The History of Love on Haight
A World-Famous Tie-Dye Shop in the Heart of Haight-Ashbury
For more than 30 years, the corner of Haight & Masonic in San Francisco's legendary Haight-Ashbury has been home to tie-dye, artists, music, counterculture and A LOT of color.
Today, that shop is Love on Haight — Always Positively Haight Street, a San Francisco Legacy Business, artist collective, California-made clothing brand and what has become one of the world's most famous tie-dye shops.
But our story started long before Love on Haight had its name.
1992 — Positively Haight Street
In 1992, James “Jim” Preston opened Positively Haight Street at 1157 Masonic Avenue, just around the corner from our current location.
With startup help from Jim Siegel of the legendary San Francisco shop Distractions, Preston filled Positively Haight Street with his own tie-dye, rock & roll clothing and the wonderfully weird “hippie” goods that belonged in Haight-Ashbury.
Fun Fact: 1992 was also the year Sunshine “Sunny” Powers first stepped inside Positively Haight Street and bought her first tie-dye.
She had no idea she'd eventually own it.
1998 — The Corner of Haight & Masonic
Following an earthquake retrofit, Positively Haight Street moved into 1400 Haight Street in 1998 — the corner that remains Love on Haight's flagship home today.
Jim Preston's tie-dye became part of Grateful Dead history as well.
In 2000, the Grateful Dead released Ladies and Gentlemen... The Grateful Dead, featuring Preston's tie-dye artwork.
The connection between this little tie-dye shop and the music, art and culture surrounding the Grateful Dead and Haight-Ashbury was already becoming part of its DNA.
2012 — Jammin on Haight
In 2012, Benjamin StRebel purchased the shop from Jim Preston and renamed it Jammin on Haight, continuing its focus on tie-dye, Grateful Dead culture and the spirit of the Summer of Love.
That same year, Sunshine Powers began managing the shop and later became part owner.
Sunshine's work quickly expanded beyond retail.
She became deeply involved with organizations serving homeless youth in Haight-Ashbury and helped create programs that assisted more than 450 young people in getting off the streets and into housing in less than five years.
In 2013, artist Xavi Panneton was commissioned to transform the exterior of the store into a psychedelic geometric masterpiece — beginning another Love on Haight tradition:
The building itself would become art.
2017 — LOVE ON HAIGHT Is Born 🌈
In 2016, Ben decided he no longer wanted the shop.
Sunshine was determined that the corner's decades-long history of tie-dye, artists and counterculture wasn't going to disappear.
A major supporter of Sunshine's nonprofit work provided the money that allowed her to purchase the business, with an extraordinary understanding:
Rather than simply paying that gift back, Sunshine would continue putting that opportunity back into the community.
On January 1, 2017, during the year celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love, a new chapter began.
LOVE ON HAIGHT was born.
Sunshine kept the tie-dye, Grateful Dead and Summer of Love roots of the store but began transforming the business into something bigger:
Love on Haight became a place where independent artists from San Francisco and around the world could showcase and sell their wearable art, with an increasing focus on ethical production, handmade goods and clothing made right here in California.
2017 — When Community Needed Us
In October 2017, devastating wildfires swept through Northern California.
Love on Haight became a massive donation collection and distribution center.
Our little rainbow shop on Haight Street helped collect and deliver more than 150 truckloads of donated goods to communities affected by the fires.
Sunshine and Love on Haight were subsequently recognized by government leaders at the local, state and federal levels for their community work, homeless-youth advocacy and wildfire relief efforts.
Community wasn't something we added to our business plan.
It was part of the business from the beginning.
2020 — “We Will Get By, We Will Survive”
On March 15, 2020, Love on Haight made the difficult decision to close its doors as the COVID-19 pandemic reached San Francisco.
Sunshine boarded up the windows and painted a message across the storefront:
“WE WILL GET BY. WE WILL SURVIVE.”
An image of the boarded-up Love on Haight storefront, with a doctor from the historic Haight Ashbury Free Clinics walking past, traveled around the world.
The image appeared in major newspapers and television coverage and became part of the visual record of San Francisco at the beginning of the pandemic. See it in our Press & Media archive →
While the physical shop was closed, Love on Haight focused on building its online business and completely transforming the interior of 1400 Haight — including our now-famous 3D sparkle flower floor.
2021 — Turning Up the Rainbow
When Love on Haight reopened in 2021, we wanted the outside of the building to reflect what was happening inside.
So naturally...
WE ADDED MORE RAINBOW.
Artists including Ellie Paisley, Aaron Brooks, Hannah Bunzey, Becca Tindol, Ethan Strickland, Jeremiah Welch, Sofia Venegas, Spero Art and others have helped transform our exterior into an ever-evolving psychedelic love letter to Haight-Ashbury.
