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: Salvage Public
Text By
Lisa Yamada-Son
Images By
AJ Feducia,
John Hook &
Courtesy of Salvage Public
Salvaging Stories
Salvage Public tells a different story of surfing and Hawai‘i through its designs.
Salvage Public is located at South Shore Market in Ward Village. For more information, visit salvagepublic.com or @salvagepublic.
Salvage Public founders (from left) Joseph Serrao, Noah Serrao, and Nāpali Souza.
At the base of Diamond Head, that picturesque icon of Hawai‘i, there once existed a surfing heiau, a shrine where kāhuna, Hawaiian priests of the day, would fly kites to let people know of waves on the horizon. It was the surf report of the time. Back then, surfers could be heard calling out, “Hō a‘e kou aloha he‘enalu i ka hokua o nā nalu”—show your love of surfing on the crest of the waves.
Salvage Public’s aesthetic is at the intersection of contemporary surf culture and indigenous identity.
“It was a way for Hawaiian people to say, ‘You can’t only talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk,’” says Nāpali Souza, co-founder of Salvage Public. “Using this phrasing to express that idea shows just how ingrained surfing was to the way things were. It wasn’t just a segment of the lifestyle, it was just life.”
Joseph Serrao hopes Salvage Public’s designs spart critical thought. “I think Hawai‘i is difficult, messy, complicated, ancient. If you spend more than a vacation here, you begin to realize that very quickly.”
Drawing upon these stories as inspiration, Souza and co-founder Joseph Serrao (along with their third partner, Joseph’s brother, Noah) began rolling out their contemporary, surf-inspired wear for men. Starting with graphic tees, their line has grown to include a full collection that dresses men from head to toe, including jackets, pants, and button-down shirts.
Their collection also includes black-and-white, color-blocked boardshorts that hit above the knee—perfect for staying mobile in the water—alongside graphic tees with unexpected type placements that turn local slang into high-design concepts, and sweaters that turn character tropes meant to marginalize indigenous groups into emblems of power. A sweater from the upcoming fall-winter 2017 collection, for example, is emblazoned with a Picasso-esque tiki graphic and the words “Booga Booga,” a nod to the comedy ensemble, which included famed local comic Rap Reiplinger, that blasted through the narrative of native peoples as exotic but bumbling caricatures.
Using that image in that way, Souza says, “is a degree of reappropriation,” of turning the term on its head and presenting it in a way that’s representative of Salvage Public, which is to say sophisticated and intelligent. “Maybe that might spark somebody’s interest to learn more,” Serrao says. “Maybe they seek out something we referenced that might give them a different viewpoint on Hawai‘i.”
At the base of Diamond Head, that picturesque icon of Hawai‘i, there once existed a surfing heiau, a shrine where kāhuna, Hawaiian priests of the day, would fly kites to let people know of waves on the horizon. It was the surf report of the time. Back then, surfers could be heard calling out, “Hō a‘e kou aloha he‘enalu i ka hokua o nā nalu”—show your love of surfing on the crest of the waves.
“It was a way for Hawaiian people to say, ‘You can’t only talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk,’” says Nāpali Souza, co-founder of Salvage Public. “Using this phrasing to express that idea shows just how ingrained surfing was to the way things were. It wasn’t just a segment of the lifestyle, it was just life.”
Drawing upon these stories as inspiration, Souza and co-founder Joseph Serrao (along with their third partner, Joseph’s brother, Noah) began rolling out their contemporary, surf-inspired wear for men. Starting with graphic tees, their line has grown to include a full collection that dresses men from head to toe, including jackets, pants, and button-down shirts.
Their collection also includes black-and-white, color-blocked boardshorts that hit above the knee—perfect for staying mobile in the water—alongside graphic tees with unexpected type placements that turn local slang into high-design concepts, and sweaters that turn character tropes meant to marginalize indigenous groups into emblems of power. A sweater from the upcoming fall-winter 2017 collection, for example, is emblazoned with a Picasso-esque tiki graphic and the words “Booga Booga,” a nod to the comedy ensemble, which included famed local comic Rap Reiplinger, that blasted through the narrative of native peoples as exotic but bumbling caricatures.
Using that image in that way, Souza says, “is a degree of reappropriation,” of turning the term on its head and presenting it in a way that’s representative of Salvage Public, which is to say sophisticated and intelligent. “Maybe that might spark somebody’s interest to learn more,” Serrao says. “Maybe they seek out something we referenced that might give them a different viewpoint on Hawai‘i.”
Salvage Public is located at South Shore Market in Ward Village. For more information, visit salvagepublic.com or @salvagepublic.
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