Joshawa Elsas, founder of Island Tat, is of Chamorro descent and was raised in the Hawaiian islands. During this time Joshawa realized that the islands possessed an incredibly diverse array of not only races but also cultures. With this diversity in mind, Joshawa aimed to capture the essence of the islands including each different race and culture-all the while treating every single person like family. This attitude practiced by those who live in the islands of not making assumptions or stereotypes based on skin color or cultural traditions-and in fact treating each and every person like family according to Joshawa, is exactly what makes the islands an authentic paradise.

Island TAT clothing strives to expand and extend Joshawa’s vision of “Traditions All Together” to people who may not share similar views. It is no surprise then, that within certain cultures it is easy to fall into the ethnocentric pitfalls of quick-judgment and self-promotion. According to Joshawa, this type of mentality is exactly what prevents society as a whole from being a paradise, just like the islands.
“Excel in showing respect for each other.” Romans 12:10 GW
Island T.A.T clothing believes and operates under the Christian system of beliefs and has thusly adopted the aforementioned verse as a way of showing the ideal vision embodied by it’s entire staff. This vision, created and bread by Joshawa is simple-he believes as do the Pacific Islanders the we should all excel in showing respect for each other regardless of race, origin, or cultural practices and beliefs. According to Joshawa, if we as a society are able to accomplish this, then we could create and share our own island paradise-an island paradise where we can bring, “TRADITIONS ALL TOGETHER.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 1:38 am and is filed under islandtat.