5 Reasons To Shop the Tommy Hilfiger Surf Shack Capsule Collection

Mixing the best style elements of West Coast surf and Cape Cod prep is an eye opening proposition—not unlike say, an organic lobster roll smothered in kale chips…or that song Let’s Go Surfing by The Drums. Anyway…it’s a cool combination you’ll notice in the limited edition Tommy Hilfiger Surf Shack capsule collection, which has yielded a few solid summer gems to add to your wardrobe…and also given the world some sweet looking surfboards by a few of our favorite contemporary artists. Check it…

1—The Chambray Blazer

Chambray is hardly formal and it reads as tough—you might even say it’s, uh, “carefree, dude!” And blazers are an easy, and currently trending, way to dress up just about any look. The two mix here, in a sleek, tailored cut, creating a kind of versatile blazer perfect for evenings at the shore when you don’t wanna dress up too much but also aren’t interested in looking like a schlub. Just don’t wear one with denim unless you’re currently wearing spurs and a cowboy hat. Then, well, apparently that’s your thing.

2—The Printed Anorak

A “baja” as the kids used to call them back in the ’80s. Then they were made of a crappy, itchy material (something you’d never want to touch) and were the province of slackers and stoners. Cut to 2013 and they’re in what we’d rightly term as a revival. A few designers, like Michael Bastian for Gant, have put them in their Spring 2013 collections. Tommy Hilfiger’s is remade in 100% cotton, in a slim fitting tailored look and in subtle prints and zip sleeves for rolling. And now we see the light—toss this in your beach bag and your breezy ocean front experience will now be accompanied with a little throwback minded, cozy contemporary style.

3—The Stripe Popover Jacket

Nautical stripes are to summer what plaid is to winter. On this lightweight pullover, drawstrings on the hood and at the hem and are lined in leather and the cuffs are elasticized. What this means is that it’s a great option for days when you’re going to be in the sun a lot but don’t necessarily want to be exposed to the sun. Good to protect against the wind too.

4—Twill Shorts

Hitting in the sweet spot just above the knee and below the thigh, hot coral (aka, light orange) shorts come with a contrasted chambray waistline. They live in that hard to find space in between too-minimal-as-to-be-boring and overly designed. They’re polite enough to be worn with an oxford and not too precious to also take a good T-shirt.

5—Tommy Hilfiger + Art Production Fund Surf Boards

In a word. Awesome. Especially for fans of Lola Montes Schnabel, Richard Phillips, Ray Pettibon, Scott Campbell and Gary Simmons—all multi-disciplinary artists. But here’s some more: The Art Production Fund is a non profit that’s been in operation since 2000 with the goal of assisting artists to produce projects that might be deemed too complex and expensive to realize. Tommy Hilfiger’s role has been to commission five artists to create surfboards as a compliment to the collection. They’ll be on display and for sale at select Tommy Hilfiger stores through the summer. You can read more about each unique piece of work and the artists who created them in the gallery.