An upscale take on surfwear

It wasn’t Windansea Beach itself but a detour taken while trying to find a parking spot there that led to the mother lode of inspiration for Jonathan Cohen’s spring collection.

The 28-year-old designer, who grew up near the fabled beach in La Jolla and is now based in New York, had recently reread “The Pump House Gang,” Tom Wolfe’s 1968 story about rowdy teens who hung out at the pump house at Windansea, defending their sandy turf from the over-25 set. When he was home last March, Cohen was determined to see the place with fresh eyes.

“We turned down this tiny little street where we saw this rusted-out Volkswagen van. The bottom was turquoise, and the top was orange. I think we left the car running in the middle of the street. We just had to take pictures of that van; it was so cool.”

Those photos became the starting point for beachy grunge prints featuring etched, rust-colored aloha flowers; ocean horizon lines-as-stripes dotted with surfers; “hang ten” hand signs; and decaying car side panels, gas tanks and all. The prints, all made in-house through a process that combines hand painting and computer graphics, are worked into classically tailored jackets and fit ‘n’ flare dresses, as well as relaxed Hawaiian shirts, drawstring pants, T-shirts and maxi-dresses for a look that is subversively elegant. (Jonathan Cohen collection, $165 to $1,995, at Savannah in Santa Monica and A’Maree’s in Newport Beach.)

“The surfer trend is everywhere now, so we tried to turn it upside down and not make it so literal,” says Cohen, who launched his print-heavy label three years ago, after stints working for Oscar de la Renta and Doo Ri Chung. “‘The Pump House Gang’ had that punk, beachy, beatnik vibe that felt right.”

And before the collection even hit the racks, Cohen received the ultimate compliment: For a TV appearance in January, actress and fashion It girl Lupita Nyong’o chose to wear one of his surfer dresses.

Now he’s hanging 10 for sure.