Quik-witted

Supplying Puff Daddy's underpants may not seem like a prerequisite for success in the eyewear business but for those into action sport and street style it's not a bad place to start. Chris Bennett reports

Quiksilver started out as a supplier to the extreme sports sector in the US seven years ago. It quickly made a name for itself and gathered a cult following into the bargain from a young and dedicated band of followers.

In those seven years it has become the fourth biggest sports brand in the world with sales of $1.3bn. Three years ago the firm expanded its clothing and extreme sports hardware business into optical frames.

In the UK Quiksilver's technical and optical business is establishing a new hardware division headquarters in an old boat yard on the Exe estuary in Devon from where the company's extensive ranges of sunwear and optical frames are distributed. The headquarters in a wooden-clad building include a show area where all manner of hats, camouflage swimwear, laid-back bicycles and boards of every design, colour and shape reside.