With a sea of supporters clad in Hawaiian print shirts, the Hoffman family gathered in front of two shining bronze statues – a memory of two surf industry pioneers and the family’s patriarchs.
The city of Dana Point unveiled on Thursday, July 31, two new additions to its collection of life-size bronze statues in Waterman’s Plaza, its garden dedicated to surf legends and innovators from the beach town.
Brothers Walter Hoffman and Philip “Flippy” Hoffman – big wave riders and pioneers of Hoffman California Fabrics – can now be seen alongside Pacific Coast Highway, standing tall with a signature longboard and abalone shell. Fittingly, Flippy Hoffman is memorialized wearing a tank top and printed shorts, and Walter Hoffman a classic Hawaiian print shirt and shorts.
“It’s just so incredible,” Walter Hoffman’s daughter, Robin Hoffman-Haack, said of the statue honors. “Not just for the surfing world, but that my dad and my uncle were so inspirational in building the whole surf culture.”
The Hoffman brothers were surfboard builders, big wave riders and are credited with bringing Hawaiian prints to the mainland.
The sons of Rube Hoffman — founder of California Fabrics — Walter and Flippy Hoffman found their love of the fabric and family business through surfing on the North Shore of Oahu.
After spending time surfing big waves, the two brothers returned to Southern California to take over the family business and bring Hawaiian surf culture with them.
“Walter discovered Hawaiian print shirts, and suddenly there was a fabric to develop that was connected to surfing,” Executive Director of the California Surf Museum Jim Kempton said, adding that conveniently for research purposes, “of course, Walter would have to visit Hawaii several times a year, and Bali and Tahiti.”
California Fabrics — which later became Hoffman California Fabrics — supplied big-name surf brands such as Quicksilver, Billabong, O’Neill and Ocean Pacific. Alongside these brands, the Hoffman brothers revolutionized modern surf culture and clothing.
“If this was the aviation industry, these guys would be the Wright brothers,” Kempton said.
The various statues in Waterman’s Plaza across from Doheny State Beach honor surf innovators, champions, artists and industry leaders, including icons Hobie Alter, Phil Edwards, John Severson and Bruce Brown — all who had their start in Dana Point alongside the Hoffman brothers.
“It’s the right family to honor and celebrate in this plaza,” Dana Point Mayor Matthew Pagano said. “What these guys have done for the industry and modernity of surf culture, it’s really harking back to the work they did early on.”
The Hoffman legacy in the surf world continued with Walter Hoffman’s daughter, Joyce.
Joyce Hoffman broke surfing records and barriers as a woman in the sport. She was honored with her own statue in Waterman’s Plaza in 2022.
“It was humbling enough just to have my stature there, and now they have my dad and uncle,” Joyce Hoffman said. “It is even more humbling.”
All of the statues at Waterman’s Plaza have been sculpted by artist Bill Limebrook. Limebrook grew up on the same street as Walter and Flippy Hoffman, which helped him honor their memory with the statues, he said.
“When we were kids, surfing was everything to us and these guys were superstars,” Limebrook said. “Here I am toward the end of my life, getting to honor the guys that were my mentors, and I get paid to do it.”
Limebrook said the next statues to be put in Waterman’s Plaza are surfers and surfboard shapers Micky Munoz and Terry Martin.
Walter and Philip Hoffman were inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach in 2006. Flippy Hoffman died in 2010 at the age of 80; Walter Hoffman died last year at the age of 92.
You can view the statues at Waterman’s Plaza or see a live rendition of some of them at this year’s Pageant of the Masters, which is featuring four of Limebrook’s bronze statues among the art pieces the Laguna Beach show brings to life with actors.
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