933 - Watermark Kapa Pareu Collection by Kealopiko (Set 1)

Kealopiko, Watermark Kapa Pareu Collection, set of two (2)
Size: 70 inches long x 44 inches wide
Colors: White/Gray and Blue
100% cotton | Eco-friendly
Designed in Hawaiʻi nei

In celebration of ten years in business, Kealopiko created this design to honor the original Hawaiian clothing makers and their art, kapa.

Watermark Kapa: It’s hard to believe that cloth made from the inner bark of a small tree can range from lace and gossamer to corduroy and canvas, but Hawaiian kapa truly runs the gamut of types and textures. The finer, more lightweight varieties of kapa bear the dazzling and sophisticated feature unique to Hawaiian bark cloth: the watermark. These are textural patterns seen only when the cloth is held up to the light. They are carved into the iʻe kuku (four-sided beater) and beaten into the kapa in its final stage of manufacture. The wauke fibers must be retted (broken down through a process akin to fermentation) in order to be soft and yielding enough to receive and hold these delicate markings. Wauke varieties such as poʻaʻaha and mālolo are best for watermarking, as the thick, coarse fibers of wauke nui do not ret well. A dozen or so geometric motifs have been used in a huge range of combinations by Hawaiian carvers to produce a fascinating array of watermark patterns, best seen on the roughly 650 iʻe kuku held at the Bishop Museum. Today, contemporary carvers remix old themes and create new ones. Watermark patterns can have personal significance to a kapa maker who may use them with a specific intention in mind. Iʻe kuku with multiple patterns, like the one that inspired this design, are rare and represent a high point in the evolution of this incredible art form. For this design we chose to layer the traditional patterns known as pūʻili hāluʻa, hāluʻa pūpū, and iwi puhi.

Kealopiko opened in 2006, creating unique T-shirt designs that showcased Hawaiʻi’s diverse ecology and native culture—not just your typical Hawaiʻi imagery of palm trees and hula dancers. They went from screenprinting small batches of shirts to full-scale production and cut, dyed and printed on Molokaʻi.