When Bud Brimberg (L ’75), a Brooklyn native, was in his last year at Tulane Law School in 1975, he ventured over to the business school to sit in on a finance class. He never applied to the business school and therefore wasn’t eligible to take the course, but he stayed until the professor couldn’t figure out where to put his grade. He instead found a spot in a different, newer course that didn’t require any prerequisites — Entrepreneurship.

The professor tasked the students with creating a business plan. Brimberg, who was a photographer since childhood and once photo editor of The Tulane Hullabaloo, studied for law school at the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, taking study breaks by roaming through the library’s art books. Poster books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were particular favorites. These influences led him to the idea of creating a poster for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as his class project.   

He approached Quint Davis, the producer of Jazz Fest and fellow Tulanian, with the idea for a limited-edition poster. The poster became a sought-after collectible by its second year at the festival in 1976. The 1981 festival poster proposal caught Davis’ attention for another reason though — it featured a man wearing a button-up, palm-tree-patterned shirt.  

With Brimberg having little luck finding a natural, short-sleeve, button-up shirt to wear in New Orleans’ heat, he proposed making one. That year, the HowAhYa Hawaiian-style shirt, the first item in what was to become BayouWear, was created and sold alongside the Jazz Fest poster. In addition to shirts, the company now offers skirts, shorts, camisoles, aprons and more in colorful, bold and uniquely New Orleans patterns, all designed by Brimberg in collaboration with textile artists.  

“The inspiration comes from life in New Orleans: music, food, architecture, flora, etc., that define our unique culture,” Brimberg said.  

In addition to those lessons from class at Tulane, Brimberg learned how to celebrate the city through his work.  

“The local friends I made at Tulane let me see the ways New Orleans was unique, how that uniqueness had developed, and why it needed to be celebrated and sustained without dilution or cliché,” he said. “By studying law and business at Tulane and being immersed in the city’s rich culture, I appreciated how art and commerce could work together in that effort.” 

The designs “reimagine their underlying subject and present them from a fresh perspective,” he said. Some examples include fleur-de-lis symbols in the shape of flowers cradling jazz instruments or a gator motif formed into a paisley pattern with gator teeth as the buttons — Brimberg’s favorite.   

After decades in business, Jazz Fest-goers from near and far, and even performers like the iconic “Soul Queen of New Orleans” Irma Thomas, wear BayouWear items as a badge celebrating their origins each year.   

“Having started a project … seeing it become a living cultural icon that has an emotional connection with, now, hundreds of thousands of people around the world, is something I never could have imagined,” Brimberg said. “The gratitude I feel toward those who embrace BayouWear propels me and the people I work with to produce something worthy each year.”