Chapter.3 The Golden Age of Aloha Shirts
. a commitment to aloha shirts in the 1950s.
Fascinated by the vintage aloha shirts of the golden age of aloha shirts from the late 1940s to the 1950s, we visited KC Kiuchi of "Kona Bay Hawaii" who has been making aloha shirts in the style of that era. What were aloha shirts like when they were at their coolest?
-What made you start making aloha shirts in the first place?
Kiuchi:When I first moved to Hawaii in 1999, I found that most of the aloha shirts I tried to buy at Macy's, for example, were made in another country. . We started with the goal of producing the same fabric and process as the aloha shirts of the golden age of the 1950s.
-Why the obsession with the 50s?
Kiuchi:The shape is nice , the pattern and the material are all good. They are full of the coolness of aloha shirts. One of the major characteristics seen in this period is the printing technique called Nukizome. This is a wonderful technique in a field that Japan has excelled in for a long time.
-What are the characteristics of the silhouettes and materials of aloha shirts from the 1950s?
Kiuchi:It's a style with an open collar, a large collar , and a straight hem. The material used was rayon, followed by cotton in the 1960s, then polyester in the 1970s. In the 70's, polyester was used for aloha shirts, and people stopped wearing them because they were no longer cool.
A 50's style couple from Australia.
The beauty of the stencil print, in which the front and back are indistinguishable, can be clearly seen.
A rayon aloha shirt is a shirt that wears the wind.
-Comfort is another attraction of the aloha shirt.
Kiuchi:. very important. I think of a rayon aloha shirt as a shirt that wears the wind. . Also, it is very important that it is made in Hawaii. I think an aloha shirt has to be made in Hawaii.
-What is the coolest way to wear an aloha shirt?
Kiuchi:For me, my idol has always been Jean-Michael Vincent from the movie BIG WEDNESDAY. I saw it when I was in high school, and he is the coolest guy in the movie, wearing an aloha shirt. I would love to see him as a reference.
-As the number of Hawaiian-made aloha shirts is decreasing, you are also playing a role in passing on the tradition and culture.
Kiuchi:It's true that if we stop, there will probably be no more made-in-Hawaii manufacturers using the stencil-dyed printed fabric. It is not an exaggeration to say that we have to protect the culture, but I think we have to do something interesting. It is more interesting to do something that other people are not doing.
I want people to wear aloha shirts in a cool way," Kiuchi said.
"A shirt that wears the wind" is a nice phrase, isn't it? . The moment you land at the airport in Honolulu, you feel the comfort of the breeze. I sometimes think that the breeze that is always blowing is the charm of Hawaii. The aloha shirt that wears the wind can also wear the nature and culture of Hawaii, as well as the history of Japanese immigrants who have lived in this land. . I guess that's why I'm attracted to it.
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