How Roxy Redefined Women’s Surfing

Before Roxy, surfing was mostly a boys’ club, endless ads of bronzed guys chasing waves while women’s gear was an afterthought, if it existed at all. Then in 1990, Quiksilver decided to change that. Out of the same surf-soaked DNA that built their brand, they launched Roxy, a line designed specifically for women who lived to ride. It wasn’t pink-and-frilly “surf style.” It was performance gear with personality.

The early days of Roxy felt like a cultural shift. The brand wasn’t just selling bikinis; it was building a new identity for women in the lineup. Their first logo, that mirrored Quiksilver wave forming a heart, was more than clever design. It was a declaration that women belonged in the water just as much as men. Every wave, every ride, every sunburned afternoon said the same thing: this is our space too.

By the mid-’90s, Roxy had become the heartbeat of women’s surf culture. The brand sponsored groundbreaking athletes like Lisa Andersen, whose four consecutive world titles proved that power and femininity could ride the same wave. Andersen wasn’t just a Roxy ambassador, she embodied the brand’s spirit: bold, authentic, and unapologetically competitive.

Roxy’s influence didn’t stop at the shoreline. Their surf videos, events, and fashion blurred the line between sport and lifestyle. The brand’s campaigns showed women not as accessories to surf culture, but as its driving force.

Even decades later, Roxy still represents that same saltwater soul. The logo hasn’t lost its power, and neither has its message. Every girl who zips up a Roxy wetsuit, waxes her board, and paddles out into the lineup carries that legacy with her... the legacy of women who took the waves and made them their own.

Roxy didn’t just join the surf scene. It changed it, turning the ocean into a place where heart and power ride the same wave.