Surfing has changed so much since 1954, when Greg Noll first began surfing on Oahu’s North Shore. It’s nice knowing that some things, like a durable pair of boardshorts, haven’t strayed far from their original form.

When Billabong re-released a limited edition of Greg Noll’s iconic black and white, striped trunks, Noll signed off on them– literally– as fit for the type of waves that he built his reputation surfing.

In his classic, bullish style, Noll stated, “When you slide down the face of a 25 foot wave, they’re guaranteed not to blow the ass out, so if you do– on that 25 foot wave– you can bring ‘em back and get another pair.”

Greg Noll-60 from Billabong USA on Vimeo.