“I wanted an aloha shirt that fit like my Western shirts, so I decided to make a Western aloha shirt,” says Paul Sullivan, founder of the aptly named Western Aloha (westernaloha.com) line. “And then it occurred to me that the Big Island can be viewed in some ways as a combination of those two things.”
PHOTO BY GRAHAM THOMPSON
Sullivan fell in love with Hawai‘i Island 30 years ago and now calls Waimea home. Though no paniolo himself, Sullivan’s brand aims to capture the spirit of the Hawaiian cowboy and has gained fans from the islands to California and Texas who appreciate Hawai‘i and its special history. Western Aloha is made for the sea-to-snow, all-weather environment that makes Hawai‘i Island unique with functional products in interesting prints. Besides the popular Palaka print (the “original” Hawaiian shirt), the Alenuihaha print is a bestseller. Inspired by Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kanagawa,” it substitutes Mount Fuji with Mauna Kea and fishing boats with outrigger canoes, and references the treacherous Alenuihaha Channel between the Big Island and Maui. “A good aloha shirt print should tell a story and put a smile on someone’s face,” explains Sullivan. “It needs to be authentic to and respectful of its historical roots. So we find inspiration in the best designs of the past and then try to create something new that still carries on the tradition.”
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