Interview: Saturdays Surf's Morgan Collett Talks Surfing In Montauk, And Plans For The Future

It's been three years since Morgan Collett, Colin Tunstall, and Josh Rosen opened Saturdays Surf-- an NYC surf shop and hangout spot that would cater to the needs of people, who like them, we both surfers and New Yorkers. Saturdays Surf is quickly growing; they recently opened a store in Tokyo as well as a second store in NYC, and also released the first issue of their bi-annual magazine. We chatted with one of Saturdays Surf's co-founders, Morgan Collett, about where he likes to surf, what inspired them to open Saturdays Surf, and what their plans are for the future!

[Josh Rosen, Morgan Collett, Colin Tunstall, via]

Why did you and your partners decide to open Saturdays Surf three years ago?

We opened Saturdays in August of 2009. The initial idea was to open a surf shop in Manhattan that catered to our specific needs as surfers as well as New Yorkers. Once the location in Soho was found and the planning for the shop started we realized it would be a great spot for a coffee shop. We worked with brands we liked and wore, grooming products, books, bags as well as any and all surf equipment needed. We started our own brand with a small line of printed T's sold in our own store and to a few clients in Japan. This was the beginning and over the course of the next year we launched our first complete ready to wear collection in Spring 2010.

Saturdays Surf is a huge hang out spot for the most creative types in NY. Of everyone who has come to hang, who is the most impressive person?

We have had some great folks walk through our doors. It's really hard to say. Notables for us would be Kelly Slater and Sean Thompson, those guys are legends. Willem Dafoe was pretty cool. So was Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth. We are just really happy to have created an un pretensions environment where people can be them selves and enjoy.

What is your opinion on Montauk? Are you out there often?

Montauk is one of the most beautiful places. If I could I would spend much more time there than I do now. One day hopefully. Especially in the winter. We try and go as much as we can. This summer we were able to spend a bit more time there. When we get a swell I hope to camp out up there. We've made a lot of friends who live out there and its one of the warmest communities. It really reminds me of growing up in Newport beach, Ca. Surfing all day, biking to dinner, skating, hanging out at the beach with friends everywhere. It's fantastic.

[Saturdays Surf West Village store, via]

When in MTK, where do you catch waves?

There are a lot of spots to surf, Ditch being the most popular. Its really fun exploring greater Long Island when we actually have some swell.

What's in the works for Saturdays Surf in the next 3 years (or beyond)?

We just opened a Flag ship in Tokyo last March and our 2nd NYC location at 17 Perry in the West Village. That was really exciting for us. In July we launched the first issue of our magazine which we are so proud of. We will be working on that as a bi-annual releasing the next issue in December/January. Going forward we want to keep creating products that we need and use everyday. Working on the design and production of our collection so that it keeps getting better and better. New categories of clothing and accessories.

Can we hope for a MTK store?

Right now we don't have any plans out in Montauk. We love it out there and hope to spend more time there. Right now we are focusing on our most recent store openings and curating as many creative projects to coincide with them. We are not writing it off, anything's possible.

[Photo via]

See also:

[Over The Weekend: Saturdays Surf Celebrates Three Years, Mark Ronson DJs In Montauk, And Richard Gere Screens A Film In East Hampton]