Surfer wetsuits hanging out to dry on a sidewalk clothes rack on Orchard Street in front of Lost Weekend NYC, a surfing-themed cafe and shop in New York’s “Below Delancey” neighborhood of the Lower East Side (LES). The small cafe is a magnet for neighborhood regulars, surfers, and art-fashion-media and other creative folks living and working in the LES.
We spent part of our weekend surfing (and checking out a lot of art and drinking a lot espresso, too, of course) at New York City’s Far Rockaway Beach. Some friends invited us too an après-surf Korean BBQ B-day party at a condo across from the beach, where a group of people have rented the condo exclusively for the purposes of storing their surfboards so they don’t have to schlep them from Manhattan and Brooklyn. The living room has been turned into essentially a very large and comfortable closet to keep a quiver of some twenty boards. Clever. Love it.
INSIDE THE MONSTER from gilles HUCAULT on Vimeo.
The 2004 film “Riding Giants” introduced the rarefied world of big-wave surfing to the wider public. Nearly a decade later, some of these famous big-wave surf spots have become very crowded and thus even more dangerous. Teahupoo in Tahiti is one such spot where the growing number of surfers has drawn ever larger hordes of spectators, filmmakers, photographers and thus more boats and jetskis and inexperienced thrill seekers. This short film from France’s TV1 titled “Inside the Monster” (French, subtitled in English) is absolutely gorgeous, but highlights the problems of a crowded and dangerous surf spot.
Reid van Renesse’s art photography of skaters, surfers and life in New York City’s Rockaway Beach captures the playful, urban beach subculture of this gritty, singular Queen’s neighborhood. The artwork shown here was recently exhibited and for sale as part of a local fundraising event at Rockaway Beach Surf Club to raise money for rebuilding a skate park destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The spacious Saturdays Surf store (pix below) in the fashionable border strip between Tokyo’s uber-hip Daikanyama and Naka-Meguro neighborhoods is a carbon copy of its New York City original in terms of winning retail branding concept: Espresso bar and a collection of over-priced surfboards at the front of the shop and an inviting wood-decked outdoor patio behind the store. Between the two sections is the merch, that wonderful collection of aspirational surfer-inspired fashion and accessories that punters must walk through when they take their freshly brewed Americanos out back. It’s a kind of exit-through-the-gift-shop tactic but even better ’cause the customer has to walk through the store twice even if they’ve just come to enjoy a cup of espresso on the back patio. The clothes are well made, there’s cool selection of Van’s and tees, and even a curated collection of surfer photography books and videos. And there’s actual surfing gear like board shorts, fins and wax for sale, too.
In terms of style, the interior of SS Tokyo is a stand-alone building with fresh, clean lines and a Malibu contemporary feel, whereas the NYC flagship on SoHo’s Crosby Street is cozy and crammed into a long, narrow, old-school brick-and-mortar tenement (espresso bar at front, outdoor patio in the back, dubbed “The Backyard”), albeit with that SS arty-urban-surfer-dreams-of-Bondi Beach aesthetic indelibly stamped on the interior. Props to Tokyo for getting Kurtis Kulig, the “Love Me” dude, to write that ubiquitous graffiti meme on the wall behind the espresso bar. In any case, if you’ve got the time, the Tokyo SS is worth a visit, if even for a coffee and the relaxing patio deck and its view of laidback Naka-Meguro. The clothes are super dope, too. For more check out SS’s regularly updated blog.
[Traduction française ci-dessous. | Traducción al español está por debajo de | 以下の日本語訳。]
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Voici quelques photos du magasin de surf samedi dans le quartier entre Daikanyama et Naka-Meguro à Tokyo. L’intérieur de la boutique est belle, bien-design. Le concept de magasin est basé sur le concept original qui a débuté dans la ville magasin de surf samedi à New York. Il ya un bar à espresso à l’avant du magasin, et une terrasse extérieure à l’arrière du magasin.
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Aquí están algunas fotos de la tienda Surf sábados en el barrio entre Daikanyama y Naka-Meguro, en Tokio. El interior de la tienda es muy bonito diseño. El concepto de tienda se basa en el concepto original que se inició en la ciudad de sábados tienda Surf Nueva York. Hay una cafetería en la parte delantera de la tienda, y un patio al aire libre en la parte trasera de la tienda.
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ここでは東京の代官山と那珂目黒、間に近所で土曜日サーフストアのいくつかの写真があります。店舗の内部は美しい、十分に-デザインです。ストアコンセプトは、ニューヨーク·シティ土曜サーフ店で開始された独自のコンセプトに基づいています。店の前にあるエスプレッソバー、店の奥の屋外パティオがあります。
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Hier sind einige Bilder des Samstags Surf Shop in der Nachbarschaft zwischen Daikanyama und Naka-Meguro, in Tokio. Das Innere des Ladens ist schön, gut-design. Das Store-Konzept basiert auf dem ursprünglichen Konzept, das an der New York City samstags Surf Shop gestartet beruhte. Es ist eine Espresso-Bar an der Front des Ladens, und eine Terrasse auf der Rückseite des Ladens.
An actual physical copy of the Winter 2012-2013 issue of the Usual founds its way into our hands. The mag is a Montauk, New York surf-culture magazine that feels like a newspaper (it’s printed on newsprint and is formatted like a tabloid), but the editorial style is like a magazine, albeit with more of the small-run, casual depth of a well-designed art zine. The Usual features excellent photography, illustrations and graphics that capture the lifestyle and feel of the NYC-Rockaway-Montauk art-surf scene.
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