In collaboration with Lynx.
Lewis Crathern
I easily spotted Lewis Crathern at the MenStyleFashion HQ in Brighton, when he stepped out of his Volkswagen camper. The tanned face and blond hair gave away that this must be the 4 times British Champion kitesurfer. Lewis was invited by Lynx to do a feature about his attitude to style, grooming and life.
Lewis Crathern created massive media exposure, yes BBC news, by jumping over the Brighton pier in 2010. This crazy guy was born with extreme sports in his DNA. With that DNA it took Lewis only 2 years from taking up kitesurfing in 2003 to become British champion in 2005.
Style Attitude
Lewis is a typical kitesurfer and what he defines as casual, smart casual and a suit is completely different from our definitions. His style is about surfing and skateboarding, on his shoes he states: “If it is not comfortable and my shoes have no grip it does not belong in my wardrobe.” What was unusual about him was the lack of any accessories or tattoos.
His smart casual style is about practicality, his jeans are chosen for one reason, to be able to strike a football. “In my random life I want to be able to go from one activity to another without changing clothes.” His Nokia phone represents his laid back attitude, he does not feel he needs to be connected to the world during the day. He loves the long battery life, when meeting friends it is not: “Hello how are you and do you have a USB charger for my phone”.
I cried out laughing when Lewis showed me his third suit style outfit, it was his wetsuit. “I will marry in it”. With his wetsuit on we all went for a drive in the back of his campervan to the Brighton seafront.
Grooming Attitude
For a guy who loves water it is no surprise that he shaves wet. His goatee his been with him as long as he can remember, the moustache seems to come on and off depending on his mood. His favourite after shave for the last 10 years has been Diesel Plus Plus, time for a change here.
For a guy that has always had the long blond sun bleached hair, he decided after some encouragement from his girlfriend to go short. He had a half an hour chat with the hairdresser before the change, “It is all about trust.” To keep his hair good Lewis only shampoos twice a week, “seawater is like a natural cleanser.”
Final Note
Recently Lewis does radio and TV coverage for events in kitesurfing and other sports. I asked if this was the job for when retiring from kitesurfing he said: “Too old for kitesurfing, my local beach in Lancing has a 79 year old kitesurfing every day, I will go till I am 100.”
His style icon, no surprises here, is surfer Kelly Slater for being such a normal bloke with a very relaxed style. He can’t stand Christiano Ronaldo for keep drawing attention, he much prefers Messi that gets attention by doing what he does best and that is playing good football. He is disappointed by Messi’s latest tattoos though.
His next big challenge is to be the world number one kitesurfer. I asked him why he has not achieved it yet: “It’s simple I am mentally ready for it now. Watch this space.”
Lewis’s relaxed personality makes him very approachable, this all shows up in his style that is very relaxed as well. Let us know in the comments below if you were inspired by Lewis’s style and grooming attitude and also his outlook on life.
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