OBJECTS TO LIVE WITH - ALOHA Zen & Bodeguita
I remember the moment I first came across ALOHA Zen.
I was leafing through Surf Shacks, the Gestalten book we were selling in-store at the time, when I landed on a feature about Damion and Fern — creative partners, artists, ceramicists, surfers, living from a solar and wind-powered farm on the north coast of Australia. Their home was filled with handmade objects, faded textiles, surfboards, paintings, ceramics. Some of the pieces photographed were part of their own brand, ALOHA Zen.
I immediately got in touch with Fern directly, crossing my fingers they’d agree to wholesale with Bodeguita.
I still remember the feeling when the first delivery finally arrived in Puerto.
Unboxing the surf art prints — hand-drawn illustrations cold pressed onto archival paper — the embroidered Gerry Lopez cushions, the ceramics. It all felt intentional. Slow, handmade luxury without feeling overworked or precious. It was clear each piece had been made with real love for the ocean, for the earth, and for the process itself.
I started Bodeguita almost eight years ago because I saw an opportunity to create a space where local Mexican designers and smaller independent brands could gain visibility for their work. Many of those original brands are still thriving in-store today.
And although most of the brands inside Bodeguita are Mexican, local, or homegrown in some way, ALOHA Zen remains the one exception.
Somehow, from a solar and wind-powered farm in Australia, their world still made perfect sense in Puerto.
It wasn’t just the shared love of surf culture that felt aligned — it was the way they approach making things. Everything Fern and Damion create is produced slowly, in small batches, often made to order. No overproduction, no urgency, no pressure to constantly release more.
That philosophy felt deeply familiar.
A lot of Bodeguita was built the same way — small runs with local printers, limited quantities, things arriving imperfectly, slowly, organically. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
We both value craftsmanship and creating slowly.
It’s something that quietly connects many of the brands inside Bodeguita.
ALOHA Zen create objects to live with, not rush through. Turns out geography matters a lot less when people share the same way of seeing the world.
Explore the dreamy world of ALOHA ZEN on bodeguitasurf.com
