Hangin’ at the mall with Dale Hope
By Nadine Kam
Spent the morning at Kahala, not the place, but the new local men’s sportswear store that opened Sunday in the Ala Moana Center Nordstrom wing. The brand is back after some major retooling — story t.k. (that’s journalese for “to come,” though why it’s t.k. and not t.c. is a mystery in a business that involves proper spelling).
After my interviews were done, spent some time talking to aloha shirt guru Dale Hope, who’s back with the company he owned a couple of decades ago. We were people watching because he couldn’t help noticing who was wearing Kahala shirts and how people style themselves, from footwear to sunglasses. It’s part of his process as a guy who might appear to be laidback but is intensely observant and detail oriented.
I’d never met him before, so you know how people just kind of assume, businessman, business mind. But he’s been a tactile, fashion person from childhood and went to some lengths to get his aloha shirts custom made, the start of his relationship with Kahala. As an 8-year-old boy!
That’s pretty incredible. At 5, I hated the stuff my mom bought for me, but I just accepted it. It didn’t occur to me then that there’s always another way if you’re willing to look/work for it.
