At the Beach with Orlebar Brown

What is your favorite beach? Boobys Bay on Trevose Head in North Cornwall. I’ve been going there pretty much every year since I was 6 years old, so it evokes an incredible breadth of memories. Boobys Bay is probably the only place in the world that I have visited throughout my life. North Cornwall is wild in personality; a beautiful sandy beach, crashing waves, freezing water, rugged cliffs with deep rock pools, huge skies, high and low tides, a ship wreck and a lighthouse. It has everything a beach should have.

How does it inspire your work? It is the place that formed a huge part of the spirit of Orlebar Brown. It is where I learnt to love beaches, navy as a color, where I embraced toweling as a fabric, learnt to surf and had so many great times with friends—I always feel fabulous when I come back.

What’s your insider secret to the location? Brave the water. It is great once you get in there. Ditch the surfboard, just put on some flippers and go out in the waves to body surf in on your stomach. The best adrenaline rush you can get.

What do you always bring to the beach? Flippers, lots of snacks (there are no shops close by), layers in case the wind is up or sun goes in, binoculars, some ball games, a book (it is not an iPad sort of place and there is no reception really), buckets of factor 50 and perhaps a bottle of wine for when the sun does come out.