My name is Emil. I’m an artist and a surfer who’s called TWOTHIRDS home for over a decade. This is the story of how our whale logo came to be, in a mythical surf town that thrives in the shadow of its big sister, Biarritz.
Guéthary – At One With the Whale
A seafaring community on the French southwest coast, Guéthary’s fortunes past and present have been fated by the Atlantic Ocean and the right whales and bowhead whales that call it home. This close-knit community’s respect for these gentle giants was immediately apparent to me on my first visit in 2010. I wondered if this was due to feelings of deep gratitude or perhaps even regret locals harboured, whaling in the region having brought the right whale to the brink of extinction.
Either way, it seemed that every door or wall bore whale imagery, so much so that while I surfed the town’s incredible Cenitz and Parlamentia breaks, I half expected a barnacled whale to breach the water’s surface to check who this strange Danish addition to the lineup was. Real and imagined whales from Guéthary have stayed with me ever since. They surface for air everywhere, from our latest t-shirts to our beach towels.
My First Visit
It rains a lot in the Basque Country. The day I rolled my little Renault Clio into town it was pouring. My friend and I had strapped surfboards to the top of the car and water streamed in through the gaps where the straps broke the door seals.
I’d travelled to Guéthary for two reasons:
- Explore the same waves surf legend Miki Dora had abandoned a gentrified Malibu for.
- Meet with a young family with dreams of creating a slow fashion brand that cares for the ocean.
Before we squeaked into our cold wetsuits, we stood on the lush green clifftops to see if the waves were pumping, accompanied by keen surfers who camped close to the town’s last remaining 18th-century whale-watching tower. Sure enough, the surf gods had smiled on us. The sets were clean. The waves were big.
Boards under our arms and leashes on, we tiptoed across striated Flysch rock formations and entered brooding waters full of excitement and trepidation.
Meeting Lutz and Loreto for the First Time
Battered but satisfied after one of the best surf sessions of my life, I got changed out of the boot of my car and hoped I wasn’t late for lunch. Luckily, Lutz, Loreto and their daughter had been surfing too, meaning they’d chosen a nearby restaurant overlooking the famous Cenitz break. Like mine, their hair was ragged and strewn with salt. It was a sign we’d hit it off.
The clouds parted, allowing us to enjoy the ocean views. We ate fresh fish and breathed the salt-filled sea air. We shared stories and laughed until the sun dropped in the sky, forcing us to don hoodies and jackets. Conversation turned to clothing and everything else, as they say, is history.
The Whale Comes to Life
Nothing inspires my art like meeting people as passionate as I am about the ocean. That evening, I raced back to my tent, flicked my lamp on, opened my sketchbook, and frantically scribbled the beginnings of a whale. After cooking a simple dinner on my stove, I chatted and played guitar with my friend and other campers. I fell asleep to the sound of the waves breaking at the foot of the cliff, the smell of wet socks, and dreams of where the whale might lead me.
Impossible to Stay Away
Since that day, I’ve returned to Guéthary many times. You could explore that wild stretch of Atlantic coast for a lifetime and still find new waves to surf, natural landmarks to discover, and ocean stories to fill you with wonder.
