To take part in the board short summer you don't need a board, an ocean, or the ability to stay upright on a wave. All it takes is knee-length baggy shorts, flip-flops, a faded Quiksilver t-shirt, and ideally the look of someone who just parked a van near the beach.
The phrase was coined by Marie Claire to describe one of the trends of summer 2026: wearing surfers' technical shorts out of the water, paired with shirts, blazers, silk vests, and even heeled shoes. Global Google searches have grown 247 per cent year on year; on Pinterest the magazine reports an increase of 376 per cent, while Depop signals a rise of 302 per cent.
The trend has already reached the runways. Miu Miu showed satin board shorts, Dries Van Noten produced decorated versions, and Louis Vuitton built an eight-metre artificial wave in the centre of Paris to present a collection of wetsuits, boards, and surf shorts.
The secondhand market has followed suit. In the past month, searches for board shorts on Vinted have risen 132 per cent compared to July 2025; on eBay, searches for Quiksilver styles are up 338 per cent since January, and those for O'Neill flip-flops up 686 per cent in a year.
The Guardian went to Newquay, in Cornwall, to ask surfers what they made of people dressed like them. The responses range from amusement to suspicion. For those who actually surf, it means above all cold, sand-filled wetsuits, travel, danger, and many hours spent waiting for the right wave. The risk, the paper writes, is that all of this gets reduced to a form of cosplay. Others acknowledge, however, that the growth of surfwear can bring customers and money to coastal towns.
The success of board shorts says less about a desire to surf than about a desire to look capable of it. People buy shorts, old nineties brands, and flip-flops to wear what surfing represents: freedom, sun, and a life away from screens. The one thing you can't buy on eBay is knowing how to handle a wave.
