Do you Miss Reef?
I did some party planning this week. Which is sooooo much less sexy and fun than it might sound. The things I do for us.
I started on the 5th floor of Huntington Beach City Hall. Then we went to the 3rd floor. Then back to the 5th only to be told we couldn’t do what we wanted to do — which was throw a ripping two-day party with live music, installations, surf films, art and happy hours. Shocker, I thought. Nobody is any fun. All was lost. “Bureaucracy!” I cried.
I got in my car and cried salty tears thinking the third annual Factory by the Sea event was lost and prepared to call brands, bands, surfers and partners to relay the bad news. But before I could, the phone rang. The city had changed their mind! Friends in high places or something. The International Surfing Museum had rushed in to save us. We could have beer. Live music. Surf films. Cranked up loud and for two full days in a row. “No worries!” said Surf City!
I only needed one more signature: the police department. Eeeek. I entered the City Hall substation lobby with its clean and law enforcement serious bullet proof glass. This place is nice, but a little unnerving. I put on my most charming smile and handed them my now crumpled piece of paper that had been passed through the leaky halls of local government and now felt slightly soiled and anticipated being arrested for having the audacity to throw a party.
“No problem, here you go” she said, putting pen to paper with a smile.
“Really?” I thought. “That’s it?”
I walked away as quickly as I could before they changed their mind, filed our permits and got back to the fun part: music, films, art, surfing! And Miss Reef!
Yes, Reef. Remember them? Surfing’s irreverent, fun and legit 40-year-old sandal and shoe brand. The one that sponsored nearly every ‘80s and ‘90s icon and who now sponsor Mason Ho, Noah Beschen, Griffin Colapinto, Rob Machado and Coco Ho — the brand that introduced decades worth of controversial and memorable sandal advertising into our lives featuring surfing and bikinis. Really small bikinis if I’m being honest.
I’m about to bring up something controversial in 2024, but I got to wondering: What happened to Miss Reef — the multi-decade ad campaign featuring a scantily clad surfer next to a fellow beach goer? And before we have this discussion, I want to present my thinking: if a model approves of the image and loves the portrayal then shouldn’t it be celebrated as empowering and beautiful? This is surf culture and our uniforms aren’t exactly conservative. Isn’t this just a celebration of that? I’m firmly aware that my age, gender and rebellious enthusiasm for counterculture may disqualify me from this conversation, and maybe saying this at all disqualifies me from existence (we’ll see!). But enough dancing on eggshells.
Starting on Monday: We’re kicking off the celebration of 40 years of Reef by going back in time. We’ll talk to legends, founders, team managers, models and the personalities who built the brand into a brand name as ubiquitous as Sex Wax and Kelly Slater, including Lisa Anderson, Tim Curran, Rob Machado, Ben Bourgeois, Mike Losness, Santiago and Cecilia Aguerre and many more.
We’ll also be bringing some of the artifacts we found in the Reef closet that need unearthing as well as a brand new collaboration sandal with us (!) to the party on August 8th and 9th in HB. There will be plenty of 805 beers to go with all the permits we acquired too so save the date and check back with us Monday: it’s time we talk about Miss Reef again.—Travis Ferré
