow blizzards represent Mother Nature in her rawest form.

From the outset, Jack's love of surfing and pioneering spirit came to encapsulate all that the brand stood for. Importantly, Jack's unwavering spirit of innovation was also indicative of a seismic shift in NorCal's ideological climate of the time. Inspired by the free-spirited hippy movement of the 1960's, NorCal became the epicenter of an ideological phenomenon: the freethinkers' revolution.

This new and exciting ideological climate transformed the region into a veritable breeding ground for progressive thinking. Established academic institutions including the University of Berkeley thrived to their full potential, while NorCal quickly became a center for technological innovation as Silicon Valley prospered under an ideological climate that remains favorable decades later. To this day, O'Neill reaps the benefits of being in the right place at the right time.

These are just some of the factors that have contributed to making O'Neill the most innovative and forward-thinking active lifestyle brand today.

For that, we thank Northern California.