FOR A long time, to southern eyes at least, the term "Queensland fashion" was an oxymoron.

This state, the knockers said, had no more to recommend itself in the sartorial stakes than frumpy floral frock-wearing women and white-shoed, safari-suited men like Gold Coast mayor Sir Bruce Small and Sanctuary Cove developer Mike Gore.

Things have changed, particularly in the past decade, and our fashion industry attracts national and international kudos.

Designers such as Lydia Pearson and Pam Easton regularly show their collections in Paris, newcomers Sara Jane Clark and Heidi Middleton of Sass & Bide have captured celebrity fans such as Kylie Minogue and Elle Macpherson, and designer Hwa Sook Lee's Bora Couture label is a huge hit in Asia. But the real success for Queensland fashion, certainly in terms of sales and marketing, has been in beach gear  —  the nearest thing we have to a national dress.

If you can't chase the sun or ride the waves, at least you can dress like you do.

Two of Queensland's biggest names for beach and leisurewear are Brothers Neilsen and Billabong.

In 1971 young surfers Paul, right, and Rick Neilsen pooled their money with their dad, Bill, and opened their first store in Surfers Paradise.

It was all about surfboards in the beginning, but now the company sells anything a hip sun, sand and surf worshipper could want.

Billabong also emerged in the 70s, when Gordon Merchant, left, and his wife, Rena, started cutting out boardshorts on their kitchen table from material they kept under the bed.

They pounded the pavements with their products, selling to surf shops and at flea markets. Now Billabong sells in 60 countries and chalks up annual sales of $400 million.

But before Billabong and Brothers Neilsen, the hottest Queensland-made fashion item was a Paula Stafford bikini.

If you owned one of these, you instantly belonged to the "in" crowd. Paula, who studied dress design in Melbourne, started cutting swimsuits in half when she was 16: She took the scissors to a yellow, American-made swimsuit given to her by a favourite aunt (after asking her aunt's permission). "It just wasn't comfortable the way it was," she recalls. "I'd made two-pieces before, but that was probably the first almost bikini one."

Not that it was actually called a bikini then. The name, taken from a South Pacific atoll, was first given to Frenchman Louis Reard's daring designs in 1946.

At that time Paula Stafford was living in Surfers Paradise with her husband, Beverley, and running beach-based businesses, including hiring out plywood and canvas windbreaks.

She also made two-piece swimsuits with tie-sides for herself and her three daughters. So many people asked where she'd got them, she started making them to order, sometimes cutting them out on a piece of plywood on the beach.

She started business in the attic of her house and, as demand grew, opened a shop downstairs.