John Florence’s brand is riding the Olympic surfing wave

Surfing is more popular than ever. Can Florence’s namesake brand succeed where other surf brands have failed?

When John Florence paddles out for the surfing competition of the Olympic Games Paris, which starts this weekend, he’ll be more than 9,000 miles away from the host city. That’s because the surfing venue is at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, in French Polynesia, one of the world’s most famous—and remote—surf breaks in the southern Pacific Ocean.