Arto Saari's North Shore Bike Path

I don’t like to brag, but I like to think I had a hand in Arto Saari’s introduction to surfing. A few years ago, myself and Kai Neville were invited to Copenhagen to attend the CPH Pro — perhaps the single greatest board sports event in the world. Kai made a movie about it here.

during that trip. Arto got to listen to us talk about shredding and his eyes lit up as he thought about the benefits to falling in the ocean as opposed to slamming on cement until the end of time.

Cut to today, he’s been living on the North Shore and is probably far more core than I’ll ever be. And of course he’s found a way to thrive. His photos are amazing and always feel like the type of image that can only be captured by someone who has lived as well and hard and thoroughly as Arto Saari has. But we will always take credit for teaching him the definition of what a “man turn” is, and you can’t take that away from us.

Florence — a brand that has lately been making all the right decisions — partnered up with Arto to do a run of shirts aroundand I am proud to say, to all my friends who work at Florence, that this is 100 percent clothing I would wear. Check out the piece below on Arto, and get one of these tees, and pre-order his new book “Bike Path” here.. —Travis Ferré