How It Started
Back in 2012, our founder Alec was traveling through El Salvador, and noticed something strange. US billboards had somehow made their way down there, repurposed as roofing on homes and buildings. Durable. Weatherproof. Built to survive a beating.
Being a surfer, it didn't take long to connect the dots. If a billboard could survive a rainy season on a roof, it could survive the dings and scratches a surfboard takes on a normal day.
So the first thing we ever made wasn't a tote. Or a wallet. Or a duffle. It was a surfboard bag.
The First Bag
Alec brought some scrap billboard back to LA and took it to a local auto upholsterer, the kind of shop that usually redoes car seats, not surf gear. That's where the first bag got made. That's where Rareform got started.
After the prototype worked, Alec had a truckload of old billboards delivered straight to his parents' house. Picture that conversation. A driveway buried in vinyl, and a plan that probably didn't sound like much of one yet.
That's not a footnote in our story. It's the whole reason Rareform exists.
Where They Went
No two bags were ever the same, and it turned out neither were the places they ended up.
The waves, the stories, and the adventures each bag is a part of are all unique. That's kind of the point.
Still the Idea Behind Every Bag
Every bag we've made since, totes, slings, duffels, carries the same idea the surf bag started with: take something no one else wanted, and make it part of someone's everyday life.
Original since 2012. Still one-of-a-kind. See you out there.
