J.Crew’s Brendon Babenzien likes to give surfboards, skateboards and snowboards

We actually don’t have any plans yet this year. We celebrate Christmas, which comes pretty quickly right after Thanksgiving, so this year I think we’ll stay close to home. Our holidays won’t be terribly eventful. I like the slowdown, but if my wife Estelle had her way we’d travel on every holiday. Her position would be that the experiences are more valuable than anything you’d get out of a box.

We’ll take some time to go out to the east end of Long Island. We have a home there that’s predominantly a summer place, but we go year-round. Other than that, we have a pretty large extended family in the form of friends in Brooklyn, so we’ll probably spend time with a bunch of those people, a series of dinners or nights at different people’s homes. We’ll be at our house one night and then somebody else’s another night, that kind of thing. All of our friends’ kids have grown up together.

Things definitely change with kids because you’re kind of reliving the holiday wonder through your children’s eyes and experiences. I’ve always been kind of a freak for the holidays and I’ve stayed in that childhood mentality.

When you’re in high school or college, those holiday breaks are so incredibly meaningful, because you’re still in this naive space

I spent a lot of time when I was young just getting together with our closest friends and going to the local bar or whatever. We had this tradition that really started in high school into our early twenties where a group of us went to one friend’s house every year to play games or whatever. When you’re in high school or college, those holiday breaks are so incredibly meaningful, because you’re still in this naive space, right? You’re still kind of a kid, but you’re old enough to go out on your own and do stuff.

Which gifts are the most memorable changes over time, but, if I’m remembering this correctly, I got a bicycle that I really wanted at some point when I was really young. We didn’t have a lot of money when we were young, so that was a big deal. I think that’s kind of what led me to start working really young. I started at a surf and skate shop when I was 13, which was the best job ever and changed my lifestyle as a young person. I worked there until I was 21. That shop was kind of a cultural centre, especially around the holidays. My mom was known for sending a big tray of her cookies to the shop every year — it was something people waited for.

I’d recommend gifting a surfboard, skateboard or snowboard to somebody who might even show any remote interest in that. That usually means younger people. Open up that world to them, because those three activities have given me so much in my life. Not just the actual events of skating, surfing or snowboarding but the community around them. With skateboarding, especially when you’re quite young, you’re surrounded by people that are different and creative and interesting. You learn about art and you learn about music and sometimes you learn the wrong thing by hanging out with some of these people, but there’s constant learning.

It sounds so cliché to get a scarf for Christmas, but the Joshua Ellis cashmere scarf we sell at J.Crew is the best one I’ve ever come across. Joshua Ellis is a fabric mill and for my money, might be the best in the world at cashmere. I work with them every season. The quality of the scarves is so high but they aren’t precious. They don’t feel like you really have to look after them but they’re so soft. They make an incredible gift.

Brendon Babenzien is a clothing designer and enthusiastic surfer/skater based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the men’s creative director of J.Crew and runs the American casual brand Noah, which he co-founded with wife Estelle Bailey-Babenzien in 2015. Previously, he was the creative director of skate brand Supreme

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