Why We Called It Silver Strand

There’s a stretch of road in Southern California where the bay sits on one side and the Pacific opens on the other, I live at the very edge of it.

Early in the morning, the marine layer hangs low enough to blur everything together. Navy bases, cyclists, surfers, sand, salt, and traffic moving slowly down Highway 75.

When we started building the collection, we realized Silver Strand represented a lot of what Benjals has become:

-Movement without rushing

-Nostalgia without living in the past

-Work and rest existing together in harmony

Long before it became a state beach, the strand was a narrow strip of land that connected Imperial Beach to Coronado. In the late 1800’s, rail lines crossed the sand, which carried tourists over to the Hotel del Coronado while freight cars hauled supplies.

Eventually the road was paved in 1924, this transformed the route into one of Southern CA’s most scenic coastal drives (I will take the strand every day on my commute even if it means more traffic). During World War II, dredging significantly widened the strand. This reshaped both the coastline as well as the role it would play in San Diego’s military history.

The strand became many things at once:

-Training ground

-Commuter road

-Beach town passageway

-Campsite

-Bike route

The collection pulls from all of it. Some of it feels coastal, some western, the tension felt important to keep.

Silver Strand sits between landscapes too. Mountains and palm trees, naval bases and state beaches, old Cali and whatever comes next.

Maybe that’s why the collection naturally became a blend of coastal texture and worn western influence. Shell jewelry, horseshoe details, sun-faded cotton, slow beach mornings beside a little bit of inherited grit.

Nothing overly polished, meant to feel like something collected over time instead of consumed all at once.