About Us

A men's surf brand founded in the late 1970s, GOTCHA creates a feeling of nostalgia, combining surfing heritage with key sports and lifestyle trends.

With innovative products and outrageous marketing, GOTCHA is not for the faint-hearted. Now recognized as one of the most influential surf brands of all time, GOTCHA began humbly out of a garage in Laguna Beach, California in 1978. 

The brand's bold colours and even bolder attitude led to a meteoric rise documented by founder and surf legend Michael Tomson. GOTCHA catapulted the surf industry into a new realm, gave it respect and opened up the perception of surf as a legitimate category in apparel. 

Suddenly every major department store in the US had to have surf product on their shelves. Tradeshows turned into near riots with every retailer trying to buy surf product... it was crazy.

 GOTCHA grew, in a short 10 year period, to become one of the largest and most important surf brands in the world.

 And we did it through innovative design and (extremely) bold advertising. The persona we created for the brand was totally unique and modern, unlike anything in the market before us. 

This is why we were recognized with numerous awards for design and art direction. We created product categories that surf shops had never carried before. 

It was an extremely creative period and we feel privileged to have been a part of it.

It's all about attitude! GOTCHA represents the irreverent nature of action sports. 

It celebrated the outdoors and goes beyond sport to serve the lifestyle of those who run toward adventure.

 REBELLIOUS. AUTHENTIC. FRESH. FUN. IRREVERENT. GOTCHA has come to the epitome of the Southern California lifestyle - a chill attitude with a penchant for adventure. 

So relax, enjoy the sun and step into our world. A place where the crash of the Pacific combines with the beats of the city to usher you into the new, the unexpected, the authentic... Welcome to GOTCHA.