- Blank Canvas
- Lucky Belly, Livestock Tavern, Tchin Tchin Bar
- Eggshell Lighting
- Kenworth Hawaii
- Royal Kitchen
- Sig Zane Designs
- Eight Point Distributors
- Autosource
- Island Topsoil
- Honolulu Eye Clinic
- Local Joe
- The Pig & The Lady
- T&C Surf
- Aloha Personal Training
- MD Restoration
- Goldwings
- AW Dental Group
- GreenPath Technologies, Inc.
- Heaven on Earth
- Honolulu Coffee Co.
- L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
- McKinley Car Wash
- Mountain Apple Company
- The Pâtisserie
- Scott Hawaii
- The Systemcenter, Inc.
- Town Hospitality Group
About the Entrepreneur
Accomplished hula dancer, surfer, fisherman, and artist Sig Zane and wife,
Nalani Kanakaole, opened the doors to Sig Zane Designs in Hilo, Hawaii in 1985. Their mission was to educate and share what they knew about their culture.
Nalani Kanakaole, opened the doors to Sig Zane Designs in Hilo, Hawaii in 1985. Their mission was to educate and share what they knew about their culture.
Today, Sig, Nalani, and their son Kuhao continue their stories with every design and performance. Their world-renowned apparel collection and design collaborations are all deeply rooted in a foundational relationship between nature, culture, dance and ritual. To Sig, the energy of Hawaii feeds his spirit. He is the steward of the knowledge of his elders and his art is a tangible, visual form of their stories.
More with Sig
What differentiates Sig Zane Designs from other aloha shirt companies?
Kuhao: We’re a company based in the cultural practices of Hawaii. Our native perspective is applied to everything we do, whether it’s an aloha shirt, an airplane or a logo on an electric bill.
What is the best advice you received when you started your company?
Sig: Do everything with integrity and pride. Also, because we come from a hula foundation, never forget to share the culture, our practices, and our story. That sharing of the story is so important, and to this day we continue to share that story. That’s the core of what we do; that’s what guides us, and that’s what we know has held us together all these years.
What should a business owner look for in a bank?
Sig: The most important quality is the alignment of goals. I believe that the personnel at the bank need to understand where we want to go, and with that insight they can help guide us. It’s really important to have that partnership in business, because together we can achieve all dreams.
What do you love about banking with Hawaii National Bank?
Sig: It’s really nice to bank with Hawaii National Bank because they’re my neighbor. I like that they all know us; we can all address each other on a first-name basis. But at the same time it is the other levels, the people who are not even at our branch that know us and share their aloha, and their concern and kokua and support.
“There is something in every shirt that has a story. Sometimes it’s subliminal; sometimes it’s totally unseen. I’d like to think that’s the magic of it, that our experiences are part of that canvas, that shirt.”
