About Us

The original company that created the Paradise Found label was founded back in 1976 was called Kirha Corp. At that time it made shirts under the label Made in Paradise. In 1980, Tom Selleck began wearing some of the prints on Magnum PI such as the iconic Jungle Bird shirt as well as the original Star Orchid shirt. And in 1983, the Paradise Found label was created and all the shirts under the previous label were brought under the Paradise Found brand.

Back in the 1980s, the Paradise Found offices were located at 1108 Fort Street Mall between the business district on Bishop Street and Chinatown of downtown Honolulu. Employees of the company at the time remember when Tom Selleck came to visit the office to look at some shirts. He picked out the Calla Lily purple Aloha shirt and ended up wearing it on the show. And despite being a celebrity, they all remember him as being quite humble and polite. That left quite an impact for those who were in the office at that time. And that is why even though the red Jungle Bird shirt went on the become famous and referred to as “the Magnum PI shirt”, it is the purple Calla Lily shirt that has sentimental value to those who were there.

The 1980s were also a time before the Internet Age so there was no way for people to order shirts online. Instead, Paradise Found sold the shirts to local retailers such as Liberty House and Andrade, as well as Mainland retailers such as Gary’s Island (CA), Ron John Surf Shop (FL), and many others.

The popularity of Paradise Found got a boost as several of our shirts continued to appear on Magnum PI. Some of the shirts for the show were purchased off the rack at stores like Liberty House. At other times the costume designers bought fabric from us and had the shirts tailored for Tom Selleck. After the series ended, the Jungle Bird shirt along with other memorabilia were added to the Smithsonian Institute of American History as the show’s main characters portrayed Vietnam veterans in a positive light. The inclusion in the Smithsonian cemented the Jungle Bird shirt as The Magnum PI shirt and continues to be associated with the show today.

In addition to resonating with Aloha shirt fans in the US, Paradise Found shirts also found a following in Europe and Japan. Unlike the US where many of the louder and more colorful shirts gained traction, customers in Japan gravitated towards our more reserved tropical designs, some of which are still available today like the Bamboo Paradise shirts. That does not mean that Japanese consumers only like those prints as many of them are fans of some of our more colorful designs. And just like the US, fans in Germany, UK, and other countries in Europe love our Jungle Bird shirt.

In 1991, the brand was acquired by Pacific Clothing, Inc and moved from downtown Honolulu to Aiea overlooking Pearl Harbor then to its current location in the Nimitz Industrial area of Honolulu. And in 2021, the Paradise Found and its sister brands Diamond Head Sportswear and Waimea Casuals was acquired by Scott Murakami and Chadwin Ito under the company Paradise Brands, LLC. Buying a business during the middle of a pandemic required a leap of faith and an iron stomach. To offset the slowing sales during the pandemic, we quickly and completely overhauled the old website that had been in use since the mid-1990s. This allowed wholesale buyers and consumers to see our entire product line as well as order direct from us over the internet, no longer leaving us 100% dependent on a single sales channel.

We also invested in adding new prints and brought back some old colors of legacy shirts like the popular Star Orchid shirt. The Diamond Head Sportswear line, which historically has had vintage style prints had been gradually fading into oblivion with no new prints for years. We revitalized that label with a flurry of new prints starting in 2023 for fans of retro style shirts reminiscent of shirts from the 1930s-1960s. And we continue to look for ways to improve and eventually expand our men’s and women’s product lineups.

Through the years from 1976 until today, we have made our shirts and dresses in Hawaii just like the first aloha shirts of the 1930s. This is something we take great joy and pride in. And while it is becoming increasingly difficult to manufacturer our shirts and dresses here, it is something that we are committed to do for as long as possible. We feel that by making the shirts in Hawaii, customers who buy are shirts truly wear a piece of Hawaii whenever they put on a Paradise Found Aloha shirt.