Honored to Amplify: Changing the Visual Seascape with Textured Waves

"Our lives are immensely impacted by surfing, it is our joy, freedom and self expression. It is so beautiful to see a diverse community of surfers because each culture adds new elements of their culture to the space."

Textured Waves  

 

Surfing is for everyone.

It's a simple yet crucial truth at the heart of surf culture, transcending borders, oceans, and cultural lines around the world every day. But in 2019 when Chelsea Woody, Danielle Black Lyons, and Martina Duran looked at the visual representation in surf media, it told a much different story. Inspired to create more visible diversity, the trio set out to propagate the sport of surfing towards brown and black women. Today, Textured Waves is a global community of BIPOC female surfers who come together around their shared love for the ocean and shifting that narrative.

Vuori was honored to support Textured Waves at their recent Co-wash retreat in Nicaragua. Originally started to hold space for women of color who wanted to travel to surf but didn’t quite know where to start, these Co-wash retreats also focus on providing a powerful example to–and support for–the communities they travel to. While in Nicaragua, they worked with a local organization called The Sirenitas to enroll local girls in programming that gives them life skills like swimming and surf lessons, and computer and Tai Kwon Do classes.

“Our goal is to always give back to the communities we travel to and to learn from the local surfers,” says Danielle Black Lyons “In Hawaii, we worked with local non-profit Na Kama Kai to help educate our guests about water safety and the importance of having strong water skills amongst youth and underprivileged groups.”

Growing in community while changing the visual seascape and in turn helping budding surfers develop a deep appreciation for the cultures and places who lend their waves is a shared ethos of inclusion and responsible tourism–a natural fit for Vuori.

So where to next for this pioneering group of wave riders? More Co-wash retreats, more giving back–and more women of color in your local lineup.“We hope Textured Waves will be a positive example to women, and girls across the globe and inspire folks to achieve their dreams with persistence and hard work. We also hope that folks that traditionally have not seen themselves as surfers realize that anyone can be a surfer.”