Margaux

Always to be seen around town, wandering the streets with a friendly wave, driving her old Mercedes, longboards tied to the roof or surfing Côte des Basques with incredible style and her signature beaming smile. But don’t let this chilled exterior fool you, Margaux is a cultural powerhouse; supremely well-travelled and versed in art, literature and music. Ever keen to improve the cultural tapestry of those in her community and inspire those further afield, Margaux is the co-founder of the Queens Classic Festival, a vibrant celebration of all things equality and LGBTQIA+ in surfing.

With the festival just around the corner we picked up the phone to Margaux to learn more.

Hey Margaux – give us a little background on yourself?

My name is Margaux Arramon-Tucoo. I’m 33 years old, I was born, grew up and live in Biarritz in the South West of France. I’ve been surfing since the age of 8, I’m a free-surfer, furniture designer and co-founder of the Queens Classic Festival.

Describe the Biarritz scene?

It’s a little bubble of paradise, now growing into a younger city that’s a lot more culturally diverse then before. When I grew up here I would say the population was quite elderly, lots of retired people - but now I feel it’s a lot younger, the population is diversifying and becoming a lot more eclectic . It’s a great place to live in, to grow up in and now opening up to the future generations.

Talk us through your journey in surfing

My Dad taught me how to surf when I was around 8. I was really into it but weirdly didn’t go that much. I guess that when I was a teenager and could go alone and with friends– it became a lot easier and I became hooked on longboarding. I grew up surfing Côte des Basques which is really good for logging, over those years I got to meet a lot of the international women surfers that were passing through town. After I finished school, I pretty much straight away went to live in America with Kassia Meador – she was my idol at the time, I went back and forth a lot for 6 or 7 years. She taught me a lot, introduced me to the brands I ride for now and most importantly to the idea of free surfing and travelling around the world

What and who inspires you in surfing?

I’m really inspired by my friends that started surfing pretty late, who quit everything to live by the sea or go on a surf trip. I think when you grow up surfing you tend to forget how privileged you are to be able to go in the water every day. Those people remind me how lucky I am and how good surfing makes you feel. It’s inspiring to me.

And outside of surfing?

Everything that is nothing to do with surfing. I have this bug where the surf industry for me is one thing and art, culture, literature – all the things I am really into is another thing. I really separate them. At furniture design school, I was adamant on just making contemporary furniture – I didn’t want to build a surfboard or anything like that. I didn’t want to burn out in the surf industry, so I like to mix it all – to not get stuck in surf culture.

How important is furniture design as a creative outlet for you?

I love it. It’s the first activity outside of surfing that I found I love... I can not surf for a week and just work and I don’t mind. It’s a huge passion of mine and one that I love to dedicate time to.

Talk to us about the Queens Classic Festival? How did it all come about?

The goal of Queens is to change people’s minds and perspectives in the surf industry.

So myself, my sister and one of my best childhood friends from Biarritz co-created the festival. We are all from Côte des Basques, we saw the beach evolve so much and really felt that it was important to provide a place for women in surfing – we found it hard to recognize even ourselves in the wider surf industry. We started to think about this idea, at the beginning we really just wanted to run a little village by the beach, and after the first year it just went really big. We created a monster! And like every monster the more you feed it the more it grows so each year we are trying to make it bigger and better, with the support of Vans who have been there from the beginning.

How do you feel the LGBTQIA+ community is represented in surfing?

It’s still complicated. I feel the door is more open than a couple of years ago – we can talk about it with no shame but the key is representation. That’s the goal of Queens to provide representation. For example, when we invite Sasha Jane who is the first transgender woman to compete in surf contests, I think it gives hope to people that are ashamed to come out or who have never felt represented – to show it’s ok to be whoever you want to be. The Queens is there to show representation and hope.

What do you have planned this year for the Queens?

We don’t want to grow it in size, but we want to grow the reach of it. The more media we have, the more can spread the word. It’s not for the festival – it’s for the people we represent. We want to provide a safe space based on inclusion and spread the word of hope to a wider audience who can’t join us there in person.

And where do you want to take the Queens in the future?

We would love to take it on the road… to take it to places where it’s needed. We work with some amazing nonprofits that we would love to work with in their respective countries. Maybe one day we’ll take it abroad!