In the late 1950s, Nancy and Walter Katin were in the business of making canvas boat covers, and the $7 billion surf wear industry of today was all but unimaginable. Yet one day a young man came into the Katins shop in Surfside California, complaining of the difficulty in finding a pair of swim shorts durable enough to stand up to the then-quirky pastime of surfboard riding. Walter went to his sewing machine and with of the sturdy boat canvas and whipped up the first pair of Kanvas by Katin surf trunks. The surfer was stoked. This famous story and popularity of the Katin surf trunks grew and grew. Word of Nancy and Walter's creation quickly spread up and down the coast, and the Katins were suddenly in the surf trunk business. The American surf wear industry was born. Quality, durability, and good look was long the Katin motto and it's that attention to detail which continues to separate Katin from the rest of the surfing pack. And so they remained, even as other companies came and went. The Katins kept making their high quality surf trunks, selling them from the surfside store and through a network of surf shop dealers all over the western hemisphere. And despite a growing legion of followers, the Katin quality remains stronger than ever.

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