Sato Hughes, The Godmother Of Surf Trunks, Passes At 96

Sato Hughes, a quiet force in the surfwear world, passed away peacefully at her home in Los Alamitos on September 28th, 2024, at the age of 96.

Born in Kawasaki, Japan, in 1928, Sato journeyed to the U.S. in the early ’60s and landed a job at local dry-cleaning shop. There, she stitched for a living, without knowing she was about to change an industry.

Six months into her job first job in the States, Sato’s talent caught the eye of Walter and Nancy Katin. They pulled her onto the production team of their fledgling surf brand, Kanvas by Katin, where she would dedicate the next 60 years to her craft as a seamstress.

Her attention to detail and relentless work ethic helped shape a revolution in surfwear. Rumour has it, Sato could churn out 20 trunks a day, often hunched over her sewing machine late into the night, racking up over 300,000 pairs throughout her tenure at Katin. 

Each trunk came with a lifetime guarantee: if they ever ripped, Sato would be there to patch them up, no questions asked. Her custom sewing became the choice for figures like Gerry Lopez, Shaun Thompson, Midget Farrelly, and Eddie Aikau.

Walter Katin died in 1967, leaving the business to his wife, Nancy. Before Nancy passed away in 1986, she gave the company to Sato, who was hesitant to accept the responsibility. “I said, ‘No! No! I can’t speak enough English. I can’t speak good to the customers,’” she recalled. In that first year at the wheel, despite her doubts, Katin’s sales surged by 25 percent. 

Outside the shop, Sato was a devoted mother to Glenn and Kim, a proud grandmother to Marshall, and a woman who wandered the Seal Beach Pier every morning, watching the ocean she had a hand in shaping. 

A paddle-out memorial will be held at 10 a.m. on the 27th of October at the Seal Beach Pier.