The Inventor of the Hawaiian shirt dies :-(

Inventor of the Hawaiian shirt dies
Monday, January 5, 2009
metro.co.uk

Alfred Shaheen, who was credited with inventing the Hawaiian shirt,
has died.

You'd be forgiven for never hearing of designer Alfred Shaheen.
Yet he inspired one of the most colourful, amusing and unforgettable
styles of fashion ever known - the Hawaiian shirt.

Sadly the pioneering textile manufacturer has died at age 86, his
family have confirmed.

As tourists from the US to Hawaii after World War II, many began to
bring home colorful but cheesy looking shirts and sundresses that
would be cause for much amusement among friends.

Shaheen began to change that in 1948 when he opened Shaheen's of
Honolulu and began designing, printing and producing "aloha" shirts,
dresses and other ready-to-wear clothing of better quality.

Among those seen in Shaheen-designed shirts of that era was Elvis
Presley, who wore one for the cover of his 1961 soundtrack
album "Blue Hawaii."

Such Shaheen originals now sell for more than £500

"Before Shaheen came along, there was no Hawaii garment industry.
There were mom and pop stores but no real modern industry," Linda
Arthur, a professor of textiles and clothing at Washington State
University said.

By 1959, the year Hawaii became a state, he had more than 400
employees working for him and was grossing more than $4 million a
year as the major player in the islands' garment industry.

A tip of the mug to him....

Without him I would have alot more room in my closet!!!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=30893&forum=1&14

News travels slowly, sometimes. :)

There is a thread on this page already: Alfred Shaheen RIP.
If I had any idea of how to post the link to it, I'd do it. Sorry guys. This is what I get for being offline for several years!

:drink:
Tacky

Just in case someone stumbles across this thread in the future...
Ellery Chun is widely credited as the inventor, though Shaheen certainly popularized it and it's clear that people love his vintage garments.

(http://archives.starbulletin.com/2000/06/06/news/story9.html)

Tuesday, June 6, 2000

Ellery Chun, creator of aloha shirt, dies at 91

Aloha shirt: Always in fashion
OBITUARIES

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Ellery J. Chun, who gave the aloha shirt to the world, died May 16 in Honolulu of respiratory failure. He was 91.

Although he first created aloha shirts in 1931, it was in 1936 he introduced the "Aloha Shirt" label to the distinctively bright, colorful Hawaiian attire. The term and the style caught on, and countless clothing manufacturers followed suit.

Chun first sold aloha shirts -- originally inspired by palaka garments of plantation workers and silk shirts of high school classmates sewn from leftover kimono material by Japanese housekeepers -- at the family store, which he renamed King-Smith Clothiers, 36 N. King St.

The Honolulu native graduated from Punahou in 1927 and majored in economics at Yale, class of 1931.

Upon returning to the islands, he renamed the store after the closest intersection and transformed it from a Chinese dry goods shop into a mecca for a wide range of customers.

By 1933, he began to produce ready-to-wear patterns from cloth imported from the U.S. mainland, Japan, China and Tahiti. Surfers and beachboys snapped up the bold, breezy styles, and visiting Hollywood celebrities and other rich and famous ones began sailing home to display the new fashions.

The enterprising Chun made the store sponsor a radio talent show in the latter 1930s. The show originated from Waikiki Beach fronting the Moana Hotel. Emma Veary was a talent it discovered.

Chun became a member of the board of American Security Bank in 1945. He later closed the King-Smith outlet and became a full-time bank vice president, remaining with the bank until retiring in 1966. He continued on the board until 1980 and as advisory director until 1985.

In 1991, the state Senate honored Chun for creating the aloha shirt, on the 60th anniversary of his landmark contribution to distinctive Hawaiian apparel and the state of Hawaii.

"He was very creative," recalled wife Mildred. He was very generous, considerate and soft-spoken, with strong family values, she added. "I'm sure he had a good business instinct."

She called him a very intelligent man. With the Great Depression of the 1930s, he needed new ideas to help generate business for the store, his wife said. "So he came up with this colorful aloha shirt."

He started off very small with a few dozen bright printed Hawaiian patterns with palm trees, hula girls, pineapples and such, she said.

"It turned out well."

He had a tailor who sewed maybe three or four dozen at a time, his wife said.

Chun also is survived by daughters Colleen Hirano and Christine Chung; son Damon; sister Wai-Chee Yee and four grandchildren.

Services were private. Donations in his memory may be made to the American Lung Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Public Library System, or the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii.

• SV

On 2009-01-14 19:48, Tacky Tiki wrote:
There is a thread on this page already: Alfred Shaheen RIP.
If I had any idea of how to post the link to it, I'd do it.

not to worry, Mr. Boo posted it.

sorry I missed the first post.

and interesting bit about CHUN.
good to know.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Yeah, mahalo for posting that, SV.

It's interesting how hearsay and off-handed comment can become fact. Everyplace I saw/heard reports of Shaheen's passing, it was mentioned that he invented the Hawaiian shirt.