When people admire his shirt, Aeto knows what to do. "I always say, 'It's a Kahala.' "

Aloha-shirt makers have long been known for outfitting entertainers, television personalities and athletes with free shirts.

But Aeto, who has been receiving free aloha shirts from Kahala since 1989, represents a lesser known marketing tactic: giving shirts to top business people who set the standards in the office towers of downtown Honolulu.

"In the aloha-shirt world, men are very aware if it's a Tori Richards shirt or a Tommy Bahama shirt or a Reyn's shirt or a Kahala shirt," said Dale Hope, the former owner of Kahala Sportswear who wrote the book, "The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands." "They take pride in their shirts, so it certainly doesn't hurt to give some of them to the people you deem important and are visible in the community, whether they're fantastic paddlers or fishing people or downtown business gurus."

The practice of putting free aloha shirts on high-profile people dates at least to the 1950s, when Duke Kahanamoku wore Cisco brand shirts on the Arthur Godfrey television show and exposed the rest of America to Cisco's brightly colored, floral prints.

"People across the country wrote in asking Duke where he got those shirts," Hope said. "They all wanted one, too."

The aloha-shirt industry has since stratified into distinctly different markets separated by price and quality — particularly in the past few years.

"It has definitely changed," said Paul deVille, CEO and president of Hilo Hattie. "You can find Hawaiian clothing in the Tommy Bahama store or Macy's, but you can also find it in Costco and Wal-Mart, and Sears has their own lines."

No one tracks sales of aloha shirts as an industry — "I'd certainly like to have that information," deVille said.

But it's clear that the prevalence of aloha shirts as a staple in the workplace — for now — will remain a strictly Hawai'i phenomenon.

Aloha shirt makers look for opportunities to get their unique styles on high-profile figures. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"The big trend on the Mainland has been over for a year or two," said Josh Feldman, vice president of Tori Richard. "There's a lot of soul-searching in the industry about where we go from here."

What's for certain is that makers of aloha shirts are focusing even more on Hawai'i sales.

Tommy Bahama wants to expand its Hawai'i presence of three stores on O'ahu and Maui to include a new shop and restaurant in the King's Shops in the Waikoloa resort area of the Big Island, and possibly at stores in Ko Olina and Po'ipu on Kaua'i.

Like Tori Richard, the executives at Tommy Bahama include aloha shirts under the umbrella term "resort wear" that includes women's clothes, sweaters, hats and shorts. They are looking forward to growth in Hawai'i as more Mainland couples retire here and need a wardrobe to match their new lifestyle.

"These are not people just going on vacation in Hawai'i," said Tommy Bahama president George Santacroce. "These are people who are viewing the Hawaiian Islands as a place to buy retirement homes or are looking to visit repeatedly. It's a place that Tommy wants to be. ... We think that over the next three to five years, there are significant opportunities for us to expand by opening up more compounds (combination stores and restaurants) and free-standing stores in Hawai'i."

As the price and quality of aloha shirts stretches from inexpensive to more than $200, a handful of manufacturers — such as Kahala, Local Motion and Reyn Spooner — continue to selectively pass their shirts out for free.

In addition to giving shirts to radio sales exec Aeto, Kahala lists First Hawaiian Bank CEO Walter Dods among top businessmen who are "fans" of Kahala shirts. Dods' spokesman said the soon-to-retire executive pays full price for all of his aloha shirts.

Hilo Hattie, which makes mid-priced aloha wear, said it doesn't give shirts to executives but has outfitted TV personalities, including the hosts of "Local Kine Grindz" — Lina Girl and Braddah Sam.

"We were hitting the kama'aina market, so we looked at 'Local Kine Grindz' as the perfect example," deVille said.

Others have never seriously considered giving away aloha shirts.

"We don't do any comp, freebie stuff," said Tori Richard's Feldman. "The main reason is we're in the business of selling the product, not giving it away."

"Our view is that our guests who buy Tommy Bahama sportswear are not necessarily impressed with somebody who wears something for free," Santacroce said.

As Tommy Bahama publicist Janet Orsi said, "I know it's a very popular practice, but we never comp anything. Tommy Bahama's is an affluent, traveled, sophisticated customer who wears the product because he likes it, not because it was given to him."

Hope used to love handing out free shirts when he owned Kahala in the 1980s.

Hope picked up the practice from his late father, Howard Robert Hope, who provided free aloha shirts in the 1950s to state legislators and local entertainers such as radio personality Robert Melvin "Lucky Luck," through Hope's Sun Fashions of Hawaii clothing company.

Aloha-shirt manufacturers "don't really give away too much product these days," Hope said.

But Hope once handed out as many as 200 aloha shirts a year until he cut back, under pressure from the company's accountants.

"I'd rather people wear our shirts than our competitor's," Hope said. "But it was staggering when they showed me the numbers. I said, 'I didn't give away all of those shirts.' They said, 'Yeah you did.' You're going to go broke if you give it all away. The margins on aloha shirts aren't that great that you can just give them away."

Still, it's a marketing strategy that can work, especially for up-and-coming brands.

Twin brothers John and Jerry Polyascko recently gave a $250 shirt to Aaron Placourakis, the owner of the Tri-Star Restaurant Group that includes Nick's Fish Market Maui, Sarento's on the Beach in Maui and Sarento's Top of the I.

The Polyascko brothers hoped Placourakis would wear the shirt from their Polyascko2 Sportswear collection in front of Placourakis' high-end customers.

And he did.

"You want to be able to express yourself," Placourakis said. "But you don't want to stand out, and you don't want to blend in."