16 Brands Like Reyn Spooner for Iconic Hawaiian Shirts
You found an aloha shirt you actually love. The print feels right, the collar sits flat, the fabric breathes. Then you realize you own four of them from the same brand. If your closet has become a shrine to Reyn Spooner and their signature reverse-print cotton, it might be time to branch out.
Reyn Spooner has earned its reputation since 1956, when Reyn McCullough started making shirts on Catalina Island before partnering with Ruth Spooner in Honolulu. Their patented Spooner Kloth, introduced in 1964, prints the design on the inside of the fabric so the outside shows a softer, sun-washed look. It changed what an aloha shirt could be. But the world of Hawaiian shirting runs deep, from heritage makers who predate Reyn Spooner by decades to modern labels putting their own spin on island style. Here are 10 brands worth knowing.
Kahala
If you want to talk legacy in Hawaiian shirts, Kahala is where the conversation starts. Founded in Honolulu in 1936 by George Brangier and Nat Norfleet under the name Branfleet, this is the oldest operating apparel company in the state of Hawaii. At a time when every aloha shirt was cut from Japanese kimono fabric and made to order, Kahala became the first Honolulu company to switch to factory manufacturing with the goal of wholesaling and exporting. That decision helped turn the aloha shirt from a local curiosity into an international wardrobe staple.
What makes Kahala worth seeking out today is their commitment to original artwork. Every print starts as an original design, and the majority of their collection is still hand-crafted in Honolulu. The aesthetic runs more refined than Reyn Spooner, with patterns that feel illustrative rather than textile-based. You will find cotton broadcloth and lawn fabrics across most of the line, and the tailoring leans slightly dressier. If Reyn Spooner is what you wear to a backyard luau, Kahala is what you wear to dinner afterward.
Best for: Heritage-minded dressers who want the oldest name in Hawaiian shirts with locally made craftsmanship.
Tori Richard
Tori Richard got its start in 1956, the same year as Reyn Spooner, when retired Chicago apparel manufacturer Mort Feldman moved to Hawaii and founded the label with his wife Janice Moody and pattern maker Mitsue Aka. They named the company after his son Richard and her daughter Victoria. The first factory sat on Pier 7 in downtown Honolulu, and the brand initially focused on women's resort wear before adding men's shirts in 1969. That dual heritage shows up in their attention to pattern placement and fabric drape.
Tori Richard occupies a space between Reyn Spooner's casual ease and true luxury resort wear. Their cotton lawn shirts are lighter and silkier to the touch than broadcloth options from other Hawaiian brands, and their prints lean artistic. You will find everything from abstract geometrics to tropical botanicals rendered with a sophistication that reads upscale without trying too hard. The brand won "Resort Retailer of the Year" from Retail Merchants Hawaii in 2006, which gives you a sense of where they sit in the market. These are aloha shirts you can wear to a business lunch and feel completely at home.
Best for: Professionals and travelers who want polished resort wear rooted in genuine Honolulu heritage.
Paradise Found
Paradise Found earned its place in pop culture before most people ever heard the brand name. When Tom Selleck needed aloha shirts for Magnum P.I. in 1980, he pulled Paradise Found's Jungle Bird print off the rack. That shirt eventually ended up in the Smithsonian Institution alongside other memorabilia from the show. The company behind it, originally called Kirha Corp, had been making shirts under the "Made in Paradise" label since 1976 before consolidating everything under Paradise Found in 1983.
What sets Paradise Found apart from Reyn Spooner is their unapologetic boldness. Where Reyn Spooner's reverse print softens everything down, Paradise Found leans into vivid color and large-scale tropical motifs. They work primarily in rayon, which gives their shirts a fluid drape and a slightly vintage feel that cotton cannot replicate. The brand has manufactured in Hawaii continuously since 1976, and their designs pull directly from the golden age of aloha shirt making in the 1940s and 1950s. If you love the idea of a shirt with genuine Hollywood history behind it, this is where to look.
Best for: Collectors and Magnum P.I. fans who want bold vintage-inspired prints made in Hawaii.
