Prepster Pineapple is a new line of casual cotton shirts and apparel specifically for tweens and teens (but also offered in sizes for mom and dad, not that most kids that age would be caught dead wearing outfits identical to the ‘rents’).
The creator of the concept is Abby Schiff, who will be 15 next month but has been coming to Hawaii since she was a 5-month-old.
"It clearly made a big impression on her as she has had Hawaii on the brain ever since," said her mother, Jennifer Schiff.
The family visited Maui when Abby was 71⁄2, and in February when they stayed on Hawaii island at Abby’s suggestion.
"I guess once you’ve been to Hawaii, you keep wanting to go back," Jennifer Schiff said.
With Hawaii on the brain, Abby came up with the character at school one day "in her notebook and shared the drawing with her friends, who thought he was really cool."
The drawing got her parents’ attention when it appeared on the kitchen table.
Asked about it, "Abby replied, ‘That’s Prepster Pineapple,’" who she explained was "this really cool, laid-back teenage boy from Hawaii who goes to school here (in Connecticut), the kind of guy girls and guys want to hang out with," Jennifer said.
When her husband saw the doodle and heard the character’s name, he "turned to me and said, ‘There’s a great idea for a company, Jennifer. You’re always writing about small businesses and e-commerce. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?’ And I did," she said.
Jennifer Schiff is a reporter for CIO.com and runs a marketing communications business as well.
She quickly got schooled as to how much easier it is to write about a business than it is to create one.
The basis of it all though, is Abby’s love for Hawaii.
"I’ve always wanted to live in Hawaii, but for now, I’m stuck in the chilly Northeast," Abby said via email.
She designed Prepster Pineapple to remind her of the "warmth and happiness of the islands." She describes him as "a sweet guy representative of my favorite vacation destination."
The clothes are "relaxed and comfortable, yet still cool enough to appeal to even the hippest teens," and are suitable for hanging out with friends or going for a run, "so you can take a little piece of Hawaii wherever you go," Abby said.
Never mind that pineapples are not indigenous to Hawaii, we are nevertheless forever associated with the fruit.
Contributing to the isles’ economy, the photo shoot for the clothing line was done in Hawaii, and "the models featured in our photos are local high school students, many of whom are surfers," Jennifer said.
The photo shoot was done here "so that when customers land on our home or landing pages, they immediately get what the brand is about," she said.
T-shirts are $26 and polo shirts are $36. More choices for seasonally concerned mainlanders will be added to the line over time.
As for the Schiffs,"we had such a great time on the Big Island, we’re going back this December and then spending a few days on Kauai," Jennifer Schiff said.
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On the Net:
» www.prepsterpineapple.com
DVR or VCR alert
It’s set-your-DVR time, so hopefully you are at home or have an online way to set up recording, because Hawaii will be featured on two Travel Channel shows this morning.
Travel Channel’s "Park Secrets" episodes titled "Hidden History" and "Hotel Hideaways" will air at 8 and 8:30 a.m. and will re-air at 11 and 11:30 a.m. respectively.
The "Hidden History" episode has the crew finding an underwater temple and other tales around Hawaii island.
The "Hotel Hideaways" episode will include black-sand beaches, not on Hawaii island, but on Maui, as well as seaside cottages, also on the Valley Isle.
The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau assisted with the production, as it does many times national or regional media come to report on and highlight the isles to potential travelers among the audience.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
