Father of the Aloha Shirt

Ellery J. Chun gave the aloha shirt to the world.

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 

[ Like president Obama] in 1927 and majored in 

economics at Yale, class of 1931.

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.

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.