RJC Hawaii
Robert J. Clancey was a Boston native and Navy veteran who found himself in Southern Italy during World War II. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and worked in necktie manufacturing. One day he spotted a sign on the docks advertising passage to Honolulu for twenty dollars per person, and he loaded his red convertible onto a Matson ship without looking back. By 1953, he had launched his own aloha shirt company in Honolulu, and RJC Hawaii has been family owned and operated ever since.
RJC makes their shirts in Honolulu using cotton broadcloth, and their strength lies in classic patterns that feel authentically rooted in island tradition. The prints tend toward traditional Polynesian and tropical motifs rendered with clean lines and strong color. Unlike Reyn Spooner's muted reverse-print approach, RJC delivers full-strength color on the face of the fabric. Their price point also runs lower than Reyn Spooner for comparable quality, which makes them a strong pick if you want genuine made-in-Hawaii construction without the premium markup. Over seventy years in, this is still a family business making shirts the way they always have.
Best for: Value-conscious buyers who want authentic made-in-Hawaii aloha shirts from a family-run manufacturer.
Tommy Bahama
Tommy Bahama does not pretend to be a heritage Hawaiian brand, and that honesty is part of its charm. Founded in 1993 by Bob Emfield, Tony Margolis, and Lucio Dalla Gasperina, the brand was built around a fictional character living a permanent island vacation. The founders conceived the idea while at their vacation homes on Florida's Gulf Coast, and they set out to make relaxed menswear that felt like the tropics without requiring you to actually be there. Silk camp shirts with detailed embroidery became their signature, and within a decade the brand had expanded into restaurants, resorts, and over 160 retail stores worldwide.
Tommy Bahama's aloha-adjacent shirts differ from Reyn Spooner in important ways. The fabrics lean toward silk and Tencel blends rather than cotton, which gives them a smoother hand and a more luxurious weight. The prints tend to be subtler than traditional Hawaiian designs, often incorporating tonal patterns or understated island motifs that work in mainland settings where a full-print aloha shirt might feel out of place. These are resort shirts designed for the guy who wants tropical vibes at a steakhouse in Scottsdale. The quality is genuine, the fit is relaxed, and the overall effect is polished casual.
Best for: Mainland resort-goers who want island-inspired silk shirts that work beyond the beach.
Avanti
Avanti exists because of a specific obsession: reproducing the golden age of Hawaiian shirt design in the fabric it was originally meant for. Founded in 1991 by a family who had migrated to Hawaii from Hong Kong, the brand specializes in recreating classic prints from the 1930s through the 1950s on Crepe de Chine silk. These are not generic tropical prints. Avanti's design team studies original vintage shirts and redraws the patterns, capturing the specific color palettes and artistic sensibilities of prewar and postwar Hawaiian textile design.
The silk fabric gives Avanti shirts a quality that sets them completely apart from Reyn Spooner's cotton reverse-print approach. Crepe de Chine has a matte finish and a fluid drape that catches light differently than cotton, and it feels cooler against the skin in humid conditions. The brand operates a retail location on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki and produces their cotton line in Hawaii, though the silk shirts are manufactured overseas due to the technical demands of sewing silk. If you have ever held a genuine 1940s aloha shirt and wished you could buy one new, Avanti is the closest you will get.
Best for: Vintage enthusiasts and silk lovers who want museum-quality reproductions of classic Hawaiian prints.
Hilo Hattie
Hilo Hattie holds a unique place in Hawaii's retail history as the brand that introduced millions of tourists to their first aloha shirt. The company traces its roots to the early 1960s, when it began as Kaluna Hawaii Sportswear. Through a series of expansions and acquisitions, including picking up the rights to the "Hilo Hattie" name from a beloved Hawaiian entertainer's estate in 1979, the company grew into one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the state. After a bankruptcy filing in 2009, the brand was acquired by Royal Hawaiian Creations and continues to operate today.
Hilo Hattie occupies a different market position than Reyn Spooner. Where Reyn Spooner aims for understated sophistication, Hilo Hattie embraces bright, traditional prints at accessible price points. Their designs run toward classic Hawaiian imagery: hibiscus flowers, palm fronds, and ocean scenes rendered in bold color on cotton and rayon. The quality is solid for the price, and the sizing runs generous enough to accommodate the relaxed fit that aloha shirts demand. Think of Hilo Hattie as the welcoming front door to Hawaiian shirt culture. Once you walk through it, you might graduate to Reyn Spooner or Kahala, but plenty of people are perfectly happy staying right here.
