LA MÉRICAINE – I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

La Méricaine is the story of a french girl living the american dream. as a big fan of clothes that don't look like clothes at a first glance the beautiful blankets and capes immediately rised my spirit of adventure. Valerie Hernandez created a true homage to the great outdoors and is bringing the adventurous life of the prairies to the city streets and beyond. the world needs more stories like this.

how is it for you to run your own company after having worked as a designer in the sports fashion industry for many years?

it's a great feeling to work by oneself. I am responsible for my choices and decisions. I had the chance to work in large industries where I have learned a lot. today I can make use of the experience in my entrepreneurial life. I work with French suppliers I've known for a long time. it is very important for me to contribute to the French industry.

your collection is inspired by the native american tribes. what fascinates you about them?

I chose the Indian inspiration because I like these people for a very long time, because of their colours, their tradition and their blankets of course. they wear similar heavy wool coats for their entire lives: from birth to marriage until death. for them life is a journey with no end.

imagine yourself being wrapped up in a blanket next to a cozy fire place. where would it be and who would be with you?

I can imagine myself being wrapped in a blanket with my boyfriend watching a cool movie with a glass of red wine, it's a bit a cliché, haha!

 

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SHE PROJECT – I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

these australian girls took my heart by storm. be it their feminine and graceful designs of surf hardware or their embracement of pros, weekend warriors, stylish maestros and foamie fanatics, they make us gurfers feel special in the line up. I am sending love and a high five once around the world to she project.

 first things first, who is she project?

she project was conceived by myself and co-owner, Sarah, with the idea of producing, fun and fashionable yet performance driven surf hardware for the women's market, and also being discontent with the options for female surfers from the major surf hardware brands. I grew up on the Gold Coast and was a competitive surfer for a few years, I also spent time working for a global surfboard manufacturer selling surfboards and liaising with key retail accounts. it was this very hands on connection with surf hardware that I started to realise an evident gap in the market and knew myself and other girls would like to be able to show style and fashion in the water just as much as out. in the past, surf hardware has been very male driven and as a result the styles available are very masculine, we wanted to change that as well as get women thinking about their equipment to enhance their experience in the surf. 

how was it to start your own business?

when She Project was still just an idea over coffee, we knew it would be hard work, but we also knew there was a demand for funky surf products that we would prefer to use. my background is in marketing and graphic design, and my business partner has a sales and marketing background, so we work well together! I could have never expected how many challenges there would be along the way though. we knew we wanted She Project to be a business but also a platform for female surfers, a resource for blogs and info and a way for us to give back to the community around us through empowering others. the rest was not so glamourous, a lot of coffee and not a lot of sleep!

is there an idea she project is living by?

SHE is also an acronym for Surf, Humanitarian, Empowerment. we use these three pillars to influence any of our business decisions and initiatives. we are passionate about empowering women through surfing so any chance we get to help out charities or foundations we are all for it. we recently donated several sets of fins to an orphanage in Mexico called Mision Mexico, and have a great collaboration in the works there. surfing has given us friendships, connections and a place to connect with nature and forget about the troubles of the world, so if we can help give this experience to other people then we have done our job.

you also run the happy sea creatures project. please tell us more about it.

happy sea creatures is a simple concept, we wanted to limit any kind of materials that cause harm to our ocean... including all the nasty plastic wrap you typically see tailpads wrapped in. it seems crazy to make something that's meant to share the fun and happiness we get out of surfing and combine that with anything that could be negative for that environment. hence the happy sea creatures!

talking about sea creatures, what's your favourite one?

don't make me pick, argh all of them! I think I will always be in awe of dolphins, they are such intelligent creatures with such highly evolved communication.

if we would travel to Australia carrying our longboard under the arm what would be the most funny wave to ride?

well, I am a little biased towards my home break so I would have to say Greenmount which is part of the stretch of right-handers that form the "superbank" from Snapper Rocks to Kirra. Greenmount is generally a little gentler, less-crowded and perfect for a longboard. other than that you really can't beat the beautiful right hand point breaks of Noosa or Byron Bay. both beaches are apart of National Parks and the natural scenery is breaktaking. if you are lucky you can spot koalas on the walk around Noosa headland.

where do we get your pretty things?

at the moment in our online store, we have made sure to make freight overseas as cheap as possible for our non-Australian customers. we are experiencing organic growth and starting to get orders for surf shops. we would love to get our products over your side of the world! 

