“Anyone who does surfing is going to do it in their own way.” “The WSL does it in their own way, Stab does it in their own way. Obviously Louis Vuitton is going to do it in their own way. It’s going to be extra and over the top.” The question, really, is not whether Michael February belongs in a Louis Vuitton campaign. The question is whether any other surfer make the whole proposition look quite so fabulous. When the images dropped online, Mikey clad in a magnificent yellow knit, clutching a man-purse, the surf world was, you might say, a little divided. Some lamented the death of core surfing. Others accused LV of appropriating surf culture, or of repackaging the cultural myth of the Hollywood surf movie through an entirely outsider perspective. Rushing to the defence of Mikey and the great French luxury conglomerate were the wizened souls of Evan Slater and Joel Tudor. “It is so wild to me all the shit talking going on about the recent LV surf fashion line,” wrote Joel. “Yall are some hypocritical barneys.” “Where were all these passionate ‘saviours of surf culture’ when licensing conglomerate @authentic acquired the souls of every major surf brand from the past 30+ years?,” wrote Evan Slater. “This is life after death, guys. Keep surfing and keep generously sharing the gifts of surfing with others. The rest will take care of itself.” A lot more yapping, back and forth, can be found in the comments here. Also in this ep: did Pharrell and Louis Vuitton rip off Vans? Dane seems to think the whole thing might be a marketing play, and a very smart one at that. The boys also talk team surf films, EAST, and check in with the Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup comp director, Harry Mann.

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