Salt clings to skin longer than perfume. Ask Emily May Baker or Astrid Holler, and they’ll tell you – it stays in your hair, your muscles, your decisions. And freediving – a passion for both models – demands a particular temperament. Not fearlessness, but control. A willingness to sit in the unknown. To disappear for a while. Breath becomes a tool, the body a barometer.
Before they were models, they were drawn to the ocean – Tairua’s cold surf for Baker, and the reef-fringed tropics of Indonesia and Fiji for Holler. And it’s a rhythm they’ve returned to with purpose. Between shoots and shows, they find depth – literal and otherwise – below sea level.
To them, the gifts of the ocean aren’t ornaments, but artefacts. Like the deep sea pearls from Australian fine jewellers Paspaley. Adorned in pieces from Paspaley's Lavalier collection – encasing each pearl in a delicate gold mesh, like the ropes that once held oysters hand-collected from the deep – and the Dive collection – inspired by the legacy of the Paspaley divers who braved the Kimberley tides in search of elusive treasure – the pieces echo a world of salt-worn ropes, shark silhouettes and time-softened coins. Stories cast in metal.
In conversation, Baker and Holler speak of an intergenerational love of the ocean, of stillness and endurance, and what the ocean, when we let it strip everything else away, leaves behind.
Can you tell us about your earliest memory of the sea? What drew you to it then, and what keeps calling you back?
EMB: As early as I can remember, my family and I would visit our bach in the Coromandel. It was in Tairua that I was first drawn to the sea, through play at first, though I was quickly thrown in the deep end (no pun intended) by my father, an avid diver and fisherman. Wetsuits became my second skin. I think the ocean is one of those things that, once you’ve formed a connection, it will always keep calling you back.
AH: For me, growing up I watched many David Attenborough documentaries, which piqued my interest in nature, particularly our beautiful oceans and all its inhabitants. My family and I would travel a lot to tropical locations such as Indonesia and Fiji where I would spend hours swimming and snorkelling. These experiences led me to want to further explore the ocean later in life, where I eventually tried freediving. The peace and stillness I feel when freediving continues to draw me to the ocean.
What first drew you to freediving?
EMB: My dad’s love for the ocean, passed down through generations. He used to freedive, and as a family, we would all go snorkelling and chase the bubbles created by him below. I guess the older I got, the more confidence I had to eventually wander off on my own.
AH: When I was working in London I picked up a book called Deep by James Nestor, and this was where my free diving journey started. I remember sitting on the train after a long day of work, enthralled by this book. When I arrived back in Sydney, I immediately signed up to a freediving course and joined an amazing freediving community. From there I traveled to different parts of the globe to freedive and discovered how stunning the underwater world is.
Being in the ocean requires a unique kind of surrender. What does that silence below the surface give you that the world can’t?
AH: When I freedive, I need to quiet my mind and relax my body so I am am able to stay underwater for longer. The less I think and the more I release muscle tension, the longer I can hold my breath. This process allows me to be present in the moment, and bring a sense of peace and quiet under the surface.
EMB: No bullshit, strength, quietness, peace, complete freedom.
Is there a particular dive you’ll never forget – one where time disappeared or fear turned into flow?
AH: My most unforgettable dive was in the Phillipines, where I got to dive with huge schools of sardines over a beautiful tropical reef. As I dove down into the depths, a ball of tiny fish would surround me, blocking out the light above. Each direction I swam in the school of fish would separate and create a tunnel, sometimes letting in shafts of sunlight. It was beautiful.
EMB: I would say, for most dives, time disappears. Getting me out of the water is usually the problem. As long as I’m warm in my wetsuit and my goggles aren’t falling off or leaking. I’m pretty content. Although, my dad accidentally took us to Shark Bay once, I think the name of the place says it all…
How has the sea shaped your perception of beauty in yourself and in the world around you?
EMB: In the ocean, beauty is everywhere, and it connects us all. I think the ocean’s energy is perhaps the most simple, natural beauty there is. But personally, it’s more about the energy you carry once on land that creates a sense of power in the self, which, to me, is the essence of true beauty.
AH: The sea has shown me how beautiful our earth is and that we need to cherish it, similarly to our own beauty within, we must cherish ourselves.
Pearls are born of the sea. What does adorning yourself with something so intimately tied to the ocean mean to you?
AH: The feeling of peace and stillness I experience when I am in the ocean freediving holds a lot of value for me, and wearing pearls reminds me of this feeling.
EMB: Pearls are the ocean’s gift. To wear something from the ocean feels pure. To reconnect with the self through nature, I count myself lucky.
What lessons from the ocean have changed the way you carry yourself on land?
AH: I have learned to slow down and be present in the moment.
EMB: I think it gives you perspective. There is so much going on in the world right now, with technology and the new pace of life. I feel the ocean is a great teacher of mindfulness and staying present.
PHOTOGRAPHY James Tolich
FASHION Hannah Cooper
MODELS Emily May Baker @ Kult Australia, Astrid Holler @ Primary Management
HAIR Madison Voloshin @ Assembly Agency using Shark Beauty
MAKEUP Isabella Schimid @ Assembly Agency using Rationale
PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSISTANTS McCall Manuel and Christopher Hendricks
STYLIST'S ASSISTANT Koby Dulac-Daley
CREATIVE STUDIO & CAMPAIGNS MANAGER Olivia Repaci
