Barney Cools’ Nat Taubman on the Best Places to Surf

The “non-conforming brand with a rebellious spirit”.

We asked Nat Taubman from Barney Cools a few questions...

What’s the essence of Barney Cools?
Barney Cools is a non-conforming brand with a rebellious spirit. We have a big personality and we showcase that loudness in our apparel and accessories. We try and live life to the fullest and achieve that through our work at Barney Cools. Lots of travel, festivals, parties and beach time. We call our style ‘Poolside Etiquette’ as it reflects our dream lifestyle of being poolside with margaritas in hand. (Take note I mention margaritas plural.)

What’s so good about the Australian approach to style?
What I love about Australia in general and Australian style is, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Style is carefree and casual and with a don’t give a f#ck attitude. We still have a trend-savvy market who are very clued onto what is cool and what isn’t globally, so I find Australians select the best and most legitimate trends internationally and bring them back to AUS in our own unique form. Any country where you can get away with living 90% of your life in shorts, is a good country, haha.

Shop the look

@barneycools

Shop the look

@barneycools

Why did you get into creating clothes?
I got into clothing while I was working in the surf industry as a teenager. With little to no evolution offered in menswear it sparked some interest to explore design in the form of apparel myself. I asked mum to teach me to sew when I was 13 (much to the surprise of my surfy mates on the Gold Coast) and from there I started making my own jeans and shirts. This led to me studying Fashion and moving to Sydney. Rest is history.

Nat on set in New Orleans, Louisiana

Tell us what you wear day to day...
I am particularly lazy day to day. I literally have a few pieces of clothing which are my favourite, but I own literally 4-6 of that same product. Boxy chinos, rayon tees, linen shirts etc.
I am quite boisterous and just choose comfort over anything. Yet if there is a party on or its time for some fun in the sun then I always love to get a lot wilder. I have a mesh singlet which is my party companion. Quite obscure – but my friends know if I have that thing on, we are getting on the sauce!

What’s your favourite thing?
I’d have to say my new puppy. I just got a Kelpie. Her name is Cleo Disco. Been a wild couple of months. She’s my new favourite.

The animal you can relate to most?
A lot of people refer to me as a possum – multiple reasons. Some aesthetic similarities, some nocturnal similarities, but mostly due to the fact I used to live in a Treehouse at Whale Beach when I was younger.
I lived in this treehouse for three years and over those years I trained two possums as house pets. Happy family.

Your favourite place to surf?
Our annual surf trip to Fiji rates pretty high – can get some of the best waves of your life to yourself and live in your boardies for an entire week. Namotu Lefts and/or Wilkes prob the faves!

Where do you get inspiration for your prints?
Majority of our prints are inspired by vintage pieces we find on our travels. Our prints can be very wild. We often find some vintage womens psychedelic prints in some random store and bring it back for inspiration for our design team.

Shop the look

@barneycools

If we only buy one thing on THE ICONIC what should it be?
I’d say the most exciting thing we have released with THE ICONIC this summer is our Poolside Suits. We have created an amazing sub $300 linen suit which is coming in an array of colours. Whether you need just a linen pant or you want that Miami suit style. These are unreal.

What’s on your bucket list?
Lots more travel and hopefully much more ‘getting off the grid’. We’ve been talking in the office about doing this adventure walk in New Zealand. From the top of North Island to the bottom of South Island. 2-3month adventure in the wilderness (but in a country with no deadly animals, haha).

Do you have a dream for the brand?
Dreams for the brand are to continue to grow Barney Cools Internationally. We have just launched a sister label called Cools Club, so we are excited to see our women's team bring this dream to life. We aspire to have a poolside lifestyle and Barney Cools allows us to do that a lot more than most… So you could say we are getting to live the dream already.

Shop the collection