As a surfing and hockey obsessed teen, my friend Grant used to regale me with stories of his older brother, JP Roberts, who gave up his own hockey dreams to chase swells and shape surfboards down in Newport Beach, California.
Once I realized I wasn’t going to be the next Patrick Roy, I channeled my obsession back into surfing and it became a point of pride for me to order all my boards from Russell Surfboards, where JP’s skills as a shaper were blossoming. There’s something special about riding nature’s finest form on a piece of foam your buddy made with his bare hands.
But even more special than the boards was the time I spent watching the boys in the shaping bay hone their craft, and hanging out at the legendary Balboa Blvd. retail shop with JP.
Later, JP became an accidental entrepreneur when his mentor and the larger-than-life owner of Russell Surfboards, Robert “Russell” Brown, passed away unexpectedly. The family passed on a number of offers from the Big Brands and sold the iconic surf shop to JP, who by then had become Russ’s right hand man.
I admired how JP grew the Russell Surfboards community while staying true to his predecessor’s hardworking entrepreneurial roots, and recommitting to making all of his boards in the USA, when many other board companies were taking their manufacturing overseas.
When I got the itch to create a solid pair of American Made trunks, I couldn’t think of a better design partner than JP. Our goal was to stay true to our shared ideals –artisan crafted in America, superior quality, functional, and timeless – with a nod toward vintage.
It took us twice the time and eight prototypes to finally land on our recently launched Brotherhood Utility Trunk collaboration. JP was more than happy to put the prototypes through their paces on his many warm water surf trips, getting these beauties dialed in.
Speaking of beauties – these Brotherhood Utility Trunks are not just a beauty, but a beast –seamlessly modernizing the form and function while keeping that old school hefty feel that’s missing in today’s board shorts.
On the aesthetics side, we landed on a just-above-the-knee cut with a minor scallop in the thigh – a nod to the OG trunks of the early 60’s. We kept the color scheme classic and wearable so you wear these nonstop for a week at the lake – on the water, out to the store for groceries and then to your favorite place for a casual lunch.
On the functional end, pockets were a must for us, and it took some time to get those dialed in. We were hell-bent on toeing the line between true performance boardshorts and functional everyday shorts, and found the happy medium with a throwback style rear pocket plus two full sized hidden side zipper pockets designed to keep your goodies safe on dry land without any unwanted drag when you’re in the water.
The rug that ties the room together is our 100% American Made and Berry Compliant fabric, from our favorite family-owned textile mill, based in Ohio. The 7.2oz stretch woven fabric is highly water repellent, with the ideal secret stretch and recovery (without looking like a “stretch fabric”). It features certified abrasion resistance (military specced) ensuring a hard-wearing trunk that will be your go to for multiple seasons.
When it came to branding our collaboration, the obvious choice was to honor Russell Brown himself by modifying his original logo from 1967 that was dubbed “The Brotherhood” logo - it embodies the idea of the teamwork and brotherhood that’s necessary to get anywhere in life. We guess he’s smiling down on us knowing that his American Made legacy will live on.