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THE NUMINOUS. I LIKE THAT! WHAT IS IT?

Ruby Warrington moves light-footed between fashion, culture and modern cosmic thinking in her technicolor dream world called The Numinous. it's a miraculous place for material girls that hold dear of the mystical world. this is where genious sweaters and the magic happen.

what's your zodiac sign and how much of its characteristics is true? 

I’m an aries, and typical of my sign in many ways. I’m very positive, straightforward and honest, and I like to do things my own way. but I’m also impatient and often have to discipline myself to see a project through to the end as I’m always getting excited about the next new idea.

what is the numinous in a few sentences? 

“numinous” is a magical word which literally means “that which is unknown and unknowable.” I’ve used it as the title for my online magazine, which covers everything mystical through a fashion forward lifestyle lens. So many people in the fashion and beauty industry are deeply mystical creatures, and it seemed crazy to me that until now there was no media platform where these two worlds could co-exist in appreciative harmony!

acro yoga superstar Chelsey Korus wearing The Numinous

your shirts are such a perfect symbol of the blend of the mystical and material world. how do you keep the balance between those two worlds? 

by not trying to be anything that I’m not, and at the same time honouring all parts of myself. while I’m fascinated by every aspect of what I call “now age” spirituality – be it astrology, sound healing or shamanism – I also love beautiful things, and actually embracing both the mystical and the material feels like balance to me. like I’m deeply appreciative of my yoga practise, but I was never going to be the kind of yogi who went off to meditate on an ashram for months at a time.

do you have any ritual to give yourself a treat?

a shaman recently told me I need to get a massage at least every two weeks, as I hold a lot of emotional tension in my body. this was music to my ears. I love nothing better than a deep tissue massage to relax me mentally and physically, and this used to be my treat – but now I look on it as a necessity. 

I just soaked up the articles about a weekly williamsburg spirit seance and full moon ceremonies on your website. where did you have your most numinous experience ever?  

it was actually in a kundalini yoga class. in the long meditation at the end of class I experienced a very profound psychic connection to my father, which came from nowhere as a vision in which I experienced his deep sadness about us not being in contact properly for a long time. I was in floods of tears afterwards, and contacted him to plan a short road trip together a couple of months later. It was the first time we’d spent time together “just us” for about 15 years, and was deeply healing for our relationship. Another time I had a very vivid dream about a beautiful ginger cat – just like the one I adopted a few weeks later, who I believe used the dream to “choose” me as it’s owner. to me, both these experiences were examples of The Numinous – the energy that connects every living being to one another across time and space – in action.

do you have a mantra for these days and would you like to share it? 

“there is no such thing as the wrong answer.”

Ruby is a british lifestyle writer living in NY. she writes for numerous magazines and papers such as Sunday Times Style in the UK and she has a regular wellness column on lululemon.

mystical material girls, these sweaters make both of your hearts leap for joy. order via shop@thenuminous.net

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HI OCEAN LOVING GIRLS. I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

changing your bikini or wetsuit never looked better. hi ocean loving girls bring bright and cuddly capes that make you feel good after a long and exciting surf. the first feelgoodcape arouse out of sister love between the two founders Linda and Franzi from Stuttgart. one christmas Linda, the designer of the brand, created a cape as a present for her sister Franzi who surfs a lot in cold europe. I guess this must be true love and is just a little part of their story that began on a surftrip in 2011.

Linda, what do you love about the ocean?

I love the vastness and the feeling of freedom. whenever I am at the ocean everything's alright. problems of everyday life and stress feel far away and I just enjoy being in the water and having fun.

please describe your perfect surf before you snuggle down in your feelgoodcape.

first I strike out with my girls to see which spot runs best. on some days it's even not about super perfect waves to call it the perfect surf. that's when I just enjoy hanging out with my friends in the line up. we whoop each other and that pushes ourselves even more. and I love sunset surfs.

after a long surf nothing feels better than cuddling in a feelgoodcape. there's no jittering while changing clothes and no flattering towel. you just slip your cape on, put on the hood and no wind will come in anymore. afterwards I often take the cape down to the beach and use it as a beach towel.

what do you believe in?

everything in life happens for a reason altough it sometimes might not feel easy in the beginning it's mostly the right thing for you in the end. "you never know, unless you go".

hi ocean loving girls is for you ocean loving girls. so go and visit their website to see more of their collection that ranges from clothing to accessories to sweet matching fins bags.

