A Brief History of Mambo: Art, Surf, and Questionable Life Choices

If Mambo were a person, it’d be that sunburnt bloke at the beach bar—shirt half open, beer in hand, telling a wildly inappropriate story that somehow makes you snort-laugh into your drink. Born in 1984, Mambo has spent the last few decades stirring up trouble, making art, and proving that high culture and fart jokes can (and should) coexist.

The Birth of a Beautiful, Weird Beast

It all started when Dare Jennings, a guy with a vision (and probably a healthy disregard for authority), teamed up with David McKay to create a surf-wear brand that didn’t just slap a palm tree on a t-shirt and call it a day. The idea? Inject some art, humour, and anti-establishment energy into a scene that was getting way too serious.

The early days saw Mambo take the surf and skate world by storm, not because it was the biggest or the flashiest, but because it was the most fun. The brand quickly became known for its wild designs, thanks to a band of genius misfits, aka The Mambo Artists—a collective of illustrators, designers, and chaos merchants.

The Art That Made You Look Twice (Then Question Your Sanity)

Mambo wasn’t just about clothes—it was a walking, talking, wearable art gallery. The brand recruited legends like Reg Mombassa, Richard Allan, and Jeff Raglus, whose designs weren’t just eye-catching—they were brain-melting. Think psychedelic surf scenes, irreverent religious parodies, and an almost concerning obsession with dogs that looked like they knew too much.

And then there were the fart jokes. Yep, Mambo’s signature mix of high-art meets toilet humour became a calling card. The idea was simple: why take fashion so seriously when you can slap a dog playing a saxophone on a tee and call it a masterpiece?

Mambo Goes Global (and Gets a Bit Fancy)

By the ‘90s, Mambo had gone from a rebellious upstart to an international sensation. The brand hit peak Aussie pride when it designed the official uniforms for the Australian Olympic team at the 2000 Sydney Games. Let’s be real—those uniforms were easily the most entertaining part of the opening ceremony.

Mambo’s art also found its way into galleries, proving that surf-wear could be just as culturally significant as the stuff hanging in stuffy museums. Who needs oil paintings of kings when you can have a surrealist scene of a dog riding a flaming wave?

The Wild Ride Continues

Like any good surf story, Mambo has had its wipeouts and comebacks. It’s changed hands, evolved, and adapted, but the core spirit remains: a mix of counterculture, artistic insanity, and the kind of humour that makes your mum shake her head disapprovingly.

Whether you grew up wearing a Mambo t-shirt, discovering their weird and wonderful art, or just appreciating a brand that refuses to be normal, one thing’s for sure—Mambo isn’t just a label. It’s a lifestyle choice. A slightly questionable, but very entertaining, lifestyle choice. 

We've finally convinced our designers to grab their pencils and come up with some old, new and frankly, ridiculous designs. t-shirts, hoodies, beanies and much more available now.

So, here’s to Mambo: the brand that proved surf-wear can be art, humour is essential, and there’s no such thing as too many fart jokes.