Tori Richard

For anyone who values comfort and craftsmanship over a bargain, they tend to be. Tori Richard shirts aren't the loud, typical aloha shirts; they read as more tasteful and iron up very crisply, and the cotton lawn in particular is praised as soft, comfortable and elegant. The premium reflects the fabric quality and detailing, so it's a question of whether that polish matters to you.

They're the two names most often weighed against each other in Hawaiian shirts. Tori Richard is frequently described as the nicer and pricier of the pair, thanks to its soft cotton lawn fabric, while Reyn Spooner is known for its signature wrinkle-free blend. If your priority is a refined, elevated feel, Tori Richard usually wins on fabric; if easy-care convenience matters more, the comparison shifts.

It's a Honolulu company known for upscale resort wear, especially its Aloha shirts, tropical dresses and sport shirts. The thread running through everything is the print: founder Mort Feldman, a collector of Japanese antiques and screens, translated that passion into East-West fabric prints that remain the Tori Richard signature.

It's a locally-owned family business based in Honolulu, Hawaii, where an in-house art and design team develops every print. Each new design can take as many as 100 hours to conceive, colorize and make printable, and once finalized it's copyrighted, named and kept as the company's exclusive property. The archive now holds at least 25,000 designs, with about 400 new prints added each year.

The construction is where the craftsmanship shows. A Tori Richard shirt features laser-etched mother-of-pearl buttons, French seams with the raw edges turned in and hidden, matched pockets, and collars with an interlining for crispness so they don't droop. The brand even pioneered matching the print across pockets and front seams, now an industry standard.

Cotton lawn is a fine Egyptian cotton with a proprietary finish exclusive to Tori Richard, and it's become a staple of the line. It debuted in the 1970s and grew into a mainstay of the men's collection, prized for being especially soft and comfortable. It's a big reason the shirts feel more elegant than many competitors.

The company was established in 1956 by Mort Feldman, who had flown to the Territory of Hawaii in 1953 intending to retire. With partners Janice Moody and pattern maker Mitsue Aka, he started with one sewing machine and almost no capital. The name combines Victoria, called Tori, who was Moody's daughter, with Richard, Feldman's oldest son.

No, it actually began as a women's wear label. Soon after its 1956 launch it became known nationally for the bright colors and dramatic prints of its high-fashion resort dresses, culottes and caftans. The men's shirts only arrived in 1969 at the request of a Hawaii retailer called Liberty House, and by the 1980s menswear had eclipsed the women's line.

It has a notable on-screen and public history. The company received film credit for creating George Clooney's shirts in The Descendants, and it has provided shirts for the cast of Hawaii Five-0. It also designed an exclusive aloha shirt for President Barack Obama and the 21 world leaders at the 2011 APEC summit in Honolulu.

Yes, and unusually early. In 2008 the company installed a $1.1-million, 154-kilowatt solar power system at its Honolulu headquarters and warehouses, becoming one of the world's first solar-powered manufacturers and retailers. A second system added in 2011 effectively offset 100% of its carbon footprint.