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OLA PARA SIEMPRE. I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

"ola para siempre" were the words of welcome of Sina Mejias' little brother on her short return after she had left her country Venezuela. now living at the Gold Coast she sews custom-made surfboard covers and creats super cute playing tents for kids.

when I wrote about ola para siempre for bwg mag I couldn't resist to ask Sina a few questions.

what was your favourite hiding-place as a child?

my favourite hiding-place was under my mom and dad's bed. 

what do you miss about Venezuela and what's just unbeatable at the Gold Coast?

what I miss the most is the food. man... that food is good... so rich and tasty... mmmmmm!  the Gold Coast is a nice place. I guess the best thing about the Coast is its peacefulness and beautiful beaches.

what's your favourite book for a lay day at the beach?

any book is good for a lay day at the beach, specially when your boyfriend is a surfer and spend a lot of time in the water.

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BY MUTTI – PORCELAIN, TATTOOS & THE OCEAN

the life of eva gernandt reminds of a story from bygone times. a time where she was sailing and building boats on wharfs and that was characterised by stories of old sailors telling her about the sea trade and great galleons. instead of writing another book about the roaring see eva gernandt, the woman behind by mutti, has slipped her story in fine hand made tableware.

what did the ocean teach you?

the ocean has taught me to abandon myself in its presence and just again be aware of the mystery.

would you like to share a story of an old sailor that was once told to you? 

the sailors came from places in Scania, southern Sweden that were once worldfamous. these small villages names were known in the big harbors all over the world. that had much to do with the sailors that came from from these places. they were trustful, hardworking, brave and fun. And they were heroes in the real sense.
I have always had a strong connection with the sea and life around it, and spent all my life close to it.
I fell in love with these old seafarers who I was so lucky to meet and share a village with during some of my happiest years.

imagine serving a fantastic dinner for a very special person. what would it be?
I would serve a codfilet, baked in oven in butter, together with a very fine potatoe. a sauce of hardboiled egg in melted butter and grated horseradish and lots of fresh dill all over it! wonderful!

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OUTDOORMIND. I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

there's a new outdoor mind among us. romina lemmert takes us to the highest peaks, into the deepest snow and to remote corners of the world. 

what's your website outdoormind about?

apart from being a digital native I have a passion for outdoor sports like climbing, mountainbiking, freeride skiing and hiking. with outdoormind I can combine my online marketing experience with outdoor sports. since may 2012 the website is online and my focus is on outdoor sports, products for women and travel (especially mountain spa resorts, camps for women etc.)

what's the motivation behind running it?

as I already mentioned my passion is being outdoors and being active. with outdoormind I can express myself and I want share my passion with my friends and users of outdoormind.

is there any message you want to spread?

well, my message is: go outside, enjoy and be free, but respect the nature and be smart.

do you have a favourite post so far?

this one here. I prefer to blog about personal adventures and experiences and I want to expand this subject in the future tense.

what does it mean to you to be outdoors?

this is the feeling of being fully alive.

imagine being completely free for at least one month. where would you go and what would you do?

if money was no object I want to experience the best outdoor adventures in B.C., Canada and Japan.

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COS WE CAN. I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

it was last year this time around when we met to watch first love at a friend's house.  the surf movie dvd came straight from manly, australia and helped me to delay winter a little bit. i always wanted to know who the girls behind this movie are and finally i get the chance to talk to cos we can, a team of content creators telling stories through words, stills and film.

hej girls, how are you? 

hey dani, we're good. we're trying to build our portfolio of film stuff, shoot more surf content, develop our ideas for tv series, movies and short films as well as make a living and fit in a few surfs a week… it's a little hectic but so much fun.

nice! your movies often deal with growing up, living your passion and your dreams. what are your personal stories and do you find them in some way in your movies? 

