Water Girl, Patagonia’s sister company, has officially combined efforts with Patagonia’s Ocean Division. Moving forward, Water Girl and Patagonia’s Ocean Division will work together to provide a fully-fledged line of water-sports apparel for men and women. Water Girl will parallel design efforts with the Ocean Division in the creation of a full offering of swimwear, sportswear and water-specific clothing for female ocean athletes. Patagonia’s Ocean Division was created one year ago upon the signing of professional surfers Dan, Keith and Chris Malloy, and legendary Pipeline master, Gerry Lopez. At that time, Patagonia committed to creating an authentic line of ocean clothing and accessories.

With this move, Water Girl also adds two impressive members to the Patagonia Ocean Team – Mary Osborne or Ventura, Calif. and Belinda Baggs of Noosa, Australia. Both professional surfers, Mary and Belinda represent strength, beauty and style and have an incredible amount of respect among international surf communities. Osborne, 23, an established professional longboard surfer, will be a crucial component in Water Girl’s and Patagonia’s Ocean Division’s success. With her high-profile presence on both TV and in surf competitions, Mary will work to promote Water Girl and Patagonia’s Ocean line worldwide.

“My heart has always been with Water Girl and Patagonia. I love that Water Girl represents strong, beautiful, hard-core water women,” noted Osborne, “There’s no other surf brand that is totally functional in the water, looks great on and is environmentally sensitive. Plus, with the diverse background of Water Girl’s and Patagonia’s Ocean ambassadors, I truly believe we can work together to create the best product out there for ocean athletes.”

Belinda Baggs, will also work to make a dramatic impact in the promotion and creation of the Water Girl product lines. Splitting her time between Malibu, Calif. and Australia, Belinda is known for a clean, classic style that will translate perfectly to the Water Girl brand. Belinda’s unique noseriding and overall water skills set her above other female longboarders and earned her worldwide respect as an ocean athlete. Belinda and Mary join an already strong team of Water Girl surfers including Maureen Drummy of San Clemente, Calif., Crystal Thornburg of the North Shore of Oahu and Claire Karabatsos of Biarritz, France.

Water Girl will continue to follow in Patagonia’s footsteps, aiming to “make the best product, cause the least amount of harm and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Water Girl uses only 100% organic cotton in their clothing and 1% of all sales is given to grassroots environmental organizations. Founded in 1998 by Patagonia’s owner Yvon Chouinard, Water Girl is committed to creating apparel that is specifically designed for the physiques of ocean athletes – pieces are flattering, functional and durable. Patagonia’s Ocean Division collection is not gender specific and will be a celebration of the waterman/woman lifestyle. The Ocean Division’s line is set to launch in spring of 2006.