David Shepard Hawaiʻi is a Hawaiian wear company featuring David Shepard's hand drawn fabric art of native flora and fauna. Highlighting the conservation of Hawaiʻi's environment and culture, a portion of proceeds go to select local conservation and non profit organizations. The collection consists of Hawaiian shirts, dresses, scarves, pareos, and bags. All items are designed, cut, and sewn in Hawaiʻi.

David Shepard Hawaiʻi is a design company with a conservation mission. Hawaiʻi designer David Shepard hand draws detailed artistic representations of native Hawaiian plants. Printed onto natural fiber fabrics, art forms the basis for sustainable and meaningful clothing that is made locally in Hawaiʻi. Each art print for fabric has a story behind it that highlights local flora and fauna and the people and organizations that care for them. By donating a percentage of proceeds to Hawaiʻi conservation organizations every year, David Shepard Hawaiʻi commits itself to slow fashion that supports the local environment.

David Shepard is the founder of a place-based, mission-driven aloha wear company. His drawings and designs are a further extension of his mission of conservation through aloha ’āina. M.S. Horticulture alumnus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, his work at Limahuli Garden, Kalaupapa National Park, and Lyon Arboretum led to story telling. Shepard uses fabric and fashion to tell the story behind the 'why' of aloha ’āina. Each piece is designed and sewn in Hawai’i. They tell stories about our native flora and fauna visually on fabric, literally on tags, and change how those who wear the clothing see themselves and are seen by others. His aloha wear and Hawaiian shirts are conversation starters that bring Hawaii's storied landscapes into timeless yet contemporary clothing. In addition to empowering and giving voice to conservation efforts and kokua throughout Hawai’i, a portion of profits goes back to the organizations featured. With a place based, mission driven approach, fashion can become a platform for conservation on these islands with a voice that transcends and touches people into action far beyond this one place.

PURPOSE

• Make modern Hawaiian clothing that people feel good wearing and buying
• Share the beauty of nature through made-in-Hawaiʻi designs
• Provide a unique platform and voice for conservation causes
• Raise awareness and support for conservation through Aloha shirt sales
• Demonstrate art that arises from the land and land stewards that inspired it
• Share the value of land stewardship
• Share stories that inspire
• Promote Hawaiian values
• Encourage and empower the next generation

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My mission is to raise awareness and appreciation of rare and endangered native Hawaiian plants, encourage environmental stewardship, promote Hawaiian values, and create a platform for the people and organizations that do this inspiring work. I create drawings and continuous print patterns. Many of the plants I represent in my work are found nowhere else in the world. They live on the edge in visually stunning environments. I use the patterns I create as the basis for a line of dress shirts known commonly as Hawaiian shirts or in Hawaiʻi as Aloha Shirts.

The word aloha is used as both a greeting and a farewell, but it has deeper significance. Aloha means love, peace, compassion, kindness, and humility. It is a reminder of our interconnectedness. In creating and sharing these beautiful shirts and patterns, I hope to inspire people. I hope people reconnect with the value of these special plants, and move with aloha.

QUOTE

“Work is love made visible... it is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.”

- Kahlil Gibran