With heavyweights like Mossimo, Billabong and Hurley padding her resume, it's no surprise Lian Murray decided to branch out on her own and create a high end surf clothing line. Along with partner Ziggy Williams - a former Billabong and Hurley designer and avid surfer - Murray launched Aqua VI in April 2005 for men and women ages eighteen to twenty-four who care as much about making waves with their trendy outfits as they do about catching waves with their surfboards. Williams, who Murray has known since he was a child, has a flair for fashion that inspires many of the Aqua VI's clothes. His expertise lies in the denim department, and he heads the men's division of Aqua VI.

Aqua VI's motto is "uncharted waters," and Murray is definitely traveling in them with her line. Embellished with rivets, metal studs, sequins, jewelry detailing, silk fabrics, and leather trim, Aqua VI shirts and other clothing are not your typical, teeny bopper surfer gear. They're also not sold for your typical surfer prices - the jeans are around $150.

Murray is based in Orange County, CA, which I consider to be a surfing hotspot. I base this information solely on my experience as an avid, obsessive watcher of The OC (R.I.P.) and Laguna Beach, in which everyone who is anyone either surfs or goes to the beach to watch their crushes surf. So, it stands to reason that Murray is in the perfect position, geographically and professionally speaking, to deliver the best clothes for those who live a beach-centric life, as well as those who just want to look like they do.

The main goal of Aqua VI's founders is to cater to an under-served portion of the market. What are the men and women who wore Hurley, Billabong and Mossimo as children and teenagers supposed to wear once they get older? For a long time, there was no specialty line to ease surfer dudes and dudettes from scruffy teendom to conservative adulthood. Hence, Aqua VI.

"I definitely feel that there's a niche that needs to be filled," Murray has said. "It {the boardsports apparel industry} is aimed at kids--twelve- to fourteen-year-old surf groms. As they get older, they still love the surf/skate image, but they want to represent something with a little more style."

Murray hopes they'll buy Aqua VI, which is available in specialty boutiques nationwide and Nordstrom.

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