Built on passion: 50 years of Strapper Surf

PASSION and enthusiasm have long been the foundation of a Torquay surf business now celebrating 50 years.

Strapper Surf hits the major milestone in 2026 and is still “sharing the froth” in the same way it set out to decades ago.

 

Under owner Michael DiSciasio, the brand has grown from a local favourite into a nationally recognised surfing giant.

Along the way, it has collected three Australian Independent Retailer of the Year titles, a Core Board Shop of the Year award and recognition for Best Shop Fit Out.

The much-loved local business was given its start in 1976 by Dennis ‘Strapper’ Day, a Melbourne based creative who came to Torquay in the 1960s.

After working alongside local icon Fred Pyke and later at Rip Curl, Day began shaping boards out of Klemm Bell and Pat Morgan, launching the Strapper name.

Not long after, he crossed paths with a young kneeboarder named Michael DiSciasio.

 

DiSciasio bought his first board as a 15-year-old in 1979. Despite the age gap, the pair quickly formed a connection, with Day inviting him to start making kneeboards.

By early 1980, DiSciasio had quit school, left home and moved to Torquay to fully immerse himself in the industry. He learnt the retail side of the business and every stage of surfboard production.

Soon after, he bought into the company as a junior partner. By 1989, he had taken over entirely.

More than three decades on, he is still at the helm.

“Of all the Surf Coast Highway shops, we are the only Australian-owned business now in the precinct. It’s been a

pretty radical journey,” DiSciasio said.

 

“We’ve always pride ourselves on passion: passion for the surf industry, passion for surfing and passion for our people.

“We love that shared enthusiasm that we share with the consumer, and it’s kept us going and going for decades.”

Across that time, the surf industry has shifted dramatically.

The 1970s carried a sense of “hippy and soul”, followed by the “fluro, colour and radical progression” of the 1980s. The 1990s brought a downturn, with many surf businesses collapsing.

“It was really tough. We did red, black and white logos, and times were really difficult,” Di Sciascio said.

“It was almost gothic, and surfing honestly got a bit more cult.”

The 2000s marked an “explosion” for the industry, with rapid commercial growth turning it into a billion-dollar sector.

 

“The suits became heavily involved – this being the businessmen,” DiSciasio said.

But by the 2010s, DiSciasio said the tension between corporate influence and grassroots culture had deepened. He describes it as a time when the industry was “eating itself but also finding itself”.

“The suit and the salt clashed plenty,” DiSciasio said.

“Corporate ownership came through hard. All the creators all stepped out and sold out. The whole industry got taken over by business managers and hedge funds.

“Twenty-five years ago, you went to every individual business owner who surfed Winkipop that morning or was at the Torquay Pub the night before.”

Today, Strapper stands as one of the last locally owned surf brands.

Reaching 50 years, DiSciasio said, is something he does not take lightly.

“Most marriages don’t last half of that,” he said. “It’s longer than most careers and some don’t make 50 years of life.

 

“To me what it says is that it’s been underwritten by passion and enthusiasm. There was half a dozen times where we should have, could have or nearly went broke. That passion and enthusiasm is what got us through.

“We’ve got such an amazing group who keep the business running because they love what they do.”

When the time comes to step away, DiSciasio hopes the legacy is simple. He hopes people look back and think: “That guy always gave it a crack”.

“I hope that’s what people see in Strapper itself,” he said. “We are just like you. If people are stoked, then that’s our goal.

“We feel part of people’s journey in life because we’ve serviced them in one way or another. We are all barracking for the same team. It’s pretty easy to sit have a beer with you or have a surf.”

Strapper Surf will mark its 50th year with a celebration later this year, alongside the release of a tribute book.