Two Quiksilver Alum Announce Unexpected New Nose Décor

It’s no secret that Boardriders — the collective which owns Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC, Element and Vonzipper — is about to get acquired.

Concurrent with their probable ownership change, many of the brands have done a bit of sponsorship juggling — both as a result of expiring COVID contracts and because of internal style changes (see: Quik x Noughties).

Notable changes include a Griffin Colapinto hop from Bong to Quik, and a sayanora to Leonardo Fioravanti and Zeke Lau.

The latter two are what we’re interested in here.

Since October, Leo has done his (generally successful) competitive splashing with a bare nose, uninterested in signing with a brand that didn’t make sense for him long term. 

Now, we have news that the brand has come around, and it’s definitely not who you’d expect — though it’s not completely off-track for Leo.

The Italian, known for wearing Gucci slides and a beaming smile in various ocean adjacent car parks, has signed with a… company that makes rain-jackets?

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K-Way, the Parisian outfit which claims to be the first ever waterproof jacket retailer, has announced their new partnership with Leo via the Gram. 

Despite not being a surf brand whatsoever, the Italian-French pairing seems to suit both parties nicely.

As for Stab’s new amigo, Zeke Lau, he’s fittingly gone the route of heritage — joining locally owned Hawaiian brand AVVA. Started by Kekoa Cazimero — and pronounced “ah-vah” — AVVA is a growing brand focused on “protecting the landscapes and ecosystems that inspired it”.