ABOUT US
Shaun
In the 90’s Shaun was one the top groms (young surfers) in the nation. An aggressive surfer with countless contest wins, he earned a place on the prestigious N.S.S.A National Team in 1994. After enjoying years of sponsorships and travel, he took to college instead of the professional surf tour. A lifelong passionate surfer, Byk is something of a renaissance man whose passion for luxury and style has afforded him access to world’s greatest markets… from fashion to art to wine and back to fashion.
Astrid
She is a German fashion designer with extensive expertise in fashion and knitwear, sourcing and manufacturing in the U.S. market. Her beginnings found her in one of Munich’s finest haute-couture ateliers, establishing herself as one of Germany’s best (and most precise) dressmakers. Her traditional apprenticeship in Germany taught her respect for the environment and value traditional skills and standards for quality. Currently she is interested in the intersection of AI and fashion and all its components, and in her free time she takes that same gift for aesthetic to create art. As technical consultant, she distills and synthesizes Shaun’s 30 years of surf product knowledge to create real-world adaptations for Mottai. All of the surf photography here is exclusively hers. @astridmakes