Early next month, Ralph Lauren will introduce The Hoffman Collection, a limited-edition capsule of Hawaiian-style prints inspired by legendary surfer Walter Hoffman’s personal archives.
After serving at Pearl Harbor in the early 1950s, where he was a member of the U.S. Navy surf and swim teams, Hoffman began to sell tropical-print fabrics through his family’s textile business,
Hoffman California Fabrics, which was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Mission Viejo, Calif. He is credited with popularizing the traditional “aloha” shirt and creating the roots of modern surfwear.
The Polo collection will feature camp shirts, shorts, and canvas sneakers for men in three original floral prints from the Hoffman archives: South Pacific Floral, Coconut Grove Floral, and The Big Kahuna.
The Hoffman Collection shorts in the Big Kahuna print.
An accompanying campaign was shot in Hawaii by photographer and contemporary artist Joe Termini and features surfer Isaiah Moniz of the famous Moniz surfing family wearing the collection on his board, bike and just hanging around his hometown. Additional imagery features keepsakes from Hoffman’s family’s archives.
he sneakers in the South Pacific print.
The Hoffman Collection will retail for $125 for the shoes, $148 for the shorts, and $198 for the shirts and will be sold on the Polo app, in select Ralph Lauren stores, and the Ralph Lauren e-commerce site in the U.S., U.K., and APAC beginning July 8.