This story is such a delightful gift as we close out the workweek. What an embarrassment of riches. Jason Momoa’s hotness precedes him and transcends any garment he wears. But my interest was immediately piqued when I saw the word “loincloth” in this story from People (I am only human). In the latest issue of People, he’s interviewed about hosting Shark Week, which we covered yesterday, and how he feels about wearing the malo, a traditional loincloth. He’s wearing it a lot on his upcoming series Chief of War for Apple TV+, which takes place in 18th century Hawaii. For Jason, wearing a malo has helped him reconnect with his culture. He understands why people take notice when he does, but he wears them because he feels at home in them.

For Jason Momoa, nothing tops the feeling of wearing a malo, the traditional Hawaiian loincloth that leaves little to the imagination.

“I feel very beautiful in them, and it’s just something that just feels natural,” he says in the new issue of PEOPLE.

Momoa — who is hosting Discovery Channel’s Shark Week in July — has spent the past several months in New Zealand wearing a malo while filming the upcoming Apple TV+ series Chief of War, set in 18th-century Hawaii.

The actor, himself a Hawaii native, says making the series — which he co-created and stars in — helped him “reconnect” with his culture.

“It goes to many different things, not just wearing a malo, but it’s such an honor to wear a malo,” he says. “So I look at it in a totally different way that maybe the world looks at it.”

“It gets a lot of attention,” he continues, “but it’s something that is just for me, personal.”

Momoa has posted to social media several photos and videos of himself wearing the malo, and he says it’s about to get even more mainstream, thanks to Chief of War.

“You better get used to it,” he warns playfully, “because it’s going to be on billboards, and it’s going to be all over. If you think I posted something that was racy — the whole show, everyone’s like that.”

“It’s just a natural, everyday thing,” he adds.

[From People]

There has never been a more effective advertisement for Apple TV+. In all seriousness, I am excited to watch this show. I get choice paralysis with TV shows but if there’s one thing I can always be persuaded to try out it’s “historical epic with beautiful men in fight scenes.” It’s also always good to see more Indigenous stories out there. In the past, Jason’s posted to his Instagram wearing a malo while talking about his plastic-free bottled water brand, and it definitely made me more *aware* of this brand, called Mananalu. (Stocked at Whole Foods and Sprouts! I looked it up!) Even though he has reasons for wearing a malo that are cultural and personal, he’s clever enough to recognize that he’s going to get a reaction out of people whenever he does, because he is such a beautiful man.

photos via Instagram