DON BLANDING
Hawaiian Clothing Design

A young woman modelling 'Windy Willie'

     Don Blanding's foray into clothing design happened by chance. Jeanne Wright, an English woman living in New York, was visiting Honolulu in early 1953. During breakfast one morning, she noticed a pair of salt and pepper shakers in front of her, and admired its tropical design. Upon closer examination, she saw they were created by Don Blanding for Vernon Kilns of California.
     Ever on the alert for fresh ideas, Jean felt that Don was potential fabric artist material. To her delight, she discovered that Blanding was in town, and promptly made arrangements to see him. She visited Don in his downtown studio, finding him hard at work. On Don's desk was the illustration for The Scarecrow Waltz, a poem that was going into his new book Joy is an Inside Job. This drawing captured Jeanne's imagination completely, and she decided that it would be the subject of their first design together. Thus, the Windy Willie collection, under the Hale Hawaii label, was born.

Don Blanding modeling one of his own creations

     He also designed seven fabric designs for Isle manufacturers -- Aloha shirts and women's sportswear garments, using sea urchins, sea anemones, kihikihi fishes, humuhumumumukumukuapa's, heliconia and other flora and fauna, including tourists.
     Other exclusive designs by Blanding were done for Watumull's, Leilani, Paradise Sportswear, and Original Hawaiian Togs of Hawaii.

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For a good book on this topic, read THE ALOHA SHIRT,
by Dale Hope and Gregory Tozian published by Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., 2000

Copyright ©2007 by Keith Emmons Design.  All rights reserved.