Surfing and New York City. Two main inspirations that gave birth to one of my favorite clothing brands – Saturdays NYC.
With this post I’m starting a new cycle dedicated to niche surfing clothing brands (and who knows, maybe I’ll extend this list including wider spectrum of less known surfing industry brands).
Clothes, surfboards and coffee
I’ve been watching Saturdays NYC from the very beginning of its birth in 2009. Founded by three surfing loving friends from Manhattan (Morgan Collett, Colin Tunstall, Josh Rosen) the brand goes like a bomb ever since. The three gentlemen won the GQ’s Best New Menswear Designers in America in 2016. They created a special collection together with GAP, Porter or RP Miller. In 2016 they launched it’s own line of sunglasses and opened couple of stores abroad. They currently have two in New York City (one on Crosby Street, SoHo, where I took pictures for this article, and the second one on Perry Street in West Village), The also owe two stores in Australia and five in Japan.
For Saturdays NYC clothing needs good company. What’s better company then surfboards, coffee and a good read? So, there’s the Saturdays Magazine and Saturdays own coffee blend, which you can enjoy while shopping or just after while sitting in the store’s backyard.
Creativity & classic
What I particularly like about Saturdays NYC is that the clothes are minimalist and versatile, both creative and close to traditional tailoring. In my opinion one of the foundations of the brand’s success is that it found a natural way to tell the story of surfing in a big city that isn’t related to the surfing world (everyone who knows Rockaway Beach knows how false this is). It put surfing culture into traditional men’s fashion. And it’s not about board shorts, beanies, hoodies or beach t-shirts you can (of course) buy in it’s stores. It’s about putting this unique surfing vibe into clothes originally not related to surfing. You think surfing style and a blazer? WTF? But Saturdays did it and did it the right way.
Taking a look on newest collection I picked up these three killer items I would love to have in my closet.
Must haves
The first one is Clyde trench, which is a sage garment dyed premium polyester / nylon blend coat. I would pair it with skinny black jeans, a plain black t-shirt and classic black Vans.
The second one is Caleb windbreaker in midnight (navy) color. I really like this kind of apparel. You can wear it during the spring or summer evenings in the city or on the beach. What I like about it is a clear reference to nautical style and a kangaroo pocket. It would look awesome with chino shorts and navy boat shoes.
The last item is Brian, a black double breasted blazer paired with Gordy pleated dress pants. It’s great for spring and summer because of the informal cut. I would pair it with striped (sailor style) t-shirt and grey sneakers.
At this point the one and only problem with Saturdays NYC clothes is the price. To buy those three items I would need 1 150 USD. That’s a lot for someone who’s earnings doesn’t come in dollars. The good news is that they regularly have sales so it’s worth to join their newsletter and check the brand’s website.