Hawaiian Clothing: Made in Hawaii vs. Imported

From the time the first Hawaiian shirts and dresses began to appear in Honolulu in the 1930s through the 1990s, most were made in Hawaii. But like other manufacturing industries in the US, Hawaiian clothing manufacturers face incredible price pressure from imported products. Today, it’s not surprising to find stores selling more imported Hawaiian clothing from China and Indonesia than locally made clothing. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this trend.

Price: Advantage Imports

The best thing about imported Aloha clothing is the price. Importers, who are also sometimes local manufacturers, benefit because they can buy and sell products at lower prices while maintaining or increasing their profit margins. The consumer also benefits from lower retail prices.

But there are significant disadvantages. When a company imports clothing from China or Indonesia, it typically has to order hundreds of pieces by style, pattern, and color. While the price per item is significantly lower than locally produced garments, the price advantage is somewhat offset by large minimum orders.

Selection and flexibility: Advantage “Made in Hawaii”

For locally produced garments, the manufacturer still has to order several thousand meters of fabric, which represents a significant investment. But instead of spending large sums of money importing large quantities of ready-made garments in a few styles and prints, they can make more styles in more prints in smaller quantities for the same amount of money. So while the cost per item is higher than imported garments, the real benefit is the ability to offer a much larger selection and have the flexibility to adjust production based on changing customer demand and tastes. Rather than compete on price, which is a losing proposition, local manufacturers compete on quality and selection.

That being said, some manufacturers are hedging their bets a bit by offering both made-in-Hawaii and imported garments. This allows them to serve customers at different price points and gives them experience contracting production overseas in case they need to add more of that to their mix in the future.

Winner: Consumers

In the end, all this competition is good for the consumer. The diversity of cuts and the high quality of shirts and dresses made in Hawaii force imports to improve. And price pressure from imports motivates local manufacturers to come up with better designs and new styles as they look for ways to become ever more efficient. The result is that customers get more options, higher quality and better prices. So despite competitive pressures from imported garments, many local manufacturers are not only surviving, but also proving that they can thrive with “Made in Hawaii.”