“Montauk is the most unique and magical town – it’s hard to explain without actually being here, but there is a relaxed surf-meets-city energy,” shares Sasha Benz [above], the dynamic pocket-rocket of the fashion industry who’s been tapped as the new Creative Director of the Surf Lodge.  An Australian born fashion guru, Benz is also the founder/editor of the online publication All My Friends Are Models, which became an instant industry darling after only a few short months.  After spending the past few summers attending the Surf Lodge with her [equally stunning] DJ husband, joining the team was a natural fit for the collaborative couple. Sasha shares her summer inspirations in this NEW KDHamptons Lifestyle Diary, below: 

Surf Lodge lovers in residence, Sasha and Oliver Benz

KDHamptons: How long have you been visiting the Hamptons, and what do you love most about Montauk?

Sasha Benz: We have been visiting the Hamptons almost every year since we moved to the states in 2010 from Australia. The first few times were just quick getaway weekends, and then once we began to understand Montauk we fell more and more in love with it and began making it a more frequent thing throughout the New York summer. My husband Oliver connected with the Surf Lodge owners during this time and began DJing here regularly which is how we began to build the relationship here, and made it our home away from home. We came out almost every weekend last year (keeping our place in the city and staying at the hotel on the weekends) and now this year we have moved out full time.  I love the wonderful restaurants, breathtaking sunsets over the lake, and then top it all off with the huge music influence throughout the summer?  Its hard not to fall in love when you live here…

KDHamptons: How would you compare the Hamptons to Australia?

Sasha Benz: The best comparison I would say is that it is a lot like Byron Bay, purely because of the surf influence; it’s a small town, but it is still always busy and electric, and has a city crowd on the weekends but a lot of local artists and eclectic characters are here year round.

KDHamptons:  As the new creative director for the Surf Lodge, you have been working on some cool summer projects, including artist Jen Stark’s magical creation on the side of the building [below]. What else can you share with our readers at this point?

Sasha Benz: I plan to leave my mark here in a big way, not just this season, but in years to come you will still feel my presence. We created a new beach garden, only for hotel guests at this point, and we are hosting a few VIP events in the next few weeks. It has a loungy beach vibe, and we built everything there ourselves, I am very hands on with all my projects and want to be involved in everything from set up, to picking fabrics, hand picking each plant and deciding on rope widths, light colors, etc. My husband did all the handy work, dug up the entire beach, sanded it, planted the trees, built vine covered swings – it was a labor of love and is still a work in progress, but we are excited to be able to launch this and the response has been phenomenal thus far.

KDHamptons: What does a perfect day in the Hamptons look like for you and Oliver?

Sasha Benz: A perfect day in Montauk, on a ‘day off’ – which I think might only next happen in September haha, would look something like this…

Breakfast at Joni’s in town, scoop a coffee up from next door at Left Hand with my hubby and puppy and head down to walk along the beach and meditate on the day ahead. A bike ride around the golf course is my next activity for the day, its a beautiful ride through the back streets of the town. Lunch would be at Crows Nest, and a drink after down by their private beach area. We would then head to Ditch plains where Oli would Surf and I would run along the beach for about an hour, while Brooklyn sits patiently under the umbrella waiting for us both. We would then head down to either Dureyeas or Montauket for the most breathtaking sunset I have ever seen, which happens every night out here. Then we would head back to Surf Lodge and post up for the night at the restaurant and listen to the band play into the night.

LEFT HAND coffee

Montauk Downs golf course

PSST…Follow Brooklyn Benz on Instagram @Brooklyn.Benz

Crow’s Nest

KDHamptons: What will be the “Don’t Miss” event at the Surf Lodge this summer?

Sasha Benz: We have a series of large events and brand activation planned throughout the summer, all of which I am really excited about. We are hosting a Surf Ball here mid July with Ben Watts and my magazine All My Friends Are Models, which I am putting a lot of energy into, we are expecting this to be our biggest event for the summer. We also have two more artists coming in. We are hosting Sunday BBQ’s in the fire pit area now more frequently, starting with a Ben Watts BBQ to celebrate his Montauk Dreaming, which took place over Memorial Day and was a huge success. We are also collaborating with some incredible brands throughout the summer with several pop-up stores coming in on the weekends as of mid June. I am also connecting with some close model friends and artists who will be shooting and filming out here for the Surf Lodge, working with us on social media takeovers and little events in the garden area.

Other smaller ideas we have injected are henna tattoo artists for guests in the sand pit, group paddle board sunset sessions on the lake, and connecting with Blade Chopper for all our hotel guests for the summer.

Oliver Benz at the Capitol Cities concert at the Surf Lodge

KDHamptons: You have great unique style, do you have a favorite designer and place to shop?

Sasha Benz: I have a lot of brands that I generally always gravitate towards, Givenchy & Balenciaga are my two ultimate guilty pleasures, also Yves Saint Laurent for any accessory that they ever do. I also love my Aussie designers, Josh Goot & Dion Lee are regular favorites. I am also falling for a lot of the newer LA brands – which I think is the hippy beach girl coming out in me since I have been living here. In terms of shopping, the easiest and best experience for me is always Barneys and Bergdorf uptown in the city, they have the best edit of the best designers — hands down!