Reyn Spooner, if you are not familiar, is rich in history with Cali roots and humble Hawaii beginnings. What you know today as the staple Mens Hawaiian Shirt started way back in 1949 on Catalina Island. Reyn McCullough, who originally found a dislike to the typical loud aloha print styles, refused to carry the look in his storefronts. That is until one day, he found fashion inspiration in an aloha print shirt that was flipped inside-out.

Reyn moved to Hawaii in 1956 where he met Ruth Spooner, a seamstress known for her surf inspired styles of surf shorts. Together, they took the traditional baggy and obnoxious colored aloha shirts and modernized them into the designs you see often replicated everywhere. Gone are the box fitted styles where you can now find tailored and often fitted form versions of the aloha shirt. Gone are the loud colors which have been traded for a more muted button down that can be worn on casual occasions or nights out partying. Gone are the starchy cardboard textures shirts which have been upgraded to softer and breathable material.

Reyn McCollough and Ruth Spooner eventually partnered up to form Reyn Spooner and together opened one of the first stores in Ala Moana Center back in 1959. Lynne Koplin (pictured in the photo above, middle), is the new CEO of the company and has spearheaded this brand in a new direction. Designs, fits and styles have a new breath of life and in a market saturated with menswear, Reyn Spooner still manages to stand out above the rest.

I had an opportunity to meet Lynne and her team at the Ala Moana storefront as they push the boundaries of aloha wear, one more time, as they released their brand new womens line! This private event welcomed members of the Hawaii fashion world, bloggers and other media. Networking events like this are great for the community and bring up lots of opportunities for lil bloggers like me to meet other people in the same boat. I mingled around a bit and met a bro named Mark.

If you ever step in to a Reyn Spooner store and see this guy, please be sure to say hi. Mark has collected Reyn Spooner shirts for years and amassed hundreds if not thousands of Reyn Spooner designs dating back to the 1950's. You ask about a shirt design, he can tell you the year it was released. He knows fits, cuts, styles, you name it. Legend has it, that the archive of shirts he has collected eclipses the current archive in place with Reyn Spooner corporate. I can neither confirm nor deny that this information was validated by Lynne, the CEO, but it was. Maybe. In any case, Marks knowledge of the brand and willingness to share this information at this event truly goes to show the deep roots Reyn Spooner has in the community.

In my favorite part of the night, Mark was able to introduce me to 2 aunties. These 2 aunties (FML for not remembering their names) are responsible for creating HUNDREDS of aloha print designs you see everywhere.

They were so kind and shared some of the inspiration they had for some of their favorite designs. They design everything by hand, and then digitize it and then the prints are made which if I understood correctly, can be about a 3 month process…which fits the model of releasing new products every quarter. I asked Aunty on the left (It is fricken killing me that I dont remember her name) what one of her favorite designs was and she had Mark go grab it from the back…as in that style was not on the floor. The shirt she is holding is a style made for year of the boar, which celebrates the Chinese New Year. The intricate details on the shirt, paired with their spunky personalities and joy for life really drew me in to the rich history of Reyn Spooner. Many mahalos to Lynne and her team at Reyn Spooner for gifting this shirt to me. I cant say I will be collecting every shirt like Mark but I definitely found a new appreciation for the history behind fashion design and the roots in which a company is built from.