Through The Decades: Daybreak

Destination travel and the resort lifestyle have always been sources of inspiration for our design team. The culture and lifestyle of the times inform the art we create and fuel the stories behind our prints. A Tori Richard bestseller, Daybreak, originated during a golden era of Hawai‘i and has remained a classic within our repertoire. 

Be There Or Be Square

When we created the Daybreak print at the height of the seventies, Hawai‘i was an established premiere global travel destination, disco dominated urban nightlife, and Hawaii-Five-O was playing on television sets across the nation. At Tori Richard headquarters, our young menswear line was building momentum with the techniques we were using for our womenswear — combining dramatic prints with the trending “polyester suede” fabrics of the era.   

The original Daybreak shirt on "poly-suede" fabric from the seventies.

From Dusk to Dawn

The contrasting colors and striations of Daybreak paint a picture of the day’s first light emerging through simple cloud shapes outlining a flock of birds in the distance. In the seventies we imagined this camp-collared button-down on the well-traveled man, making an impression with his bold shirt choice, and grooving at the disco from dusk to dawn.  

Left: Daybreak reissued for our Summer/Fall 2009 collection.
Right: A Tori Richard print advertisement from the late 1970s.

A New Light

This print became a hit. Its striking design is timeless, and each iteration is just as popular. Daybreak was also featured on our proprietary cotton lawn, the soft lightweight fabric created for the warm weather environments of the places we love to visit. With luxurious 100% Mulberry Silk Twill, our Night and Daybreak print is now available in our Mulberry Silk collection.