Surf’s Up, New York

Deep in the heart of SoHo, almost bridging on Chinatown, a surf shop opened it’s doors two years ago and has since, not only gained a loyal following of dedicated wave riders globally, but they’ve zeroed in on a market that has previously been untouched – the surf community of Manhattan. Saturdays Surf NYC was started by Morgan Collett, Josh Rosen, and Colin Tunstall, and while we may be a ways away from Huntington Beach, as residents of Manhattan, the A train will take us to the next best thing – The Rockaways. While their Crosby Street locale has become a new youth movement, we caught up with co-founder Tunstall about why everyday is Saturday.

Life+Times: You opened Saturdays Surf in August 2009, a modern day surf shop in the heart of SoHo. Why did you feel the need for a surf shop in NYC?
Colin Tunstall: We love this city. We like living and working here. For all the amazing things the city has to offer, it was missing a surf brand that embraced the city. A majority of the surfing industry has opened stores here, in high traffic areas but they’re bringing different parts of the world here. We’re bringing a more NYC aesthetic

L+T: What propelled you to launch Saturdays?
CT: We saw a gap in the market. We were all on the same page living, working and surfing in New York. As we looked around, we noticed there were a lot of people looking for the same thing we wanted to create.

L+T: What are you guys working on currently? You’ve recently expanded your private label to a full menswear collection. Any upcoming collaborations you can let us know about?
CT: We’re getting ready for our first Fall/Winter collection. We’re really excited about expanding outside of Spring/Summer. Also, we’ve got a couple great projects coming up. We’re expanding our collaboration with Porter bags. Adding new color ways to the tote we designed and producing some new wallets. We’re also working with Baxter again- producing another beach soap called Pacific, to compliment the Atlantic soap we did previously.

L+T: What’s in a name? Why is it called Saturdays?
CT: It was a quick decision. It was the first idea that came out of my mouth. It’s the best day of the week!

L+T: What are your ideal surfing locations that are in close distance to NYC? What do you like about these spots? Give us some insight.
CT: The Rockaways. Where else in the world can you take a subway to go surfing?

L+T: Beyond the clothes, you can also purchase books, art and other lifestyle accessories at your shop. What are you ultimately trying to achieve with the Saturdays brand?
CT: It’s a lifestyle, there’s more than just clothes. We’re excited about what we’re doing and there’s so much to feed off in NYC. We’re using those inspirations to do something new with the surf industry.

L+T: Who are your all time ultimate surfing icons? Why?
CT: It’s a long list…would take a while to single them out. We had a book signing with Shaun Tomson the other week. He’s a bad ass with a great story trying to pass his love for the sport on.

L+T: You guys recently came back from Tokyo? What was that experience like? Why were you there?
CT: It was such an amazing experience. It was the first time for the 3 of us. We wanted to do and see everything possible. It’s such an inspirational place. The level of detail and curation is next level. We’ve had a strong following there and we wanted to go see it for ourselves. We met with a lot of people we’ve been doing business with and trying to make plans for growing our market there.

L+T: What’s up next for the brand? Did you ever expect your concept to take off like it has?
CT: We could see it had potential to be something special – but you never know. We’re planning on keeping the same energy and ideas we’ve used till now and expanding them with growing the brand, always trying to produce quality stuff that we want in our lives. We’re the walking billboards for it. (Saturdays Surf NYC)