“SUN SURF” primarily reproduces the rayon Hawaiian shirts of their golden age from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. These Hawaiian shirts are often called ‘the vintage,’ and since its foundation in the 1970’s, the brand has collected thousands of such vintage shirts and even analyzed them in order to manufacture the authentic replicas. In addition to the shirt layout designs, their rich and bright coloration is precisely reproduced by using the traditional printing techniques, such as discharge or over-printing. Thus a great range of these beautiful garments, or “the art of wear” in other words, are proudly offered by SUN SURF with a strong hope that more people can feel and enjoy the value of true vintage Hawaiian shirts.
Sun Surf Products
Sun Surf Lot 39128 / Kyosai Kawanabe SPECIAL EDITION “Kyosai Manga”
Title: Kyosai Manga
Author: Kyosai Kawanabe / 1881 / Sketch <Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection>
Material: Rayon Fujiet
Print: Overprint
Button: White pearl button
DETAIL OF ALOHA SHIRT
Kyosai Kawanabe, an ukiyo-e artist who was active from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. In 1857, he adopted the pseudonym ``Kyosai,'' initially using ``Kyosai,'' but later changing it to ``Kyosai.'' As you can see from this character, he incorporated opposition to society into his work and left many caricatures. His tumultuous history as an artist began at the age of six, when he became a disciple of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, an ukiyo-e artist who had already trained many disciples. There, he carefully observed how humans grappled and fought with each other, thoroughly learning to depict each movement, and his own talent blossomed.
This "Kyosai Manga" depicts skeletons, and the movements of such people's skeletons are vividly depicted. Sun Surf expresses a sense of dynamism by decomposing and reconstructing those rows. He added patterns to the sleeves and collar as accents, incorporating the specifications seen in Aloha shirts from the 1950s and 1960s.
Japanese Designs National Treasure of Japan
Focusing on the painters of the Edo period, when Japanese arts and culture expanded further, we recreated the works of these great masters on canvas called Aloha shirts to create designs that Japan boasts to the world. Reviving the passion that was put into the present. This series, which began as a collaboration with Katsushika Hokusai's work, has added a new artist to the next development.
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS39129 / Kyosai Kawanabe SPECIAL EDITION “Gaki Kyosai”
Title: Gaki Kyosai
Author: Kawanabe Kyosai / 1881 / Sketch <Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection>
Material: Rayon Fujiet
Print: Overprint
Button: Black Pearl Shell button
Kyosai Kawanabe has been observing and sketching various things since childhood. He was also known as a prolific painter, and in addition to caricatures, he worked on a wide range of genres such as paintings and prints. He also exhibited many of his works at exhibitions called ``shogakai,'' which were popular until the first half of the Meiji period, and was very active. In 1881, he published Kyosai Manga, which is also the subject of this shirt. His life was short, at the age of 57, but his drawing skills and eccentric ideas that impressed even his masters gave rise to a number of caricatures and comics that are said to have laid the foundations of modern animation and comics. supported.
In this design, black is the base color, and "Kyosai Manga" is printed using a calm color gradation. The aloha shirt expresses the appearance of a skeleton emerging from the darkness. The scene where the skeletons are lined up in various poses and drawn with a touch full of dynamism leaves a strong impression on the viewer.
Japanese Designs National Treasure of Japan
Focusing on the painters of the Edo period, when Japanese arts and culture expanded further, we recreated the works of these great masters on canvas called Aloha shirts to create designs that Japan boasts to the world. Reviving the passion that was put into the present. This series, which began as a collaboration with Katsushika Hokusai's work, has added a new artist to the next development.
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS39131 / Hiroshige Utagawa SPECIAL EDITION “Taira no Kiyomori sees strange things”
Title: Taira no Kiyomori Kaii o Miruzu
Author: Hiroshige Utagawa / Around 1843-47 (1843-47) / Woodcut multicolor printing, large-format nishiki-e Triptych 〈Metropolitan Museum Collection〉
Material: Rayon Fujiet
Print: Overprint
Button: Black Pearl Button
DETAIL OF ALOHA SHIRT
Utagawa Hiroshige has a strong impression of working on masterpieces such as the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido. Although he sometimes left anecdotes about warlords in his works, they are rare and are considered very valuable. The theme of this shirt, "Taira no Kiyomori Seeing a Mystery," is one of them.
After moving his capital to Fukuhara (around present-day Kobe), Taira no Kiyomori is haunted by nightmares. One day, when he was standing in front of the garden to see the snow that had fallen, he saw that the pine trees and even the lanterns that had been planted in the garden from the mountains in the distance were filled with countless skeletons, looking at him. This work expresses the story of Kiyomori glaring back at the skeletons, and they melt away in an instant, using an all-over pattern on a Hawaiian shirt. Based on the original triptych, the design is constructed with the image of each scene being projected on the screen while flashing back.
Japanese Designs National Treasure of Japan
Focusing on the painters of the Edo period, when Japanese arts and culture expanded further, we recreated the works of these great masters on canvas called Aloha shirts to create designs that Japan boasts to the world. Reviving the passion that was put into the present. This series, which began as a collaboration with Katsushika Hokusai's work, has added a new artist to the next development.
