may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on wikipedia . see wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions . march 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message crazy shirts type private industry retail founded 1964 headquarters honolulu hawaii products shirts shorts sweaters hats footwear accessories slogan be original . be crazy website www.crazyshirts.com crazy shirts is an american t shirt and clothing company established in 1964 and based in honolulu hawaii . the company operates 35 retail stores in hawaii california florida nevada and colorado . crazy shirts houses the largest printing facility in hawai i on the island of o ahu and employs more than 400 employees . contents 1 history 2 crazy shirts today 3 specialty dyes 4 design lines 5 community leadership 6 notes and references 7 external links history edit frederick carleton rick ralston is associated with transforming t shirts from underwear into fashionable outerwear . reporter sharon nelton of bnet titled ralston as the t shirt king of america and the father of the modern t shirt . 1 in the summer of 1960 as a teenager just out of high school in montebello california ralston spray painted a design on a t shirt turning it from common underwear into fashion . ralston took this idea and traveled to santa catalina island with a friend referred to as crazy arab to spray paint designs on beach towels . ralston practiced his towel design on an old t shirt as what was referred as an ugly monster shape . 2 he wore it down the street one day and a tourist offered to buy it off his back for his daughter . from then on rick ralston decided to go into the t shirt business . in 1960 ralston and friends set up a shop on the sidewalk of santa catalina island . tourists had to bring their own blank t shirts from a local sporting goods shop and ralston and crazy arab embellished them with depictions of monsters surfers or hot rods at 2.80 apiece sometimes making as much as 100 a day . 2 in 1962 after another summer on santa catalina island and two years studying automotive design at the art center college of design in pasadena ca ralston took his summer business to the sidewalks of waik k in oahu hawaii where the summer s tourism season provided him with sustainable income . 2 in 1964 he opened a tiny shop in the waik k bazaar known as the international market place . the shop was called ricky s crazy shirts and to ralston s knowledge it was the first store ever devoted exclusively to t shirts and sweatshirts . due to the popularity of the t shirt designs among tourists ralston has to increase production speed and he turned from spray painting to screen printing the designs . later that year ralston changed the shop s name from ricky s crazy shirts to crazy shirts . 3 in 1970 ralston opened a second shop in honolulu s ala moana shopping center . 2 the company s sales at that time were about 500 000 . 4 crazy shirts expanded during the 1990s with more than 70 stores across the u.s. but in september 2001 the company closed four stores and filed for bankruptcy . 5 in november 2001 only the best inc. a company affiliated with the owners of waikiki trader corp bought the company . 5 crazy shirts today edit in october 2001 mark hollander became president and chief executive officer of crazy shirts hawaii taking over from rick ralston . hollander was part of the investor group that bought crazy shirts . 6 under the new leadership crazy shirts expanded in new untapped markets across the nation such as south carolina and santa barbara and moved its production facility from california back to hawaii . the move created over 50 new jobs in hawaii and unified all of the company s production related activities including artwork and catalog production . in the 1970s the crazy shirts line included about 150 designs . since then they have changed production technology and today more than 550 designs are available . hollander currently oversees the operations of the company s retail locations across the country as well as the production facility and administrative offices in halawa valley on the island of oahu hawaii . current store locations hawaii oahu kauai maui hawaii california san francisco sausalito san diego laguna beach palm springs colorado aspen vail florida sarasota key west nevada las vegas specialty dyes edit crazy shirts is known for using specialty dyes that includes their garments in natural and unique dyes such as wine beer bubble gum chili chocolate and kona coffee . 7 the current specialty dyes include 8 beer blue hawaii chile chocolate crater volcanic ash hemp hibiscus key lime kona coffee money lavender sunflower ti leaf wine rum rose design lines edit crazy classics t shirt line crazy shirts revives some of its most popular designs each season . designs are made available on a limited edition basis and based on customer demand . kliban cat designs crazy shirts holds the exclusive clothing rights to the cartoon created by cartoonist b. hap kliban . the kliban cat first appeared on a crazy shirt in 1977 . 