The building has become a destination in its own right — photographed by visitors from around the world.
2022 — Colors of Love
On March 15, 2022, Love on Haight launched Colors of Love, a tie-dye education initiative created around one of Sunshine's core beliefs:
ART IS THERAPY.
Colors of Love was created to share the art of tie-dye, provide creative education and continue building opportunities around art and community.
2023 — An Official San Francisco Legacy Business
On March 15, 2023, Love on Haight was officially recognized as a San Francisco Legacy Business.
The designation recognizes the shop's decades-long history and contribution to the cultural identity of San Francisco.
For us, it meant something even more personal.
After Positively Haight Street, Jammin on Haight and finally Love on Haight, the city officially recognized what generations of customers already knew:
This little tie-dye shop is part of San Francisco history.
From Retail Store to California-Made Clothing Brand
As Love on Haight grew, we began doing something that would fundamentally change the business.
We started making our own clothing.
Today, Love on Haight works with California cut-and-sew houses — including production partners right here in San Francisco — to create many of our garments from the fabric up.
Those garments become canvases for our incredible community of tie-dye and visual artists.
Nearly half of the merchandise in Love on Haight is now designed by us, allowing us to support not only independent artists but also sewing, manufacturing and creative jobs here in California. Shop Love on Haight Designs →
More Than 200 Artists
What began with Jim Preston's tie-dye in 1992 has evolved into an extraordinary creative community.
Today, Love on Haight works with more than 200 artists and makers, including approximately 120 tie-dye artists. Read their bios →
Our walls and racks are filled with handmade, independently designed, small-batch and one-of-a-kind wearable art.
Some pieces take hours to create.
Some take days.
Some can never be recreated.
That's exactly how we like it.
2026 — Love on Haight Comes to PIER 39
More than three decades after the original shop opened in Haight-Ashbury, Love on Haight reached another milestone.
In 2026, we opened our second San Francisco location at PIER 39 — our little Tie-Dye Outpost by the Bay.
For the first time, Love on Haight expanded beyond the Haight while keeping our original flagship firmly rooted at Haight & Masonic.
Our PIER 39 grand opening was celebrated during the PIER's Summer of Love Weekend with live music, a psychedelic tie-dye fashion show and a New Orleans-style second line through the PIER. Read about the Grand Opening →
From Haight Street to the waterfront, we're bringing a little more color to San Francisco. Hours and directions for both shops →
2026 — Forever Grateful
Our story also came full circle in another extraordinary way.
In 2026, Love on Haight became involved with Forever Grateful, a major celebration of the art, music, history and community surrounding the Grateful Dead.
Love on Haight is helping create and operate the retail and merchandise experience for Forever Grateful at Golden Gate Park, bringing together artists, merchandise, history and the culture that has surrounded this shop since its earliest days. Read about Forever Grateful →
For a business that began selling tie-dye and Grateful Dead culture in Haight-Ashbury more than three decades ago, getting to help tell this story in Golden Gate Park feels pretty freaking magical.
A World-Famous Little Tie-Dye Shop
Over more than three decades, this shop has appeared in media around the world.
Love on Haight and Sunshine Powers have been featured by Associated Press, INSIDER, PEOPLE, Vanity Fair, NPR, Qantas, British Airways, Visit California, Time Out, the San Francisco Chronicle, SFGATE, ABC7, CBS and media outlets around the world. Explore Love on Haight Press & Media →
Our clothing has traveled to festivals, stages, deserts, parties and closets across the globe.
Millions of visitors come to Haight-Ashbury searching for a little piece of the history and creativity that made this neighborhood famous.
And somehow, this wonderfully weird rainbow corner has become one of the places they come looking for.
The Rainbow Gateway to Haight-Ashbury
The names have changed.
Positively Haight Street.
Jammin on Haight.
Love on Haight.
But for more than 30 years, there has been tie-dye, art and color on this corner.
Love on Haight remains dedicated to supporting artists, creating locally, strengthening our community and protecting the color, creativity, consciousness and counterculture of Haight-Ashbury.
We aren't interested in turning Haight-Ashbury into a museum of what happened here in 1967.
We want to help make sure artists are still creating here today.
That independent businesses still exist here.
That weirdness is celebrated.
That people can still walk into a store and discover something made by an actual human being.
And that the next generation gets to experience a little of the same magic that brought people to Haight-Ashbury generations ago.
ALWAYS POSITIVELY HAIGHT STREET.
LOVE IS THE ANSWER. 🌈
Keep Exploring Love on Haight
About Love on Haight • About Sunshine Powers • Meet the Artists • Press & Media • Visit Us
Shop Tiedye • Hippie Clothing • Couture Hippie • Grateful Dead • Love on Haight Designs