our personal stories definitely inform our films. we're always learning and growing as humans and I guess what we're going through in our lives just comes out naturally in our work. we're both very passionate people and constantly chasing (and living) our dreams. 

being in our twenties, trying to establish who we are and where we fit in… we've found that for the last couple of years have both found it challenging being females in male dominated environments. so that naturally comes out in some of the film we've made in the past. however, not matter how much of us we put in there we always try and inject a universal truth or overarching theme into them – and try and most importantly tell the story of the person we're flaming.

how did the first movie came up? 

claire gorman, the director of first love, asked us to get on board the project. it started of as just a small documentary from Phillip Island and snowballed into a film that's being sold all around the world. we filmed it on one camera – and just did what it took – even if it meant working full time jobs and spending our nights and weekends working on it.

i'm really into your name cos we can. 

hahaha. thanks. we just asked ourselves why we actually do what we do – the answer was 'cos we can'. it's funny because the americans would probably say coz – but we decided to go with the s.

fran, what can clare do better than you? 

clare can out swim me, and make everything look pretty.

and clare, what about fran? 

fran can out run me, and remember peoples names. I have to meet people about 3 times before I remember who they are. Fran is a gun at it.


FIRST LOVE

FIRST LOVE TRAILER from Cos We Can on Vimeo.

i would love to get to know more about your first love.

fran: this is a tough one because my first love was a boy called Jarrod May. and he was who I was thinking of when I wrote that paragraph about falling in love. but at the same time I was falling in love with surfing through the making of first love. so I was trying to incorporate all the emotion and the experiences that I was having with the ocean at that time. I tend to fall in love a lot – it's probably what makes me a passionate person.

clare: apart from Fox Mulder in the X-Files, my first love at the wee age of 11? I'm going to have to give a typical answer and say the ocean. oh so corny, but I'm never happier then when I'm in the ocean. I can combine all my loves: swimming, shooting, surfing....

SO IT GOES

SO IT GOES from Cos We Can on Vimeo.

felicity talks about the pressure of the media that dictates how girls in surfing have to look like. what are you focused on when you film girls surfing?

we started to make so it goes with the intention of exploring the importance of a girls relationship to her father – because whenever we meet a surfer it was her father that taught her to surf. but when we went to shoot it the story naturally took on the mentality of the subject – Felicity Palmateer. all professional athletes are under a lot of pressure – and this particular weekend we filmed with Felicity – she was feeling it more than usual. that's what it turned out like.

BEHIND THE SCENES IN FIJI

this clip doesn't have a massive overarching theme, or life lesson – but the thing we like about it is is that it's only of the only behind the scene fashion shoot clips that we've seen that has a story! the other reason we like it is that it shows girls just being girls. which we love. everyone idolises people like models, surfers and other celebrities but what everyone needs to realise is they're just normal people that love the same kind if thing as them. you also get to see a side of Alana Blanchard that you wouldn't normally.

fran, please describe your work process.

creating the story is a bit of a journey. clare and I always chat about interesting themes that we want to inject into a film before we go and shoot. and then we're always inspired by someone else's film making. so we set out with a framework and then we shoot it and it completely changes depending on how that goes. it's a pretty fluid process. there's things I know that Clare won't do – and there's things she knows I won't do. we respect each other but we push each other to do things we wouldn't normally do.

clare, how is it for you as a photographer to work on movies?

I think for that for me it has only been an advantage to have my photography background. I admit it has taken some getting used to going from telling a story in one single frame, to many frames of moving footage and making sure I was capturing everything I needed to to tell a story. what makes my work unique has always been light and framing, and I have tried inject this into my filming. telling stories is a huge focus for Fran and I and what we strive to achieve in all our work. 

what's your favorite surf movie? (except first love)

holy moly this is a tough one. blue crush perhaps? I think we have seen it about 10 times. stories, we want stories!

at the very end please tell us three sentences you would answer with "cos we can"

why do you do what you do?

why did you go surfing in the middle of the week?

why did you just eat doritos for dinner?

all photos by clare plueckhahn

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SALT GYPSY. I LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

this name, salt gypsy. from the beginning it had make us curious and yearningly. we chatted with danielle clayton, the lady behind this great website around alternative surfwear and female surfers who make cool shit. we quickly found out she is one of them. 

