Video: History of Neff Headwear

California is widely known for two things—good vibes and grand innovation— so it couldn’t be more fitting that Neff Headwear is the headwear brainchild of a west coast lifer, Shaun Neff.

He, like many young snowboarders and skaters, had some awesome ideas for t-shirts but could never compete with the giant paychecks offered by the premier clothing companies for the respective sports and their athletes. Determined to get his name out there, Shaun entrepreneurially examined the contracts of some top pros to find them riddled with loopholes, leaving the domes of many athletes up for grabs. He immediately shifted his focus to hats and headbands—leaving the rest to history.

Neff’s fun-loving image and bright colors are now often found wrapped around the best surfers, skaters, and snowboarders like Torstein Horgmo, Chris Bradshaw, Scotty Lago, Nick Trapasso, Greg Lutzka, and Kolohe Andino— quite the all-star lineup for all three major boardsports, due not only to their attention-grabbing duds but also to their quality craftsmanship.

This little hat company that started in 2002 has also grown their collection to include all sorts of accessories. Neff now offers gloves, facemasks, shades, headphones and belts to please every shredder under the sun, around the globe. This rider-owned and operated company is a true feel-good small business success story, especially when you measure your benchmarks outside of your industry, like when Lil’ Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and Kid Cudi all rock your gear.