For almost a year, The Elder Statesman’s Greg Chait and Bailey Hunter had been discussing the idea of starting a surf label. “Surfing can be more than just surfing,” Chait said on a Zoom from the Paris showroom where they’re holding market appointments. “You can surf waves of many different things; it’s such a good metaphor for life.” So they made the label a reality, landing on the name Interdimensional Surf; the line is focused on fabrics that can be worn year-round and easily cared for. Take for example the “Italian cotton workwear” pants that open the lookbook, which feature pockets that have been hand-airbrushed with retro flames and a sunset motif. A long dress/hoodie hybrid made out of washable terry cotton “with a bit of cashmere” was inspired by the cover-ups that some surfers wear when changing out of their wetsuits and into regular clothes at the beach.
That surfing state of mind naturally influenced their pre-fall collection, and the duo reached out to Ozzy Wright, an Australian pro-surfer and artist who creates work under the name Ozzy Wrong, to collaborate on a series of colorful tie-dye cashmere sweaters emblazoned with slogans like THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN, a white intarsia cotton sweater with a quick sketch of an eyeball that reads OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE WORLD, and a sweater with an infinity logo made up of patchworked dolphins with smiley faces and the word DOLPHINITY running down the arms. Very groovy.
Elsewhere, it was some of the label’s dedicated womenswear that stood out; like the easy maxi slip dress made from a super lightweight tropical wool plaid in two different color palettes, or a ribbed tee and matching skirt made from a cotton cashmere in an abstract pattern of yellow bleeding into orange bleeding into lavender.