There are clothes we wear, and others we keep. The ones we find at the back of a closet ten years later and just can’t bring ourselves to give away. “surf in paris.” is one of those. A typeface, three words, a period. And more than ten years later, people are still talking about it.
You can't surf in Paris. So what?
Obviously, there are no waves on the Seine. “Surf in Paris” has never been a geographical indication. It’s a state of mind, and everyone can interpret it however they want.
For some, it’s the longing for the ocean in the middle of the week, between subway rides, when you’re checking the swell forecast instead of the RER schedule. For others, it’s a nod to the fact that surfing is cool, no matter where you are. And for many, it’s a declaration of love for this city—the one you carry with you all the way to the beach, in the summer, whether in Brittany, the Basque Country, or the Landes.
June 2013
It all started in a 20 m² office. We were looking for an idea for a sweatshirt, and we wanted two words on it: “surf” and “Paris.” Three words, a period, some embroidery. The first one—“surf in paris.”—came out in June 2013 under Cuisse de Grenouille, our first brand. We had no idea what was coming next.
The piece has become a cult favorite. We’ve spotted it on strangers on the street, on vacation, on the other side of the world, and in thousands of photos posted with #surfinparis. And sometimes on people who are far from strangers: Jennifer Lopez has worn it, and she wasn’t the only one.
It comes in hundreds of colors, and it travels: “surf in tokyo,” “surf in new york,” “surf in berlin,” “surf in beirut,” “surf in barbès”… more than 100 collaborations with stores and brands around the world, with every city demanding its own version.
And when a design is that successful, one thing is bound to happen: people copy it. We’ve seen a lot of them come and go, with varying degrees of success. Take this one, for example: the typography is sloppy, and it has a V-neck. We’ve never made a V-neck. Honestly, we took it as a compliment.
And then time went by. We built forlife, with a different approach to fashion: fewer pieces, better made, produced exclusively on a made-to-order basis. But “surf in paris.” never really left us. All it took was a message, sent every so often, asking, “Aren’t you ever going to do that again?”
Today, the answer is yes. Through forlife’s creative studio, the story continues. And this time, we’re writing it together with you.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 took the form of a Marlon T-shirt, available in two versions: one with a pocket and a sewn-in label, and one without a pocket but with a print. It is now in stock and can be found here.
Chapter 2: You're the one who drew it
For this chapter, we didn't want to decide on our own. So we asked you two questions. First: Which room? Then: Which color? More than 300 of you responded. We read your answers, tallied them, and went with what you said.
The Embroidered Sweatshirt
We started with Paul, our sweatshirt, and added the original “surf in paris.” loopback embroidery. A snow-colored sweatshirt with navy blue embroidery.€79 instead of €99.
The Printed T-Shirt
The foundation is Marlon, our T-shirt and our best-seller. We added a red “surf in paris” print (just like forlife 🫶). €49 instead of €59.
Just one color for each piece: the one you chose. And as always at forlife, we only produce what has been ordered. No inventory, no second chances: once pre-orders close, they’re closed.
See you on Friday
Pre-orders open on Friday, October 16, at 10 a. m. Thirteen years after the first one, the “surf in paris.” sweatshirt is back. We hope you’ll be there.