hey danny, how's your summer so far?

really good thanks… I'm kind of in an endless summer! we are in the middle of the rainy season here in the Maldives but so far we haven't seen much rain at all. it's still been blue skies and pumping waves so can't complain.

please tell us about your website "salt gypsy".

the inspiration for salt gypsy came from my talented friend, kelly, who created a line of bikinis for surfing, KALi, but as a small brand, initially struggled to sell into retailers in New Zealand. I felt frustrated at the lack of channels available to reach her target audience so decided to see if we could build a community around that idea: source good-looking and functional surfwear product created by independent designers like kelly, and bring it to the attention of female surfers internationally. basically, we want to provide alternative surfwear, promote style in the lineup, and support other female surfers who are making cool shit.

I also wanted to champion the everyday female surfer out there charging in the surf and living interesting stories. with all due respect to the very talented, professional female surf athletes out there, I felt there was a need to present a different image of strong, healthy, all-shapes-and-sizes-and hair colour-surfers to what is currently a hypersexualised female surfer stereotype (to read more on this issue, check out Cori Schumacher`s excellent article). I want to inspire a different, non-competitive side to the female surf lifestyle: surfing pumping and serious waves with a smile, surf travel, community work, creating, and just doing life your own way. 

has something remarkable happened since you run the website?

yes! creating my own line of surf leggings, making connections with some very cool female chargers and businesswomen, and having people contact me from all over the world with positive feedback about the site and products they've seen because of it. it's made me aware that I'm not alone in wanting to hear other girls' inspiring stories or find alternative surfwear products. I've become a sales rep for one of my favourite brands creating some very unique product - The Seea  and the other remarkable thing is seeing how social media can create a business in today's world. awesome!

we love the "how to" category and already thought about different fabrics for sewing our own surfbag. you like to do your stuff by yourself. that brings us to your leggings. we totally felt in love with them.

that's rad – surfboard covers are so easy to make! here are some more for inspiration. send me some pics when it's made! my home country, New Zealand, has a strong history and tradition of DIY. We kiwis grow up learning and being encouraged to do things ourselves so it is a part of our cultural fabric. not happy with something? do it yourself! which is how Kelly came to create her bikini collection and how I came to offer salt gypsy surf leggings – stoked you like them! they came about when I needed a pair of lycra leggings for working over here in the Maldives but couldn't find any under $100. I had some made up and voila – salt gypsy bespoke surf leggings were born. we are taking orders for delivery in october. choose your lycra from our facebook page. they're good for when you're spending a lot of time in the sun and want respite from UV damage. 

you feature a lot of bikinis and wetsuits on your website. how important is style concerning performance for you?

great question, I would have to say they are becoming equally important as stylish surfwear is catching up to performance and technical product. for too long we've had a market dominated by logo-driven, mainstream, big brands and black black black! the way I see it, we are at the dawn of a new era in female surfwear where style and individualism in the lineup is now possible. manufacturing and production quality of more fashion-forward styles are only going to keep improving. it's an exciting time for both brands and consumers.

besides "salt gypsy" you are living a dream. you work on a surf boat. how did you find your way to the boat? 

I do believe in living your dreams and this has formed the ethos for making decisions in my life – we only get one and it goes by pretty quick so make it good! In 2010, I met a couple who worked as surf guides on a resort in the Maldives. they helped me get a job and a month after meeting them, I was working on the same island taking people surfing and snorkelling. serendipity at its best! I met my boyfriend literally in the lineup one day, had a wee romance and here we are, nearly two years and two surf seasons later working together on a surfari boat. we host ten day surf charters and take our guests surfing (yes – we surf too!), take photos of them surfing and make sure they are in the best waves everyday. we also put together a trip slideshow, liase with the local boat crew, organise boat movements and do all social media updates. pretty full on when its months on end but you get to surf everyday. and you know, a few years ago I used to visualise being on a surf boat in the tropics with the love of my life, and well ladies – I'm living proof that visualisation works!

if we would go on a boat trip with you what would be waiting for us?

turquoise blue water so warm and clear you sometimes work up a sweat when you're surfing, small islands dotted around that you travel past to surf, and good waves throughout the year but particularly big pumping swells from june to august. the reef here is a little more user-friendly than most indonesian reefs but still there are some heavy breaks in the Maldives. you will be challenged! also waiting for you would be a bar that can overlook any surf break in the Maldives, dawn yoga on the top deck, sunset cocktails on the top deck, anchor rope climbs, dive bombs off the top deck, visits to local islands, Maldivian curries, pinky-purple-red sunsets, lunchtime beers, surfing with Manta Rays and dolphins, fish fish and more fish!

what does surfing means to you?