9 images include hula cat with hips swaying and adorned in a grass hula skirt and lei aloha cat wearing an aloha shirt and open arms sumo cat dressed in the traditional mawashi wrestling belt and artist cat sitting at his easel covered in paint . obama surfs in november 2008 crazy shirts honored the hawaii born president elect barack obama with the release of its obama surfs white crew neck t shirt . the front new obama surfs t shirt reads life liberty and the pursuit of happiness president obama 2009 alongside a wave riding bodysurfer and the hawaiian island chain while obama surfs over a barreling wave is printed on the back . 10 wyland partnership in december 2008 crazy shirts and wyland marine life artist have partnered to create an exclusive line of apparel inspired by the artist s works . the signature wyland designs include big whale which features a mother and baby whale on a blue t shirt along with a humpback whale tail in brush ink and get involved dolphins which is printed with the words re think re cycle re use . a portion of the proceeds goes to wyland foundation s clean water initiative . 11 community leadership edit crazy shirts supports many of hawaii s community and non profit organizations . over the years their involvement has included hawaiian humane society crazy shirts has been actively involved in the adopt a cat adopt a dog and other hawaiian human society projects . annually they donate a crazy shirts original shirt design and product with a portion of the proceeds going to the organization . 12 polynesian voyaging society crazy shirts provided the official polynesian voyaging society hokulea crew shirt working with the team members to develop a special uv protective garment . 13 accessurf hawaii in partnership with crocs crazy shirts designed a limited edition shoe called the island lifeguard which is old exclusively through select crazy shirts retail locations and its website . to complement the shoes crazy shirts designed an island lifeguard t shirt . proceeds from these products benefited accessurf hawaii hawaii based non profit organization created to provide access to water sports to those with mental or physical challenges using specialized equipment and the hawaii junior lifeguard programs . 14 hawaii natural energy institute hnei in may 2007 the company launched a product line titled save our planet . crazy shirts created this line in the hopes to spark conversation raise public awareness and encourage individuals to take steps toward environmental conservation and sustainability . crazy shirts donates a portion of the sales from all of its global warming products to the hawaii natural energy institute hnei a research unit of the university of hawaii that conducts research to find new forms of energy to replace the united states dependence on fossil fuels . 15 notes and references edit sharon nelton . the man who transformed t shirts from underwear into fashion rick ralston ; crazy shirts inc nation s business us chamber of commerce january 1991 retrieved july 7 2008 . a b c d sharon nelton . the man who transformed t shirts from underwear into fashion rick ralston ; crazy shirts inc nation s business us chamber of commerce january 1991 retrieved july 7 2008 . don parret . crazy shirts files chapter 11 sells to big dog pacific business news september 10 2001 retrieved july 7 2008 . lisa ro . parting shot . with 50 years behind it hawaii business looks back and looks ahead hawaii business magazine july 2006 retrieved july 7 2008 . a b prabha natarajan . crazy shirts consolidates production business here pacific business news june 14 2002 retrieved july 7 2008 . crazy shirts to bring factory back to hawaii http pacific.bizjournals.com pacific stories 2001 12 10 daily43.html pacific business news december 13 2001 retrieved july 7 2008 . susan schaben . crazy shirts looks to grow with new distribution deals http www.allbusiness.com north america united states california metro areas 1002419 1.html orange county business journal february 19 2001 retrieved may 15 2009 . crazy shirts stuff dyed in http www.crazyshirts.com category stuff dyed in.do chad blair . crazy shirts reinvents itself with new products sustained growth pacific business news http pacific.bizjournals.com pacific stories 2007 11 12 focus10.html november 9 2007 retrieved july 7 2008 . nadine kam . crazy shirts honors surfing president star bulletin november 19 2008 retrieved may 1 2009 . nina wu . crazy shirts wyland link up http www.starbulletin.com business 20081217 crazy shirts wyland link up.html star bulletin december 17 2008 retrieved may 1 2009 . erika engle . crazy shirts turns 40 http archives.starbulletin.com 2004 05 09 business engle.html star bulletin may 9 2004 retrieved may 1 2009 . nick black http www.nickblackart.com bio.shtml gene park . disabled get access to water sports http archives.starbulletin.com 2007 06 03 news story05.html star bulletin june 3 2007 retrieved may 1 2009 . star bulletin staff and wire services . da kine http archives.starbulletin.com 2007 05 10 features dakine.html star bulletin may 10 2007 retrieved may 1 2009 . external links edit crazy shirts retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title crazy shirts & oldid 679327936 categories clothing brands of the united statesclothing companies of the united statesclothing manufacturersclothing retailers of the united stateshidden categories wikipedia articles needing style editing from march 2009all articles needing style editingofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page 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