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On the Hanger Kahala
On the Hanger Kahala
On the Hanger
| Kahala |
| Written by Aviva Mayers |
| December 27, 2007 |
|
Wearing Their Passion On Their Sleeves  Kahala is back! Like a Hawaiian version of the phoenix, that mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, this legendary Aloha shirt designer label flourished in the '40s, went bankrupt in the '70s, and was revived in modern times. Today the Kahala label is proudly brandished by a team of ultra-professional clothiers who are committed to preserving—and extending—the original's legacy.  Dale Hope bought the Kahala name in 1979, fully aware that he was stepping into some very big shoes. "We wanted to keep its legacy going with quality garments, and interesting art reflecting a passion for the Islands," he recalls. "They had established a formidable reputation." Kahala was a name with a history that evoked elegance and charm. The original company was founded in the 1930s as a partnership between the Frenchman George Brangier and a Californian, Nat Norfleet. Brangier, lured to Hawai'i by his friend and swimming champion Duke Kahanamoku, was smitten with the culture, later opening a men's clothing shop. By 1936 he and Norfleet had a factory producing shirts and swimwear under the Kahala label. The romance and beauty of Hawai'i were emblazoned in their Island motifs on print; designs included hibiscus, hula patterns, and even the Aloha tower. During World War II, the Aloha shirt industry thrived as GIs stationed on the Islands wore them while off-duty, and the shirt became popular with locals now deprived of imports. After the war, servicemen transported them back to the mainland. Between the '40s and '60s, Kahala's complete line of women's clothing met with great success across the country, and the firm went on to produce clothing for some of the era's best surfers. But by the 1970s the company had fallen on hard times. Once one of America's leading clothiers, it finally went out of business.  Hope had been working with his dad in the men's shirt business under the label HRH. "Our label was confused with the English royalty; it wasn't romantic; and it was a hard name to advertise," says Hope. The name Kahala was also the name of a fashionable O'ahu neighborhood bounded by beautiful Kahala Beach. "I wanted to change the name," he says, "so we threw a big garden party and fashion show at a house on Kahala Beach."The buyers were persuaded and HRH officially became Kahala in 1979. In 1991 Hope sold the company, remaining as art director for 10 years, returning as brand manager when Tori Richard bought the company in 2006. In the last 10 months, Hope and his team have been working on creating a new label, new designs, evolving print techniques, and improving colors. Aloha shirts from the early illustrious years are prized for the artistry of print, fabrication, and stitching. Even some of their labels were regarded as mini art pieces. Hope seeks to maintain and recreate these high standards. He uses print houses in Japan that have served Kahala for decades. He prints on the finest cottons, rayon and linens and "much like the '40s or '50s, the designs are elegant reflections of Hawaiian lifestyle, prints that have stories or meanings that are real." For a new label, Hope's meticulous efforts took him out into the ocean to photograph a man paddling an outrigger canoe in the surf. Colors are denim-friendly, and prints have a hand-done feel, with a softer garment-washed look. Subtle changes in the Aloha shirts include color, contrast binding in the collar, zigzag stitching on the pocket, and unique recycled buttons. The cotton nylon board shorts, washed and tumbled to give them a soft worn look, are new. Their designs are hand painted and textured. One design, a primitive-looking bluefin tuna, was block-printed by hand, the background taken from the artist's studio cement floor. Another included a background of coconut trees, textured from a coconut husk that washed ashore. "That's different from other wild and youth-inspired board shorts that are generally computer-driven art," says Hope.  Hope draws inspiration from his travels. "I've flown to Tahiti and brought back photos," he says. "On one trip I photographed a guy in the street with a half-body tattoo. It seemed very oceanic and I incorporated it into a design. Our work reflects an honest portrayal of our subject. We swim with the fish, so a fisherman will appreciate our fish print. If we depict canoes, we do it so the guy who paddles canoes says that's right on."Once he followed a man in Waikïkï wearing a paisley shirt and turned that motif into a paisley whale." Many of our designs have stories," says Hope. "We don't just throw things in to fill up space. Sometimes it takes weeks, months, even years to get sufficient material before I can sit down with the artists and say I want to do this in print." Emma Howard, one of the artists who works closely with Hope, does all her work for Kahala by hand. Each motif is unique, even if repeated. Howard's studio—a former carport near the beach, where she can hear the ocean and feel the wind— overlooks palm trees and plumerias, which have inspired some of her designs. "Almost everything I use is found," she says. "When I'm walking my dog on the beach I look for things." Items that have been floating for weeks or months and return to land are used in her prints. "I found a really old broken surfboard that was hand-made," she says. "It was held together with duct tape and I dragged it home. I used an electric drill instrument to carve into the Styrofoam, and produced four block prints. I've also carved old boogie boards, vintage windsurfers. I use my surroundings like a cement wall as background texture which I paint and press paper onto it." Sometimes she wears a jeweler's visor, which magnifies every brush stroke and allows her to lose herself in the paint. "I was painting a wave from behind and I got motion sickness," She grins. So much of herself goes into each design that sometimes she gets stage fright when she brings it to Kahala.  "Kahala's customers are people who connect with the outdoors," says Hope. "They look at our work and realize it's an accurate reflection of something very special." He sees his role as "shepherd of the brand, guiding it and keeping it faithful to the customers." He added: "We interpret Island lifestyles and put them on our garments, so people can wear their passion." |
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