When stripped down to its most organic state, surfing is never about money. Multi-national surf corporations spend millions of dollars on advertising in an attempt to convince the surfing and non-surfing masses that the lineups are populated by pre- and barely post-pubescent young men who bust massive airs in boardshorts that cost a small, but worthwhile fortune—worthwhile for their ability to make a surfer look cool among his peers and sexy to the opposite sex. That representation of the sport is surfing at its least organic: one-dimensional and exclusive, designed to keep surf corporations in the black, and simultaneously dismissive of surfing’s storied past while being indifferent to its unpredictable future. Money, not the leash, ruined surfing.
Whether we dare to acknowledge it or not, the future of surfing is now. Small surf companies are bucking the trend set by the corporations and are marketing environmentally-friendly products with soul, an unquantifiable element that many surfers believe the sport has all but lost with the advent of large surf corporations and imported pop-out surfboards. HippyTree, a South Bay outfit that specializes in surf apparel, is at the forefront of an as yet unnamed movement that uses various forms of artistic expression to celebrate the cultural aspects of surfing.
Lifelong friends Andrew Sarnecki and Josh Sweeney run HippyTree from the cramped confines of a house that doubles as living space and company headquarters. Their goal for the company is to influence American culture in general and surf culture in particular. “You don’t make an impact by slapping your logo on a t-shirt and saying you run a company,” explained Sarnecki when comparing HippyTree to money-driven surf companies. “You make an impact by creating original, thought-provoking products that have meaning.”
HippyTree is a welcome addition to the world of excessive branding. The bright green, off-kilter tree logo says more about the company’s philosophy than any long-winded corporate manifesto ever could. The tree is emblematic of a conscious decision to make nature the focus of the clothing line and tide calendar. In distinguishing HippyTree from other surf companies, Sweeney noted that the HippyTree brand is not athlete-driven. As a result, says Sweeney, “we tend to focus on themes of nature and conceptual graphics as opposed to spoon-feeding the same mundane stuff that everybody else pumps out.”
The tide calendar, which is printed on post consumer recycled paper, contains page upon page of stunning collages that combine Sarnecki’s photographs with random paper-based materials (such as Sun Maid raisin boxes, Zig Zag wrappers, stamps and old Kodak film boxes). One need not be a surfer to appreciate the beauty of the ocean as pictured in the collages. The HippyTree aesthetic transcends surfing. Unlike those surfers shown in traditional surf photography, the surfers pictured in the calendar are secondary to the environment in which they ply their trade. The calendar, and the equally beautiful pocket-sized tide book that accompanies it, remind us why the natural environment is worthy of our attention and protection.
The clothing line currently consists of t-shirts and hoodies, many of which are 100% organic. Sarnecki and Sweeney are amused by the fact that large surf apparel corporations now heavily advertise the use of organic materials in their clothing. HippyTree “was using organic cotton before organic was cool. Their products were screened on organic cotton while the company operated out of a Hermosa Beach garage in 2005, several years before the large surf corporations realized manufacturing apparel using organic material would make them appear to be politically correct while perhaps disguising their ulterior financial motives. Sarnecki noted that concern for the environment (as shown by acts like recycling, conserving energy and using organic products) should be the norm, not the exception: “These should be things that everyone does because they care about themselves and their surroundings.”
A hallmark of HippyTree marketing is the road trip. Their most recent sojourn took them to the East Coast. That trip was lovingly named “East Coast Skunk” not for their reception at right coast surf shops but rather for the lack of swell and good waves during the trip. Their road trips are made with the intention of visiting shops and spreading the word about HippyTree. Sarnecki and Sweeney believe they have driven the Golden State three times within the last year. Their next trip will cover Oregon, Washington and shops in Victoria, British Columbia. Eventually, the two-man HippyTree marketing (and everything else) team will travel to Hawaii for a road trip that will certainly deliver more waves than they surfed on their East Coast trip.
Sarnecki and Sweeney take pride in the small company’s success. For the first time since HippyTree’s inception, the company is offering two seasons of clothing. Additionally, the wall calendar will be expanded in 2009 to cover the entire West Coast rather than California alone. The next big step for the company will be to develop its East Coast distribution. The company’s South Bay roots keep Sarnecki and Sweeney grounded. Because HippyTree is one of the few start-up surf companies in the South Bay, the community is loyal to its native sons. The founders of HippyTree, in turn, remain grounded and passionate about spreading their environmental message: Nature is Coming.
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(average rating: 5 out of 5)
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10 responses so far ↓
1 Tom Sarnecki // Apr 14, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Hi Martha. I’ve spent the day working onsite in Mexico. We have ops in four cities with the principal distribution center in Tijuana. I was thinking over the weekend that if location was a primary consideration with H&S, Ms. Kapka would have raised the issue upfront. Just spotted this piece on son, Andrew and HippyTree. Tom
2 Tom Sarnecki // Apr 14, 2008 at 4:57 pm
HippyTree update! Tom
3 Tom Sarnecki // Apr 14, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Here’s an unexpected update re son, Andrew, and HippyTree! Tom
4 Beach City Locsters // Apr 15, 2008 at 5:44 pm
These guys moved to the South Bay. They aren’t natives, so check your facts before calling them native sons.
5 South Bay Sucks Anyway // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Beach City Locsters - you must be one of those awesome locals who spends all day bitching and bellyaching about all the newcomers ruining everything. Am I right?
Even back in the day the South Bay was full of rednecks and douchebags.
6 Emberly Modine // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:45 pm
What’s a Locster?
7 rambo goddam // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I like hippytree graphic style, but honestly, is wrapping a bunch of advertising garbage around telephone wires that will eventually turn into garbage on the beach really the way to promote a business called hippytree?
8 South Bay Family // Apr 15, 2008 at 11:27 pm
South Bay Sucks? Rednecks and douchebags? What’s goin’ on here. That dude has no idea what the hell he’s talking about. He must’ve wrote the article or he’s a tree hanger it sounds like they wrote the article themselves . I don’t get it. If all these companies are so into the environment why don’t just stop making stuff. Hmmm.
9 Louis // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:23 am
So the dude saying everyone from the South Bay is a redneck or douchebag is the guy who wrote the article?
You might want to double-check your reasoning on that one…
10 South Bay Family // Apr 16, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Yes they are the same person. Hippytree wrote the article or a friend . Someone called them on their roots and instead of admitting “they” weren’t from the South Bay they tried to poke fun of South Bay Localism and the person who pointed out that Hippytree is not from the South Bay. Who else would defend hipytree like that unless the author of the article was the company was the person criticizing and critique of the article or the subject. 2 plus 2 be fo.
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