Gather ‘round, kids, it’s story time. Follow us down memory lane, if you will, for the tale behind our new Pinafore Crop Tops. This isn’t just any random design – it’s a truly special piece of Wings Hawaii history.
Flashback to 20-something years ago at The University of Hawaii at Manoa, when the idea of Wings was just a sparkle in Samantha Howard’s eye. It was her best friend Melody’s 20th birthday, so Sam wanted to make something cute for her as a gift. In typical Sam magic, using some vintage aloha fabric she had found, she designed and hand-sewed an adorable little crop top with an open back and two simple ties, pinafore-style.
Melody rocked that top all around the Manoa campus, and the rest was Wings history. When other friends began requesting them, Sam would give them fabric samples and a hand-drawn order form. The requests kept growing. Before any official Wings pop-up shops had begun, girls would just see us wearing them around, ask about them, and Sam would sew up some more. We were like early-aughts influencers: no smart phones, no social media, just good old-fashioned coconut wireless. These tops became the first shirts Sam ever sold.
They were also featured in the first-ever Wings Hawaii photo shoot. Check out our old school pics! We all piled into Becky’s rusty old truck and headed down to Waikiki beach. We were just a handful of college friends trying our best to create our first fashion photo shoot. No professional photographer, no hair and makeup artist, no stylist, no real models – just us, doing it all completely DIY-style, and it was an absolute blast. We struck cheesy poses, we jumped off the rock walls, we climbed up into the empty lifeguard tower. We laughed and twirled and skipped hand-in-hand down the beach, chasing our wide-eyed, 20-year-old-college-girl dreams. The joy on our faces is so real.
This happy nostalgia is what led to today’s updated Pinafore Crop Top. We’ve grown up (kind of) and so have our designs. A more elevated version of our humble beginnings, these tops are still made with vintage aloha fabric, and feature wide, flattering ties with an open back. A blast from the past, but made timeless. (And check the new photo shoot for Easter eggs: we recreated some of our same model poses!)
Because these are so special to us, we made just a very small batch, available in three prints: Orange Sherbet, Retro Flower, and Aloha Begonia. As always, each item was expertly and lovingly designed, cut, and sewn by our Haiku studio team. From start to finish, each piece is crafted with comfort, style, and sustainability in mind.
We hope you love these as much as we do. It may be twenty-something years later now, but we’re all still dear friends, and we all still want to frolic down the beach together wearing our handmade Wings tops. Here’s to friendship, chasing dreams, and memories that last forever.
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