Ryan Hawaii

RYAN HAWAII

Japanese denim engineering meets British-Jamaican/Cuban artist Ryan Hawaii’s intuitive and esoteric art style, drawing on his spiritual heritage with complex concepts reduced to imagery in its most simple form.

Drawing from spiritual ideas interpreted from real-life situations Ryan Hawaii created a series of illustrations in his South-East London studio relating to different life experiences, that have been adapted into screen prints and printed onto EDWIN denim, culminating in unique and stunning results. 

The film to accompany the collaboration captures every step of the process along the way, scored by the sounds of various musicians in Hawaii’s immediate circle, everything expertly put together by British-Ghanaian artist, Essuman, who works alongside Hawaii on much of his work, forming a formidable partnership.

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 The lookbook was shot by emerging photographer and filmmakers, Stuart Nimmo and Ben Bainbridge who's experimental techniques make for very interesting results.

The main references were classic Japanese editorial shoots for magazines with simplistic initial shoots, paired with busy post-production text elements, replaced by Ryan’s artwork and hand-drawn text.

The shoot also features Kevin Taylor and Blaze YL, members of rap group House of Pharaohs, paving the way in London’s emerging hip-hop scene; Kadiata, the self-produced artist with an upbeat and infectious sound like no other and Connor Kawaii, one of London’s most innovative skateboarding talents with his brand Radius Skateboards.

The DIY partnership between EDWIN and Ryan Hawaii gave birth to a unique capsule, not for sale. 

Credits:

Video: Essuman 
Photographer: Stuart Nimmo & Ben Bainbridge
Models: Ryan Hawaii (artist), Connor Kawaii (skateboarder/artist), Kevin Taylor (Music Artist), Kadiata (Music Artist) Blaze YL (Music Artist)