Life's A Beach was started in the early 80s by Jeff Theodosakis & brothers Mark & Brian Simo. The Simos worked as tree surgeons, Theodosakis in the restaurant business.
Based in Chicago, the 3 were motocross riders who travelled the circuit & this took them to Florida for a few months each year.
Though ranking competitors they never made much money in the sport.
"We were basically bums," said Thodosakis with a laugh. "We had no jobs really; nothing to occupy our time except training & riding."
During downtime in Florida they'd hit the beach, where they were so offended by the men's nut-hugging swim wear styles
that they were compelled to fashion an alternative: baggy knee length shorts made from...tablecloths & curtains!
These shorts met with a warm reception & the 3 started selling them on the motocross circuit.
They had little success with the Florida stores, however, until a Fort lauderdale shop started selling the shorts during Spring Break.
Boom, they sold their bikes & bought sewing machines & built the business from Chicago until 1985 when they relocated to Carlsbad, California.
They were immersed in the World of what we now know as extreme sports: motocross, surfing, skating, etc.
They made wild styles specially geared to express the energy of these pursuits & showed their support by sponsoring top riders (legends!) in each field,
including championship MX rider Rick Johnson, top surfer Sunny Garcia, BMXer Brian Blyther & star skaters Mark Gonzales & Mike Vallely.
Just as their clothing was unique for it's time, so was this integrated approach; pre X-Games, the Worlds of skating & motocross & BMX were seen as pretty distinct
& L.A.B. was prescient in being involved in all things radical.