I started surfing at 15 years of age (more than half my life now argh!) and its been central to my lifestyle and life decisions ever since. when I was 23 years old, my family discovered we have a congenital heart arrhythmia that can cause sudden death (long QT syndrome). When our cardiologist sternly told me to "never surf again," I was devastated but promptly decided that life is too short to live in fear. I minimise my risk-taking as much as I can but I'm not going to stop something that gives me so much peace and strength, physically and emotionally, for the random possibility I might have an "event" (cardiac arrest). And hell, it's just fun!

what are your interests besides surfing?

pretty eclectic – I studied sculpture at university, lived in Japan for two and half years (snowboarding over there was unreal!), worked as a sales rep for billabong in NZ which I loved, going to see live music – festivals in summer are the best! making things out of old, unused materials (especially textiles and window glass), learning about other people's stories through conversations, learning languages, reading and studying (entreprenuerism is my current favourite topic!), turning the stereo up loud and dancing around the lounge like an idiot with my best mate (she's a doctor in NZ but this will never stop!), baking banana cakes, going to dress up house parties, the list is endless...

and how do you spend your winter?

mmmm… haven't really had a winter in three years but you would normally find me huddled next a warm fire or heater, dressed in as many layers of clothing as possible, eating a homemade soup and drinking red wine. unless I'm in the snow I'm not a huge fan of winter (where I come from, Auckland, New Zealand, it rains a lot).

are you somebody that gets homesick or do you have itchy feet all the time?

I miss my family and friends terribly and think of all the things I'm missing out on while I live overseas. but as soon as I'm back home, I always want to leave again – I'm a conflict of interests!

what do you believe in?

do what you love, keep smiling and be kind – to yourself and others. and it's ok to eat lots of chocolate!

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OH!BEANIE. WE LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

oh! this is hand-made and it's girl driven. oh!beanie is a german brand that takes care. everyone of us, wheter a skier, snowboarder, surfer, wakeboarder or skater get to experience incredible and wonderful moments with nature. with an oh!beanie you can return this gift to our planet and make your statement. and what's pretty amazing, you can do that in every color you desire.

two of oh!beanie's ambassadors told us why they love their beanie.

my fluffy companion is always there for me. after a glide – 

wheter in the water or in the snow.

conny grundmann

oh!beanie ist more than just a beanie for me. you can feel it's made 

by lovely people. and you got all in one: style, eco friendliness and 

the beanies are really comfortable.

birgit rofner

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NECTAR AND PULSE. WE LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

we are all explorers and we think it's way more fun to discover new and hidden places along with our soulmates. so thought carina and tanja from nectar and pulse and created something vibrant and individual.

we make …
personal cityguides based on insider tips of selected, vibrant locals.

we do it because ...
we love traveling, inspiring people and authentic spots.

as we do most people love to travel, love to explore new places and love to meet new people. what was the point to make traveling to your profession?
we noticed there is a gap for well-designed, personal written and design-focused cityguides. traveling is a great topic to build your brand on. the possibilities are endless and people will always want to discover new places, countries, people and cities.

please tell us more about you and the personal travelguide. 

we both grew up on the austrian countryside and met in 2004 while studying design and productmanagement in salzburg. Since we met we traveled together and have lived in salzburg, vienna, hamburg, london, new york, stockholm and now munich.
we founded our company nectar & pulse – your local soulmates in 2010. our guides are based on the personal hotspots of selected locals. On nectarandpulse.com you can choose the local soulmates who fit your interests and lifestyle best and customize them to your own personal guide.

