SS39675 / SUN SURF SPECIAL EDITION HAWAIIAN SHIRT “SANKIN KOTAI”

Betty Higgins was a distinctive brand known for its exceptional creations, ranging from jackets tailored from richly woven brocade fabrics featuring elaborate multicolored patterns to women’s dresses made from Japanese kimono textiles printed in Japan. Founded in the postwar years as a custom dressmaker, the brand opened its shop inside the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel—affectionately known as the “Pink Palace”—and built a loyal clientele not only in Hawaii but also across the American mainland. Because relatively few men’s shirts were produced, surviving vintage examples by the brand are scarce today. Among those that have been confirmed, however, the great majority feature Oriental-inspired designs. This particular piece is no exception. Its motif depicts sankin-kōtai, the system imposed by the Edo shogunate that required feudal lords to travel regularly to Edo. The scene of a daimyo procession, moving in formal formation on its journey toward Edo, is rendered here in remarkably intricate detail, making it an especially rare design. Influenced by the Oriental boom that began in Hawaii and spread throughout the American mainland, many garments of the period drew inspiration from images of old Japan. This work stands as a particularly evocative example of that fascination. TITLE： “SANKIN KOTAI” ORIGINAL BRAND NAME： BETTY HIGGINS ESTIMATED MANUFACTURING DATES： EARLY 1950s FABRIC： FILAMENT RAYON PRINTING METHOD： OVER PRINTING PRINTING PATTERN： ORIENTAL DESIGN