Sagas of Shred tends to focus on vintage surf ads, mostly out of necessity. I can’t remember the last time I saw a memorable ad for a surf brand. It’s too bad. Even when brands weren’t doing much more than slapping a logo on a sick shot of the team rider du jour, that still subsidized some truly great photography.

But using surfing to sell things is practically as old as the sport itself. And while I certainly miss some aspects of the old surf industry — whatever that refers to — dare I say there are some interesting things happening at the intersection of surfing and commerce.

Case in point: I was stunned — and pleased — to see uber luxe Italian label Loro Piana tap South African surfer Michael February for its latest campaign.

Honestly? February’s gotta be rocketing up the “Most Stylish Surfers Ever” list after this fit. Full disclosure: I am forty years old, I suspect I never had any say in deciding what’s cool, and now I’m certain of it. I usually just assume outsiders — especially brands — just don’t understand surfing or why it’s so meaningful to all of us. This time around I’m happy to be proven wrong. Who knows, maybe the folks at Loro Piana don’t grasp everything that makes surfing special. But they certainly picked an awesome ambassador, even if it’s just to sell $2K sweaters.