Best for: First-time aloha shirt buyers and anyone who wants cheerful traditional prints at friendly prices.
Two Palms
Two Palms has been manufacturing aloha wear in Honolulu since the early 1980s, operating out of their own factory and selling through a retail store at Ala Moana Center. This is a genuine made-in-Hawaii manufacturer, not a brand that slaps a Hawaiian label on overseas production. Their shirts are hand-cut from rayon and cotton fabrics using traditional pattern-making methods, and the company produces everything from men's shirts to women's dresses and matching family sets.
The Two Palms aesthetic falls firmly in the classic camp. Their prints feature traditional Hawaiian motifs like plumeria, monstera leaves, and island scenes rendered in saturated color. Compared to Reyn Spooner's muted tones, Two Palms delivers a more vivid look that reads unmistakably tropical. The rayon options have a soft drape and a slightly retro hand feel that cotton versions lack. Pricing is competitive for made-in-Hawaii production, which makes Two Palms a strong pick for anyone who cares about supporting local manufacturing. If you are planning a trip to Oahu, their Ala Moana location is worth a visit to feel the fabrics in person before buying.
Best for: Shoppers who prioritize locally manufactured Hawaiian clothing at fair prices.
Maui and Sons
Maui and Sons was born in 1980 when three surfers from Malibu, California decided to channel their love of ocean culture into a clothing brand. Founded by Jeff Yokoyama, Steve Prested, and Rick Rietveld, the company takes its name from the Hawaiian island but its attitude from Southern California surf culture. Their iconic logo, representing earth, sea, sky, and fire, became a fixture in surf shops and high school hallways throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The brand has sustained that momentum for over four decades.
Maui and Sons approaches the Hawaiian shirt from a completely different angle than Reyn Spooner. Where Reyn Spooner draws on mid-century aloha tradition, Maui and Sons filters tropical imagery through a surf and skate sensibility. You will find sharks, surfboards, and stylized wave graphics alongside palm trees and sunset scenes, all rendered in high-energy color. The vibe is youthful and casual, pitched at a younger demographic than most heritage aloha brands. Fabrics tend toward lightweight synthetics and cotton blends built for active wear. If Reyn Spooner is Friday Aloha at the office, Maui and Sons is Saturday morning at the beach break.
Best for: Younger buyers and surf culture fans who want energetic tropical prints with a casual edge.
Faherty
Faherty might seem like an outlier on a list of Hawaiian shirt alternatives, but hear us out. Founded in 2013 by twin brothers Alex and Mike Faherty, lifelong surfers from the Jersey Shore, this brand makes some of the most comfortable warm-weather button-downs on the market. Their approach blends surf culture with a commitment to sustainable materials, using organic cotton, recycled fibers, and natural dyes across much of their line. The result is laid-back shirting that shares Reyn Spooner's relaxed sensibility without being tied to traditional aloha patterns.
Faherty's tropical and coastal prints run more subtle than a classic Hawaiian shirt. You will find muted indigos, washed-out florals, and abstract patterns inspired by ocean textures rather than the big hibiscus prints associated with traditional aloha wear. The fabrics are exceptionally soft, particularly their signature brushed cotton and knit button-downs. Where Reyn Spooner excels at the structured cotton camp shirt, Faherty delivers something you might describe as a Hawaiian shirt that went to a coastal bonfire and never came back. For anyone who loves the spirit of island dressing but wants a more understated take with genuine environmental credentials, Faherty fills that gap perfectly.
Best for: Sustainability-minded dressers who want coastal-inspired shirts in exceptionally soft fabrics.
Finding Your Perfect Aloha Shirt
The world of Hawaiian shirts stretches far beyond any single brand, and the right choice depends on what you value most. For pure heritage credentials, Kahala and their nine decades of Honolulu craftsmanship are hard to beat. If you want the romance of vintage reproductions in silk, Avanti does that work better than anyone. And for a modern, sustainable take on island dressing, Faherty proves you do not need to sacrifice comfort for conscience. Whatever direction you go, the best aloha shirt is one that makes you feel like the weekend started early.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
