New color for Mahana Pareo - Brown Tapa

You might have noticed that we change up some of the colors for the Mahana Pareo from time to time. It's an evolving product as we continue to learn and perfect the process of making the pareos and mixing colors.

We just introduced a new color - Brown Tapa. It's not the brightest color, nor is it an intense color. However, after working on other recent projects that have required "natural" texture and a call to make them look "Polynesian" we realized that we hadn't offered a brown in our growing pareo offerings. It's not that we've gotten many requests for it, but we felt that we needed to offer it. If nothing more, we want to offer a more authentic color that would have been found in ancient Polynesia.

With this new color, we are adding in a new texture to the Mahana pareos. The Mahana pareos are created with photo sensitive dyes and placing various opaque stencils to create a subtle contrast. Many of our pareos are also multi-colored as well. Sea salt is added to absorb the dye and create "specks" for more texture. The stencils have added a definitive touch to make them Tahitian, however they are only a 2-D element. Adding in real palm leaves with their natural curves and their tendency to do everything but lay flat, creates an almost-not-there watermark that lends to an even more authentic look. Because the leaves are three dimensional, when we lay the pareos in the sun to dry and set, the leaves leave darker areas where they are closest to the fabric and lighter and less defined areas where the leaves are raised from the fabric. It creates a more natural organic feel to the pareo design.

A chiffon feel and weight to the 100% cotton Mahana pareo lends to the natural feel. It's a natural fabric and gets nice and soft after multiple washings much the same that real fine tapa feels. The new color-Brown Tapa is an exciting addition for us. It's so reminiscent of a more elegant, nostalgic and simpler time in the South Pacific.