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1. Scatter-dot dress
2. Jeweled elephant pendant necklace
3. Audra patent sandals

WHAT’S NINE-TO-FIVE LIKE FOR YOU?
The amazing thing about my job is that I don’t really have a nine-to-five, per se.
If the surf is good, I’ll blow everything off and surf all day long. Likewise, if
I’m editing a film on deadline, I’ll stay in the studio for 10 or 15 hours at a time.

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR MOVIES.
I aim to make simple, clean and minimalistic films that will stand the test of time.
I film the friends who inspire me and always pick surfers based on their style. That,
combined with amazing waves, unique locations, great music and no distracting titles,
seems to be a formula that’s working for me.

MOST RECENT PROJECT?
My last film, Sight Sound, was released in June 2011 after two years of traveling
around the globe with a group of friends. There’s no story line, narration or titles—
the images tell the story.

COOLEST PLACE YOUR JOB HAS TAKEN YOU?
Some outer islands in the Maldives that are 12 hours away by boat. The surfing was great
and attracted some of the local Maldivians to come and watch. Amazingly, it could have
been the first time many of them had seen surfing.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO SURFING?
My parents met surfing in the 1970s and my dad was a commercial clammer, so
everything my family did was based around surfing, fishing and the ocean. It was
only natural that I followed in their footsteps.

BEST WAVES IN THE WORLD?
Most people expect me to say somewhere like Australia, but I really love the serenity of
cold places like Canada and the Arctic Circle. Walking through the snow and paddling
out to an empty lineup with snowcapped mountains in the distance—it’s surreal.

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Sean’s tools of the trade (from top left): vintage die-cast model of a London taxi; cuff links; custom Tricker’s brogues; antique “Greedy Gulper” large cup and saucer; Leatherman tools (two sets of pliers with an extension and assorted bits); silver wallet chain.

Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett
restaurateur

WHAT’S NINE-TO-FIVE LIKE FOR YOU?
Being in the restaurant and retail businesses with my wife means that our life is not run on a nine-to-five schedule. Part of the excitement is not knowing what the day might bring us from one moment to the next.

MOST REWARDING PART OF YOUR JOB?
One rewarding aspect of the job is that to date we have had over 20 members of our staff meet their life partners through Tea & Sympathy (including me and my wife), as well as at least 30 customers. We like to say that the children from these unions are made of Tea & Sympathy ingredients.

ANY TRICKS OF YOUR TRADE TO SHARE?
Attention to the details that matter is very important. When we started A Salt & Battery in 1999, we found that the basic potato used by fish-and-chip shops in the UK wasn’tavailable in America, so we spent three months finding the perfect potato with which to make the Great British chip here in New York. This attention to ingredients has always been at the core of Tea & Sympathy and A Salt & Battery.

WHEN DO YOU WEAR A SUIT?
Whenever possible. Sometimes at work it’s not that practical, especially when I have to fix a drain or an oven. I always like to wear a good suit on social occasions too (I have a reputation of being a bit of a dandy when I get the chance).

STYLE ICON?
James Bond—he always looked sharp no matter what. I remember seeing a Bond movie as a boy in which he was captured and brought aboard the villain’s vessel whilst wearing a diving dry suit, which he removed to reveal an impeccable white dinner jacket and bow tie underneath. The audience in the cinema spontaneously burst into applause, and I was immediately struck by how cool that was.

ANY HIDDEN TALENTS WORTH REVEALING?
I have a separate career on the side where I do voice-overs for commercials and documentaries. It’s something I fell into years ago, and I like that it gives me an opportunity to do something completely different.

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Jenke-Ahmed Tailly
CREATIVE DIRECTOR

WHAT’S NINE-TO-FIVE LIKE FOR YOU?
I prefer five to nine.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CREATIVE DIRECTOR?
Conceptualize and realize a dreamed sense of aesthetic.

YOU’RE ALSO A FASHION EDITOR—TELL US ABOUT THAT.
I like Garage magazine and just did a cool editorial on hair fractals using mathematical concepts with breathtaking African hair-braiding techniques.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Eyes, hands and melancholia.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR DOWNTIME?
Swim.

WHAT’S ON YOUR BOOKSHELF/KINDLE?
Played Out: The Jean Seberg Story by David Richards, Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan
and La Poursuite du Bonheur by Michel Houellebecq.

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Robert Redford

Steve McQueen

Woody Allen

Raleigh St. Clair in The Royal Tenenbaums

Our very own men’s corduroy designer, Willy, in the corduroy 14-wale sportcoat in Ludlow fit
and his own corduroy shirt (we don’t usually condone the corduroy-on-corduroy look,
but today we’ll even endorse it).

See our cords at jcrew.com.