Courtney Chew of OCIN on All Things Ocean

I’ve loved water since I can remember. I grew up swimming competitively so I spent most of my childhood in the pool. Also being born and raised on a coastal city has given me so many opportunities to connect to the surrounding Pacific. But one of my earliest fondest memories of the ocean was when I was maybe 10 or so. I was taking my first surf lesson on O’ahu, a place that has become extremely special and important to me, and after so many falls I remember finally catching a baby-sized wave, standing up and riding it all the way to the shoreline. The feeling was incredible. Spending the entire day in the sun, on a board, in the beautiful ocean, then getting carried by nature—the coolest, almost effervescent feeling stuck with me, and it’s something that I get every time I’m by the ocean.

The idea was actually born in Hawai‘i during one of my visits there, but officially launched in 2018 out of my home city, the unceded territories of the Musqueum, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, also known as Vancouver, Canada. OCIN exists to be a platform that inspires our most open and limitless selves, and to motivate kind and positive actions for our communities, our planet and our oceans. Seeing an intersection between my more than 14-year career in fashion and love for the water, I sought to showcase a new narrative for swim: that it be a lifestyle piece to invest in for years to come, that one feels good in and that inspires good. OCIN is inspired by the ocean, for the ocean. It’s also a vehicle to raise awareness, shift perspectives, build community and create global openness.

O‘ahu is like a second home to me. The connection that I have with my surroundings when I’m there is a deep full-body experience—it’s hard to describe. It’s an extremely special place to my parents and their love for Hawai’i has clearly passed along to me. I’ve been fortunate to have traveled to so many unbelievable places around the world over the years that inspired me and changed me, but O‘ahu is definitely the one place I make time to return to every year. It’s where I always feel the most present, limitless and at peace.

Packing cubes! Makes everything so much easier to organize, especially for a last-minute packer like myself. I also always bring extra foldable totes—they’re great to carry around with you when you’re going about your day, and act as an extra bag for whatever doesn’t end up fitting in your suitcase on your way home. Other necessities are my OCIN x Kinto waterbottle, hand sanitizer, notebook and pen, whatever book I’m reading, Fuji camera, headphones, portable battery pack, Akila sunglasses, OCIN x Slowtide x Scott Sueme microfibre beach towel and a few OCIN swimsuits, naturally. I always try to fit everything into my carry-on—Monos makes incredible ones. It’s hard to sometimes, but the ease of traveling without checking in your bags makes it worth the effort.

We just started offering our collection in Baja California Sur, Mexico. I’ve never been there so I would love to visit and then check out other areas in the country such as Mexico City, Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido. It’s also been a dream of mine to stay at Aman Tokyo—I love Japan—so if I ever had an opportunity to stay there, that would be top of the list.

I love that Vancouver has access to both mountains and the ocean, so the summer gets filled with lots of hikes on the North Shore, Squamish and Whistler. In the city, Mount Pleasant, Cambie Village, Chinatown-Strathcona, Granville Island, Commercial Drive and Gastown are neighbourhoods I spend the most time in. They each have their own energy to them, driven by some really admirable creative and entrepreneurial talent. I have so many favourite places it’s impossible to narrow down, but a few that I really adore are Roden Gray, Kamuy Vintage, and Neighbour for apparel; Walrus Home, Sort Days and Itsumo for lifestyle and home goods; Timbertrain, Yama Cafe, Cultivate Tea and Liberty Café for coffee and tea; and Savio Volpe, Ajisai Sushi and DD Mau Chinatown for eats.

Arrive with the mindset of leaving the smallest footprint that you can! If you’re going to swim in the oceans, make sure to find reef friendly sunscreen that won’t leave behind chemicals that will harm the ecosystem. Respect nature by leaving everything in its place and being a casual, kind observer to the animals and the sea creatures you may come across. If you want to do something fun and different while you’re there, look up the local ocean conservation chapter and take part in a beach cleanup! Learn from the community of people whose mission it is to protect and care for their shorelines. It’ll change your perspective.

Tough question—the ocean is full of wild and beautiful creatures, many that we don’t even know of yet, it’s fascinating to think about! I don’t know if there is one that I most identify with, but if I could choose a mix of a few that I admire, they would be sea turtles for their resilience, octopuses for their curiosity and resourcefulness and whale sharks for their grace and carefree yet observant demeanour.