Kanvas by Katin
Established 1954Founded in 1954 by Nancy and Walter Katin as a small boat cover business, Kanvas by Katin is one of the oldest surf shops in California. Their canvas boat covers were practically bulletproof, using hundred-pound-test, waxed-nylon thread and nickel grommets. They had to be durable as the ocean and it’s effects – salt, wind, water – eroded lesser materials quickly.
In 1957, Corky Carroll – who would go on to be one of the first professional surfers – walked into shop to ask for a new kind of short, made specifically for surfing and using the same indestructible canvas he used for his covers. Out of the sturdy boat canvas previously used for boat covers, Walter created the first pair of Kanvas by Katin surf trunks, possibly the first ever surf trunks made in California. The Katins kept making their surf trunks, selling them from the Surfside store and through a network of surf shop dealers. The business peeked from the 1960s to the 1970s, when virtually every top surfer wore Katins.
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