Sea Through Me with Lex Weinstein

To truly know ourselves and where we are headed is to honor from where we came. Sea Through Me is a collection expanding our journey towards a more sustainable future, inspired by the women who wear them and help us to retrace our footsteps back to Mother Earth. Exploring un-dyed, natural fabrications, organic & eco-conscious cotton, recycled cotton blend & recycled polyester, this capsule features soft neutrals and rich earth tones, consciously crafted with the planet in mind.

Dive into Lex Weinstein's experience below:

Maya Harrison and I connected in Southern California through surfing, yoga and gardening, but our cultural backgrounds bonded our sisterhood in an even deeper way. Me, being of Cuban/Jewish descent, and Maya, the daughter/granddaughter of Mexican and Japanese immigrants, connected on what it meant to grow up in a multicultural household, and in a lineup that lacked that same diversity.

We were raised on the foundation that family is everything. Our Latina Mothers had a strong narrative of how lucky we were to grow up in the United States, constantly reminding us of the sacrifices made by family to make our lives as surfers, students, and creatives possible. With an emphasis on gratitude came a natural gravitation towards conservation. We were ingrained with our Mothers’ intense mindfulness of our limited resources, which for us, eventually evolved into advocacy work to protect our precious ecosystems. Maya is now a student of environmental justice at UC San Diego, and we have co-founded a nonprofit and surf and garden club called Sea + Soil, to educate and involve our community in regenerative living.

Much like our life-giving planet, the love and generosity that flows within the Latinx family unit has a single pointed source as well - the Abuelita, or beloved Grandmother. To extend our deepening sisterhood, Maya invited me and another dear sister, Hawaii based photographer and waterwoman Sarah Lee, to meet her Abuelita, Eva Maria. She lives outside the town of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico where her Mother also grew up deeply connected to the land, surfing, scaling palm trees for coconuts, and harvesting water from the local river. Ironically, the name Zihuatanejo comes from the Náhuatl word “Zihuatlan,” which means “land of women,” and local lore has it that the area was ruled by women (although some might argue it still is!).

Arriving to Maya’s family felt like arriving home. Aunts, uncles, and cousins came running to the street squealing, greeting us with massive hugs, kisses and gifts. Her Abuelita has such a grand presence at her modest 4'11" stature, with the energy of four people in one! Their hospitality was so incredibly kind, the laughter so real, and the food they prepared so full of love. We sat around the table planted right in the sand, listening to stories of the family, past and present, new babies being born, upcoming weddings, and family gatherings being planned for the holidays. As we lingered until the sunset behind the sky-high palms, Abuelita and Tia Chiquis generously striving to make us feel at home in every moment, it was clear that nothing meant more to these women than family.

A short 30-minute drive from Abuelita’s house is a resort unlike any other, Playa Viva. I had visited a few times before and knew while we were in town, I had to take Maya to witness what a future of regenerative travel looks like. Playa Viva is an environmentally conscious resort dedicated to sustainability and regenerative practices, featuring eco-luxury rooms, including an award-winning oceanfront Treehouse. It’s a space to immerse in nature, attend a morning yoga practice, volunteer in the turtle sanctuary, give back to the local community, engage in a workshop, or just relax completely in paradise. I couldn’t wait to introduce Maya to my incredible friend, Amanda Harris, who runs the farm connected to Playa Viva which hires local community members, engages traditional farming practices, and feeds the restaurant as well as supports the local economy. It was amazing to explore the regenerative practices Amanda is pursuing like ethical animal husbandry, permaculture systems of agriculture, and her greenhouse made completely of recycled ocean trash. We left with so much inspiration to take home to our garden.

As if the trip weren’t perfect enough, our hunt for waves also provided an abundance of gifts. Our dawn patrol sessions were greeted with a stunning sunrise, completely empty lineup, and perfect chest high peelers. We invited our local friends and rippers Patty Ornelas and Ilianet Nuñez to join and traded waves with giant smiles and giddy laughter.

It was to no surprise that even as the lineup filled, for the first hour we were surrounded by only women! Surfing near Zihuatanejo truly lived up to its name.

It was so powerful to witness such a dear friend in her element, in the land of her ancestors, to see how she came to be. It is no wonder to me that everyone who knows Maya adores her. I felt so blessed to be on the receiving end of her friendship, to dig deep into our passion of farming and surfing together, and to feel the warmth of the hearts of all the women who came before her, for they most surely live on in her spirit today.