On the Road.

See you all back here in 21 days!.

The Papa concept and the origins of a species revealed.

Papa Nui is many things and while many of you reading this blog may know the persona the actuality is that Papa Nui is both a place and a brand also.
Papa Nui the place is the outer reef break off Waikiki, beyond Queens and past Chunga. Its one of those majestic breaks that only begins to churn at 20ft plus and a wave steeped in historical significance as a testing ground for Hawaiian Royalty. In the 1930's Duke Kahanamoku supposedly christened this place, 'Papa Nui' in honour of the big boards used to ride these monster swells, Papa is the Hawaiian word for board and Nui equates to big.
In searching for a brand name that realised all the essential ingredients of tradition, heritage and soul, I couldn't have stumbled onto a better combination and thus with a desire to produce truly great surf wear I created Papa Nui Soul Crafted Surf Trunks with a promise of 'Aloha sewn into every stitch'.
As much as I love what I do I admit its been a constant struggle to realise an idea when its impossible to throw a steady stream of money to make things happen and so it has taken the better part of quite a few years to come close to a working sample. Admittedly most of this time has been spent in realising the concept from name to logo, from function to form but now it feels like I'm getting closer.
As this month ends I'm finally off to the East Indies with a new board in tow and a test pair of Papa's shorts. Built out of classic red nylon chosen for its ability to slide and not bind to the surfers leg, these trunks are sewn together with a durable 30's size thread. Ive done away with clumsy velcro fastening systems and instead incorporated a fool proof gusseted front fly, simplifying the on and off process without damaging the fabric or the tie-lace. On the back Ive adopted an innovative use of a truly traditional vintage pocket, a style icon drawn from America's rich tapestry of work wear. The specially functional design allows the pocket to expand for your wax without placing stress on the shorts. The sign off will be a woven patch sewn on the front leg in the shape of a classic 1960's D-fin and baring my mark, PAPA NUI.
Whilst my shorts are still far away from the production line, its encouraging for me to see them conceptually sound and I look forward to a
time when I can be shipping out finished goods to my blog supporters and cyber world friends.

Live Life Love Aloha - the Papa

Picked up the long awaited board but my tailor wasn't so efficient, looks like it's the Birdwells in Bali instead.

Beach Buzz.

Sky Raider getting real low over Vung Tau.

A work in progress.

The spontaneity of ideas often amazes me at times. Right when Mr BigFish and the Papa are working on the new snub-nose mini simmons collaboration (The Papa Torpedo) for me to take to the East Indies at the end of the month, Rivet Head comes along and posts a teaser about NY clothing company CXXVI. Here I was about to give my new board the olive drab assault make over and lo and behold Im inspired to go in a completely different direction based on the T-shirt graphics perused on the CXXVI site.
Grabbing my pens I worked up an entirely new approach to board graphics. This one is bound to raise some brows in the water. As we speak the Torpedo is being glassed over but for now I thought Id just give you a sneak preview of what's to come, stayed tuned for the real thing shortly.



(Papa Nui and 'Soul Crafted' are copyrighted to the Papa, so don't get any funny ideas)

Snub Nose Hydro Hull.

Today's postings are definitely an ode to all the great artisans out there in bloggersville some of which fortunately are my friends. Here we have the handy work of Mr Big Fish, the curator of the alley fish fry blogspot and dear friend and confidant of the Papa. As you may remember Mr Fish Fry and the Papa have had a more than a passing fascination with the late 1940's board designs of Bob Simmons. This new collaboration brings all the qualities of WWII US Navy hydrodynamics and blends them into a contemporary adaptation of the hull lift concept.
Snub nosed and barge-like with a 23" wide deck and powered by twin cupped keels this little vehicle is fast, fabulous and capable of amazing feats of maneuverability.
This proto-type will be used as an X-board for another version on the drawing board for the Papa to take over to the East Indies later in the year.
Incidently, also in these photos the Papa is wearing the new Lofgren Japan denim selvege chinos, US Navy denim ball cap and Real McCoys USS Leyte t-shirt.

Vintage Engineer Boots Or Belts?

Whilst on the topic of belts I must share with you all my most recent of acquisitions.
In a rare lucky streak, Papa Nui entered into a contest held by that most excellent and expert resident blogger, Vintage Engineer Boots. The prize? A fantastic jewelled inlaid and studded belt. A rare thing of beauty indeed, John Villanueva of this blog is truly an artist and man of talent. On top of this John is also a great patriot, Johnny boy much adoration is heaped upon your brow by the Papa, Semper Fi!
Enjoy the photos.

Geronimo by War Path.

One of the lasting influences of my life has been a facination with Native American Indians, Ive read and absorbed much about them, their culture and art especially being a wealth of reference points for anyone interested in design and style. When Matt of War Path leathers posed the question to me, was I ready for another belt?, I immediately knew where my inspiration would be drawn from.
Referencing a great book I have on Geronimo I adopted a design practice used by the Apache. Indian artisans adorned their leather belts, bridle bits and implements of war with brass tacking studs in patterns akin to the Navajo conchos. I sent Matt my ideas for him to interpret and this week in the mail the most magnificent belt arrived exceeding my expectations with its weathered and battered patina reminiscent of the very harshness of the desert badlands that sheltered the great Apache leader Geronimo.
With the help of 'Giggles'and her camera we captured these shots today to help Matt in hawking his wares.

