Shred Threads is our fashion rack: boardshorts, aloha shirts, post-session layers and surf-town style, from heritage makers to small independent labels.
SuFu Approved · Heritage Maker
Birdwell Beach Britches
Quality is our gimmick.
- Websitebirdwell.com
- HometownSanta Ana, California
- Founded1961, by Carrie Birdwell Mann
- MadeHandmade in the USA, at Birdwell’s Santa Ana factory
★ Still made in the USA ★
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The Birdwell logo is a trademark of Birdwell Beach Britches. It appears here only to identify the vendor. Surfing Fukcs is not affiliated with Birdwell, and we earn nothing from this link.
The Birdwell Mini Shop Story
From a living-room sewing machine to 65 years of American-made boardshorts
- 1961 · Santa AnaCarrie Birdwell Mann sewed the first pair of Birdwell Beach Britches on her sewing machine at home in Santa Ana. Surfers’ canvas shorts were wearing out from salt and sand, so she built something tougher.[1][2]
- The fabricShe found the idea in the sailboats at nearby Newport Beach. Spinnaker cloth was light and tougher than canvas, and two-ply nylon resisted abrasion. She later worked with an East Coast mill on a fabric made just for Birdies: SurfNyl®.[1][2]
- First customersNewport Beach lifeguards wore them first. Then word spread among surfers. The first big order was 100 pairs for a Huntington Beach store, so she hired one seamstress and put her family to work. Her living room doubled as a store.[1][3]
- The mottoBirdwell ran regular ads in Surfer magazine, and Surfer publisher Steve Pezman came up with the motto “Quality is our gimmick.”[1]
- The factoryBirdwell soon moved into a factory in Santa Ana and has stayed there ever since. Cutting, sewing and patterns all happen under one roof, and a pair of boardshorts goes through 35 operations on its way down the line.[3][4]
- 2014 · New stewardsLongtime fans Matt Jacobson, Geoff Clawson and skate legend Natas Kaupas bought the company from the Birdwell family. They kept the Santa Ana factory and its seamstresses, some of them hired back in the ’60s.[5][6]
- Today · Still USA madeBirdwell says it has been “hand-making boardshorts in the USA since 1961.” Its 310, 312, 806 and 808 boardshorts are listed as “Made in the USA” and come with a lifetime guarantee on workmanship and materials.[7][8]
Shop Birdwell
Prices as listed on birdwell.com, checked Oct 28, 2026. Product names, images and the Birdwell logo are trademarks/property of Birdwell Beach Britches, shown with credit and linked to birdwell.com; removed promptly on request.
Sources
- Birdwell: “In California #018: In Celebration of Carrie Birdwell Mann” (Mar 19, 2021)
- Birdwell: The Story of SurfNyl®
- Birdwell: Matt Hranek, Factory Tour (WM Brown)
- Birdwell: The Dazzling Blue #24, a tour through the Birdwell factory
- Easy Reader: “New owners protect Birdwell’s half century legacy”
- The New York Times: “How a Facebook Executive Revived a Fading Surf Brand” (Mar 8, 2017)
- Birdwell: About Us and the birdwell.com home page
- Birdwell: FAQ (lifetime guarantee) and the 310/312/806/808 product pages
More coming soon
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