Published by L'Officiel St Barth
Dec 20, 2024
Edition N°10 - Winter 2024 - Summer 2025 (Page 122)
Written by Philippe Combres

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Surf culture and art go hand in hand, join us in tracing back the influence of the surfer on art, culture and fashion.

Featuring photography by Nathan Coe from his "Revive" Series at Space Gallery St Barth.

Nathan Coe Surfer Girl, 2024 Limited edition fine art photograph

Our world on St Barth is particularly close to surf culture, with pristine beaches the island is a surfer’s paradise. Celebrities, enthusiasts, and pros alike have all migrated to the shores of St Barth for its beauty and its waves, and some of the best surfers, think Thomas and Noe Lédée, Anais Blanchard, Dimitri Ouvré, and Tessa Thyssen, come from Caribbean shores. From the beaches of St Barth to the coasts of Hawaii, this surf lifestyle has shaped fashion and art over the course of centuries.

Through the lens of surf, artists have continued to tap into the spirit of the ocean, capturing its beauty, power, and freedom in their work. Whether it’s through painting, photography, sculpture, or clothing, surf and art have come together to create their own genre, one that speaks to the soul of both nature and art lovers.

Albert Falzon Oam’s classic surf documentary “Morning of the Earth” (1972) is a good place to dive in to the cult of surfing. The film opens with a montage of the ocean’s beauty in technicolor. Surfers glide over crystal blue water in 16mm film set to angelic background music, as Oam’s scenes let us appreciate the beauty of nature and those who live to seek it out. The film marks a moment where surfing evolved into a lifestyle that became synonymous with cool-mention surf and one conjures up images of free-spirited beachgoers and sun-bleached hair, people dropping their 9-to-5’s in favor of chasing waves around the world. It became the call of counter culture, a hippies sport for nomads looking to discover the oceans.

ALBERT FALZON OAM ”The Walkout”, still from “Morning of the Earth” (1972)

It’s an obvious link, then, between surf culture and the art world. With a sport that feeds off of nature’s beauty, rides the wave of counterculture, and draws in young people, art must follow. That essential fluid freedom of surfing has been translated into visual art, fashion, and music for decades, giving us collaborations and projects that continue to reshape pop-culture as we know it. Beginning from photos of surfing legends facing big waves in competition, to Californian families propped up next to boards in Slim Aarons’s idyllic photography and eventually leading to multimedia pieces about the lifestyle - surfing and art share profound ties.

Contemporary artists like Jenny Holzer, Katarina Grosse, Daniel Arsham, and Alex Israel have all incorporated surf- themed elements into their work, bringing the essence of the ocean into galleries. Even surfers themselves lean into the art world to express what they feel out in the ocean, like Tony Caramaico who documented his nomadic lifestyle chasing waves for over forty years. Collaborations like the one between Lind Surf and several contemporary artists take this symbiotic relationship one step further, using boards as canvases and donating the proceeds of auctioned pieces to organizations like Oceanic Global and Save The Olives. In fashion, the influence is equally undeniable - surf- inspired designs, from wetsuits to breezy beachwear, have found their way into high-end collections, with luxury brands like Chrome Hearts, Louis Vuitton, Zimmermann, and Dolce & Gabbana all trying their hand. Dior’s collaboration with Stüssy, the Californian brand known for its roots in surf and streetwear, brought a bit of an edge to Dior’s luxury aesthetic, bridging high fashion with an effortless cool. Chrome Hearts, the brand born from a signature California cool, also often drops coveted special edition pieces for and inspired by surfing. The brand’s West Coast roots, along with the founders’ love for St Barth, come together and create laid- back luxury designs for the fashionable surfer. Vilebrequin is also no stranger to this influence; the luxe swimwear brand’s recent collaboration with Beau Lake made perfect sense, producing a sustainable paddle board design made with recycled plastic and the spirit of surf culture in mind.

Mollie Mae wearing MOLLIE MAE VINTAGE,Thomas and Noé Lédée wearing CHROME HEARTS, Surfboards, CHROME HEARTS, Photography by Laurie Lynn Stark

These brands focus on surfing as a way of life, drawing from archetypes and using silhouettes that are quintessentially cool. It’s not only about the sport and the way it’s done, but how it’s done - it’s all about the surfer’s uniform.

In a world where fashion and sustainability are beginning to merge, surfing and its ethos fit right in. Designers drawing inspiration from the ocean’s sport create collections and pieces that highlight the beauty of nature and the importance of preserving it. Whether it’s through surf- inspired accessories or a photograph that catalogs a moment in history, surf culture reminds us of the connection we have to the environment. At the end of the day, surf is art because it is about living in harmony with the planet.

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