Brick Howze is reshaping surf culture from the ground up. As the founder of Ebony Beach Club—a Los Angeles-based surfing collective—Howze is championing Black surfers and creating an inclusive, empowering space for historically underrepresented and marginalized communities to reclaim their rightful place in the ocean.
His impactful mission caught the attention of global cultural titan Pharrell Williams. As co-owner of the $350 million, state-of-the-art Atlantic Surf Park in Virginia Beach—featuring Spain-based Wavegarden Cove technology—Pharrell turned to Howze as his personal surf guru and cultural guide into the wave-riding world. That creative synergy quickly expanded beyond wave pools and straight into the upper echelons of global high fashion.
When Pharrell conceptualized Louis Vuitton’s iconic Spring/Summer 2027 collection, he tapped Howze to help bring his beach-inspired vision to life on the runway. The resulting presentation transformed the catwalk into a breathtaking coastal spectacle, complete with a giant barreling wave backdrop and a sandy runway path for models showcasing beach-inspired luxury wear. Safe to say Pharrell’s caught the surf bug.
Howze has also recently teamed up with Youth to the People, a skincare brand, where he was featured in a storytelling social series designed to spotlight individuals driving meaningful impact across culture, wellness, identity, and community.
In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Brick Howze to discuss diversifying the lineup, bridging wave pools and high fashion, and guiding Pharrell Williams into the surf world.
SURFER: Let’s take it back to the beginning. What’s your origin story with surfing?
Brick Howze: I started surfing just because of my child-like curiosity. One day I was sitting at the beach during July of 2020 and a Latino woman on the beach was walking around with a big stack of bodyboards and beach balls for sale – I gave her $15 for the board. I immediately hopped in the water and played on the waves for like an hour straight, and then I thought to myself, “I kinda wanna try to stand up on this thing.”
So, the next day I got on Instagram and asked my friends if anybody had a surfboard that I could borrow. My friend Nikita loaned me her 6’0” epoxy board, (maybe 31L and totally yellow from sitting in the sun) and I took that thing out every single day for a month just figuring it out before I caught my first wave. I have an obsessive personality, and haven’t looked back since.
How’d the idea for Ebony Beach Club come about?
Ebony Beach Club was born from a desire to create the kind of beach community I wish existed when I first started surfing. I felt like an “only” so I wanted to use my creative gifts of music and the arts to become a lighthouse for others who felt the same. I just ultimately want all my folks at the beach. Also, when I discovered the story of the original Ebony Beach Club, founded by Silas White in 1957, that reinforced that this movement is part of a much larger cultural and historical legacy.
Related: First Look at Pharrell Williams Surfing His $350M Wave Pool (Video)
And then…things sort of blew up. Correct?
Correct. I believe our rapid growth just reflects a broader cultural shift that’s happening as more people seek spaces that cater to their engagement with nature and/or their niche hobbies + interests. Nightclubs just aren’t scratching the itch anymore. People want to feel something real and sustainable.
Let’s talk skincare. What’s your involvement and recent work with Youth to the People?
I partnered with Youth To The People on content for their ‘Meet The People’ social series to raise awareness of Ebony Beach Club’s mission to make ocean and surf culture more accessible and welcoming for Black & Brown people. To further support our cause and the Juneteenth event, the brand generously provided a grant to help further our mission and donated products that fit naturally into a simple post-ocean/water skincare routine.
I’ve been using their products as part of my skincare routine for quite some time (shoutout to Superfood Cleanser) and really appreciate that the brand is about more than just skincare and awesome products – they’re committed to community and supporting purpose-driven creators and initiatives.
What’s your role with Pharrell and his surfing involvement from Louis Vuitton to Atlantic Surf Park?
I was originally brought in by Pharrell’s team to help provide the kids of Virginia Beach with surf and swim lessons back in October 2025 at Atlantic Park Surf. Naturally, I brought the entire Ebony Beach Club team and our extended surf family with me, and that’s where I met Pharrell. Since he’s from Virginia Beach, he already had his own relationship with the ocean.
The Louis Vuitton collaboration became a natural extension of that relationship. They flew me to Paris to meet with the Louis Vuitton menswear design team, where I shared some of my creative DNA to complement the vision that they were building. Additionally, they gave me the creative freedom to direct the storytelling visual that introduces their SS27 collection. One of my favorite parts was being able to bring so many of my friends and real community into the project. I thought that was really special. I hope that collection and visual story lives on forever.
Youth to the People
What’s next?
More swim lessons, more volleyball, more events, more community building. We continue with the regularly scheduled programming while building towards some bigger-picture moments. Hopefully in the coming years we can secure a sizable beachfront building in LA to create an official physical Ebony Beach Club location and bring Silas White’s dream back to life.
Related: Pharrell Williams Celebrates Black Surfing at Virginia Wave Pool