Reyn outside the Ala Moana Shopping Center in 1959 via Reyn Spoonerĭuring his two-week visit, Reyn befriended a gentleman named Don Graham of the Dillingham Corporation, the developers of the soon-to-be-constructed Ala Moana Shopping Center. But after spending enough time on the tropical island, Reyn was truly charmed by the Hawaiin lifestyle-including its vibrant shirts. For Reyn, the loose-fitting shirts with bright island prints just didn’t fit into the clean-cut, oxford cloth-laden ivy league wardrobes of the 1950s. Soon after, Reyn developed another five stores in California, each known for its high-quality sportswear and resort clothing.īefore visiting Hawaii for the first time in 1957, Reyn refused to stock aloha shirts in his menswear stores, shrugging them off as loud and poorly constructed.
Reyn instantly immersed himself in the world of menswear and proved himself to have a natural flair for fashion, marketing, and design, so much so that he bought his employer’s store in 1949 and renamed it Reyn’s Men’s Wear.
After serving as a paratrooper in the Second World War, Reyn returned to Catalina Island and secured a job in a menswear store in Avalon. Brand founder Reyn McCullough was born and raised on Catalina Island, just off the coast of Southern California.