Lofgren Denims and the Sailor Mokus.

Years ago John Lofgren and I were in discussions over the collaboration to produce the Papa Nui Marines T-shirt and our conversation eventually turned to all the wonderful possibilities there were to produce great products once you had the right connections and contacts in place. Since then the Lofgren brand has expanded, each time with a new and inspiring take on vintage reproductions. At the time of this dialog John and I talked about the golden years in Hawaii and about the period styling of wearing Sailor Mokus with Aloha shirts. Downtown Honolulu was awash with bright bolts of Japanese fabrics or traditional Hawaiian palaka patterns and the resident genius of a few reknown tailors created a casual shirt that reflected the essence of islands and their relaxed lifestyle. Worn with these shirts was the local flavour of the Sailor Mokus. The nautical trend was the hottest thing in Honolulu in the 1930s and '40s. These nautical-inspired denims were called Mokus a term derived from the Hawaiian word meaning a ship or schooner.
To the market then comes John Lofgrens' denim chino. Unlike most workwear which utilises a midweight 9-10 oz fabric, Lofgren uses a premium 14oz selvege denim in a full cut World War II chino style. In a time of hipster vintage and heritage branding which has sent many companies scrambling to re-invent themselves as the lastest thing unfortunately at the cost of integrity, quality and authenticity, Lofgren has remained stoic and solid, producing garments that are the 'bomb'. This attentiveness to detail and a deep appreciation of the importance of fabrication and manufacture has established John Lofgren at the forefront of the market and way ahead of the pack. John is in for the long haul, so Mokus or Chinos, call them what you will, support John in his efforts and make a purchase through his ebay site or contact him with his seller ID 'shopatspeedway'.

The Burning House.com

I was partially inspired by Foster Huntington's photo blog and his concept of the Burning House. It's a collective of photos based on what you would take out the door should a fire threaten your property. I've pondered this for several weeks and came to the conclusion that it would be a very very difficult choice as you wouldn't have the time to contemplate a rational decision. However It did take me off onto the tangent of a group of themed items that's partially a product shoot and what might be essential to starting out again.
(click on images for enlarged detail)

The Pacific.


Palm Frond Hat, USMC utility jacket, USMC frog camo headcover, my favourite Hanes t-shirt worn so much its tissue thin, my father's swim trunks purchased in 1949, italian leather sandals, PT Boat Captains lid, Canteen watch, GI collapsible water bucket, Island maiden morale booster photograph, USMC issue blanket, tapa throw and Japanese glass fishing bouys representing the flotsam, jetsam and tides of our lives.

Upstate.



Flea Market finds for Upstate or the Pacific Northwest, Indian Camp Blanket, Pendleton Blanket, Pack Basket, Deer altlers. Early LL Bean plaid mackinaw jacket, 1930's CC Filson hunting vest in duck canvas, 40's Bob Allen double faced hunting pants, 1940's Deer Skin jacket by Gerry's leathergoods Colorado, 1940's buckskin jacket by Sportsclad California, Warehouse Japan plaid hooded athletic jacket, Wesco lace to toe smoke jumpers, Stormy Kramer wool cap with 1940's hunting licence, plains indian beaded possibles bag.

Papa's USMC pleat front 506xx HBT jacket.

I once read an article with Mr Freedom who stated that often he had imagined garments that 'could have been'. This struck a chord with me as Ive always thought this way too. My inspiration is always WWII. From the hundreds of movies Ive watched and books I've read, Ive been able to ascertain that your average GI was anything but General Issue. Sometimes its subtle, like John Wayne wearing Sperry's in Operation Pacific or more obvious like Henry Blake in MASH with his college sweater and flyvest. Sometimes its a Brooklyn ball cap on an Aviator or a pair of Bass Weejuns on a Naval Lieutenant that personalizes the whole look. I have also been facinated by the way WWII US uniforms drew much of their inspiration from the established outdoor and sporting equipment companies and workwear manufacturers of the era, the likes of Eddie Bauer and LL Bean, it all came down to functional and practical design.
With this in mind I took a logical step from USMC and US Army working utilities and had my tailor make up a pleated blouse based on the late 1930's Levi's 506xx jacket. The HBT came from an after production sale of the film 'the Great Raid', the USMC donut buttons were off eBay and the fantastic double pronged brass cinch buckle came from my good friend Adachi- San in the Levis quality control office in Tokyo.
The single front pocket design I pulled from the P44 USMC ulitily jacket. To me the whole garment makes sense and could quite easily have been Gyrine had the War Production Board contracted Levi Strauss to provide the Corp with a shorter length work jacket, part blouse, part utility, part Vandergrift jacket. For now however it's a Papa exclusive to be worn on early morning recons along the coast searching out the best beach breaks for next weekends surf mission.
(click on photos for enlarged image and detail)