 

 anna malmberg, local soulmate, paris

who is the perfect local soulmate for you?

our perfect local soulmates are bon vivants who make the most of now. they are hungry for life and play in a world of complex music, intense flavors, exciting places and epic experiences. they love their city and know it very well. they are curious, open-minded and travelgeeks. 

do most trips bring you to cities or do you also enjoy to have adventures in the wild?
we love contrasts! drinking "buttermilch" on a little alm or skiing in the mountains on one day and dancing the night away in a buzzing underground club on the next day. we are big city girls with a "heidi-heart". Beside our cityguides we will also produce special wilderness/countryside guides in 2012. 

carina, if tanja were a city which city would she be and why?
tanja would be a mix of stockholm and paris. the swedishness (tanja is half swedish half austrian), design- and fashionorientation of stockholm. the contrasts: pure, bright light of swedish summers and dark coldness of swedish winters. the mix of water and land, the different islands with various characteristics combined with the elegance and feminity of paris.

and which city would be carina?

she would be a mix of zell am see and new york. the beauty, nature, quietness, bluebird-sky and mountains of zell am see mixed with the speed, vibrant energy, culture, contrasts, art, entrepreneurial spirit and non-sleeping / everything is possible attitude of new york.

imagine you are planning a journey around the world and you can stop in just five places. which places would that be?
costa rica – south africa – maui – papua neuginea – tokyo

on your website we´ve seen posters and jewellery by nectar and pulse. what are you planning? what´s next?
on the one hand we are going to create many more cityguides and regionguides. on the other hand we will extend with accessories and more products inspired by traveling.

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EMA. WE LIKE THAT. WHAT IS IT?

we believe in the small things and in inperfection. they are perfect because they are not. as from now we will introduce small labels which are outstanding because they are made with love. where it's not about masses and money but good vibes and freedom. maria ferres is the perfect girl to begin with. with her label ema - protect your smile she combines all mentioned attributes and brings a mix of urban savyness and mountain innocence at once.

i make

neckwear to protect people's smiles

i do it because

destiny brought me the opportunity and I love it 

there´s something captivating about you and your label. how did you become such a bright and positive person?

I grew up in barcelona in a big, big family surrounded by happiness and considering love, respect and effort as core values. I'm so lucky my family loves nature, sports and of course the snow. I think the combination of my family's strict education and my wild soul made me who I am today. being happy every instant is my life's goal.

when did you got in touch with the snowboard scene for the first time? maybe not an easy thing for a spanish girl?

it was maybe 12 years ago when I started spending my winters in andorra. I can proudly say I've been part of the snowboard evolution in spain. nowadays it's really popular and snowboarding is understood as a lifestyle and passion but when I started to discover the snowboard scene it wasn't that easy and even more so for a spanish girl.

was your label planned or did it just happened like many good things do?

EMA just happened. I never planned something like this. I started creating my own designs and people started asking about it. meeting riders like marc swoboda or dominik wagner, who were really stoked about my neckwarmers and wanted to wear it also helped to start spreading the word around. finally a really bad injury in my arm made me change my life plans and gave me time to think and decide to start it for real. I guess that's what I love about EMA, every day and every step is a surprise :)

EMA - Protect your smile from Ema Protect your smile on Vimeo.

please tell us a bit more about the production process.

starting a new collection means improving the last one. I like to ask my riders and customers how they feel wearing the products and then I start thinking about the best way to improve it, but it's all about style, function, design and comfort. choosing styles and designs is amazing. I really love it. I just try to get inspiration everywhere (street, art, nature, fashion, people …) and try to find original and unique designs. I love textures and colors, that's why I say you can feel the difference wearing, touching or looking at EMA. EMA is a really young company. I take care of everything but I get some help for the production. everything is handmade in barcelona.

when we think about ema we see many bright shining faces. how do you choose your family members? 

all the riders in EMA's family must have this special spark inside. it's just happy people in love with snowboarding. I think above all I need stylish riders spreading good vibes and smiles around the world.

it seems you travel a lot. what´s the most beautiful thing about it for you?

I love traveling because it makes me feel free. I love getting lost finding my way around, discover places and cultures and meeting amazing people on the road. but I really hate saying bye when I have to leave, I'm so bad with that …

what do you believe in?

I believe in destiny.

destiny decided you might be the happy owner of one of ema's handmade bandanas soon. all you have to do is to visit our facebook page and tell us what makes you smile.

all pictures by crista leonard

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