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS39214 / Rayon Hawaiian Shirt “Pikake” – Pink
TITLE： “PIKAKE”
ORIGINAL BRAND NAME： ROSS SUTHERLAND
ESTIMATED MANUFACTURING DATES： EARLY 1950s
FABRIC： RAYON KABE CREPE
PRINTING METHOD： OVER PRINTING
PRINTING PATTERN： ORIENTAL DESIGN
SUN SURF
“SUN SURF” primarily reproduces the rayon Hawaiian shirts of their golden age from the 1930's to the 1950's. These Hawaiian shirts are often called ʻthe vintage,' and since its foundation in the 1970's, the brand has collected thousands of such vintage shirts and even analyzed them in order to manufacture the authentic replicas. In addition to the shirt layout designs, their rich and bright coloration is precisely reproduced by using the traditional printing techniques, such as discharge or over-printing. Thus a great range of these beautiful garments, or “the art of wear” in other words, are proudly offered by SUN SURF with a strong hope that more people can feel and enjoy the value of true vintage Hawaiian shirts.
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS39277 / SPECIAL EDITION “Crane Fly Away”
Title: "CRANE FLY AWAY"
Vintage: MUSA-SHIYA THE SHIRTMAKEREra
: Late 1940sMaterial
: Rayon crepePrint
: OverprintDesign
pattern: All-over pattern (oriental design)
This work depicts a crane taking off dynamically, with the entire shirt as a canvas. Even among oriental designs, there are very few works in which one motif is depicted extensively over the entire shirt, and as they are highly sought after by collectors, they are often traded at high prices. This shirt also has a rare design in which the paulownia crest (a family crest used by the Imperial family, etc.) is printed on top of the printed crane using silver pigment.
Musashiya Shorten steadily increased its customer base through advertising in major newspapers and other media from the 1920s. Many tourists visited the shop, and orders began to come in from all over the world, including South Africa and Argentina. In the 1930s, the company was incorporated and aimed to make further progress, but due to the effects of the Great Depression, in 1934 it sold its business along with its store to the import trading company Fujii Junichi Shoten. He moved to South King in Honolulu and established "Musashiya the Shirtmaker". He continued to manufacture aloha shirts energetically after that, leaving behind many historic pieces.
SUN SURF SPECIAL EDITION
Aloha shirts are a symbol of paradise Hawaii. Their origins are deeply connected to Japanese immigrants, and there are vintage aloha shirts with not only tropical patterns but also Japanese patterns. In the mid-20th century, when Hawaii was established as a tourist destination, the demand for aloha shirts as souvenirs increased dramatically. Designs and patterns became more diverse, and many works were created. In the process of collecting vintage aloha shirts, it is a special gem that you can rarely come across. In honor of the textile designers who created these masterpieces that are being lost with the passage of time, we perfectly reproduce their charm with all their luxurious multi-colored prints, powerful designs, and details that differ depending on the manufacturer and era. That is the Sun Surf Special Edition.
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS39325 / Toyokuni III SPECIAL EDITION “Imayo Mitarisa Farmers, Artisans, and Merchants”
This work depicts Uoei, an illustrated book wholesaler dealing in nishikie (colored woodblock prints), which had a shop in what is now Ueno Hirokoji during the late Edo period. It is a gorgeous work depicting only women as "merchants" of the four classes: samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants. The large letters "Azuma Nishikie" are dyed on the shop curtain in front of the store, proving that nishikie was a popular Edo specialty. Looking inside
the store, there are paintings of actors and landscapes lined up, and on the left wall there is an advertisement for One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Uoei was a very popular illustrated book wholesaler, publishing many nishikie prints by famous artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige, Hiroshige II, and Toyokuni III, the artist of this work.
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), who created this ukiyo-e, was born in 1786 to a lumber wholesaler in Honjo, Edo. His distinctive portraits of beautiful women made him an instant hit. Furthermore, his actor paintings were highly acclaimed, and he was considered to have surpassed even his master, Utagawa Toyokuni I. He also had a strong desire to create art, and is said to have left behind the most works of any ukiyo-e artist of his time, with over 10,000 pieces.
Japanese Design National Treasure of Japan
Focusing on the artists of the Edo period, when Japanese culture and arts further expanded, this exhibition recreates the works of these masters on the canvas of an aloha shirt, bringing to life in the present day the passion that went into Japan's world-famous designs. This series, which began as a collaboration with the works of Katsushika Hokusai, is now taking on the next stage with the addition of new artists.
©️Tokyo National Museum
Made in Japan
Sun Surf Lot SS79162 / “One Hundred Tigers” T-Shirt – Black
This is a T-shirt with a print of "Hyakutora", which is hailed as one of the best aloha shirts out there. We received many requests to resell not only shirts, but also T-shirts, so we extracted some of the textile designs and added some arrangements, such as letters, and released them. The American-made body boasts a round torso design with no side seams and is comfortable to wear.
100% Cotton
Made in USA
