Summer is here, and with it the annual scramble to decide what kind of season we’re supposed to be having. The most plausible contender is “board short summer”, a phrase coined by Marie Claire, which broadly involves dressing like you surf even if you’ve never set foot on a board.
From Catwalk to High Street
Marie Claire’s declaration came after a Miu Miu show that featured satin board shorts. There have also been sparkly board shorts at Dries Van Noten and a flurry of flip-flops on the catwalks at Chloé, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta. On the high street, the bestselling shorts this summer, according to Uniqlo, are long and board-like, while Asos is selling a blue baseball cap embroidered with the words “surf instructor”.
The pièce de résistance came from Louis Vuitton, which built an artificial wave 8 metres high in the centre of Paris as the backdrop to a collection of board shorts and wetsuits for its show in June.
What Real Surfers Think
“People think they have to dress a certain way in order to be accepted,” says Delphine Gwilliam-O’Connor, 28, an artist and surfer from Newquay. “It’s not so much people copying the look that might bother surfers. It’s the attitude they think needs to come with it. I surf but don’t really dress like ‘a surfer’. I just wear relaxed stuff. I think most of us do.”
Ben “Skindog” Skinner, 42, a renowned surfer and board carver, says: “You see it a lot – certain brands wanting to be part of the surfing image, and I think it just goes in cycles of fashion, like a lot of clothing.” What does he make of board short summer? “It’s funny, because [in Britain] we don’t really get to surf in shorts very often. We tend to wear wetsuits all year round. I prefer to wear something that keeps me warm.”
Surfing as a Lifestyle
Maddie Meddings, 31, a photographer who has been surfing for 17 years, isn’t surprised the style has been co-opted. “As subcultures go, it’s a very aesthetic one,” she says. “If you’re a surfer, you’re outside, on the beach, getting a nice tan. Most people don’t live like that.”
“Consumers aren’t just buying into surfing as a sport; they’re buying into what it represents,” says Mia Jacobs, a youth fashion strategist at trend forecaster WGSN. “As daily life becomes increasingly digital and fast-paced, any aesthetic associated with a more carefree way of living is highly aspirational.”
But Skinner notes: “The reality of surfing is hard. It all looks nice on Instagram but most of the time it’s about putting on sandy wetsuits in cold weather and just getting on with it.”
The Secondhand Boom
While surfwear is growing in high fashion and on the high street, it has already taken off on the secondhand market. In the last month, searches for board shorts have increased by 132% on Vinted compared to July 2025. On eBay, searches for Quiksilver board shorts have gone up by 338% since January, while searches for O’Neill flip-flops have grown 686% since last July.
As Wevs, a local surfer and former lifeguard, puts it: “It’s the best thing in the world, but it’s dangerous and it’s hard. You need to have lived the life.”
