Sierra Dew

Sierra in her own desgin of dragonfish tee

Through her one-of-a-kind wearable arts, Sierra Dew is talking to the contemporary women, who are global-conscious and eco-conscious, thinking about the impact individuals make on the environment by what they buy.

Conscious fashion: stencil print

Sierra wants to make sure she does things right from the very beginning. While she is working on her own line now, she has stencil printed on American Apparel and Alternative Apparel garments with water-based non-toxic acrylic dyes. She hand cuts out of a cardboard the image, hand prints through it onto a t-shirt or whatever, and hand paints colors and details in. Each piece has her personal touch rather than mass produced by machines and anonymous hands.

Apart from environmental concerns, she chooses the media of stencil print also for its long history of public expression. "Print can be very strong and people react to print," Sierra said of conveying the message through images versus through words. For Sierra, fashion should be more than a piece of garment. Fashion can be political. For example, she showed me a print of a little girl wearing gas mask and eating corn, which make people think about issues they face and decisions they make.

"I don't like LA vibe. I like Kaui vibe."

When Sierra produces her own line, it will be made in Hawaii, not LA. She cannot see her own stuff made in cut-throat LA. Beautiful things should be made in beautiful places.And talking about Kaui, she create the rooster print as a tribute to the omnipresent roosters in Kaui. She is nature-inspired, as you can see in her beautiful prints, many of which are sealife, such as jelly fish, dragon fish, and sea shells. Please check out the slideshow or her website for a look at her nature-inspired prints.

She creates a mythical world through her prints, where art meets science and legend meets reality. Her flying unicorn print shows that maybe the mythical world and reality "need not to be separated". She is into the patterns within the natural objects. When she follows the golden ratios in the pattern, she exaggerates the most beautiful or the ugly portion, such as the feature on a bird or the antler on a deer. Intrigued by both the perfection and imperfection in nature, she shows both in her arts.

Nature punk: jewelry

A slender woman, Sierra loves chuncky jewelry. "I may take it to the fight," she beamed while talking about the "dangerousness and edginess" in her big jewelry pieces. Many are metal pieces with a shell embedded, which marries nature to craftmanship. Influenced by her jewelry-making mother and grandmother, she started playing with wire wrapping since a young age. Now she uses lost wax casting and obviously enjoys metal-smithing. "My pieces will last for a long time. People love it or they don't like it."

Sierra, a mix of cultures

From Paia, Maui, Sierra has multi-cultural heritages: Greek, Polish, British and Native Indian, which explains her obsession with feathers, whether it's a beautiful long feather slanting across the front of a t-shirt or the elegant brown feathers dangling from her ears. She was educated by both the fashion program at the University of Hawaii and Polimoda Fashion Design School in Florence, Italy. She likes the simplicity of the contrasting blue and white in Greece. Yet she also likes the colorful complex patterns abundant in Hawaii.

Below is her self portrait created for the textile class at UH. Now she made it onto her t-shirts.

Where to find Sierra Dew

Her website

Her booth at Women's Expo, from 9/11~13, at Blaisdell Center.

Mu'umu'u Heaven

Located in Kailua, Mu'umu'u Heaven envisions a new way of making clothes and relating fashion to enviornment. It is a new breed of retailers. Green to the bone.

Love

Debra exuberated with her lifelong committment to recycle. She must love the earth very deeply that she made every effort toward a greener planet by decorating the store with recycled material, designing the apparel with recycled material, and devoting the business to the education of the recycle art. She calls herself a "recycle freak".

Recycled store

I feel like walking on the clouds and among angels once I entered that beaded door of Mu'umu'u Heaven (MH). Everything is whited out except for vibrant colored dresses and accessories. Everything in the store is recycled, the MH team proudly told me.

The rack attached to the wall is made from some thrown-away metal bar. The decor behind the counter is made by old albums, which gives a modern look with the repeated round disk shapes. Even the PR kit is made with recycled paper and old album cover.

The gree shop idea is catching on among retailers, such as Timberland's NYC store. But MH does it beautifully with love.

Recycle stuff

Its mainstay dresses are vintage mu'umu'us revamped with a modern look. All designed and sewn in Hawaii. Scraps from the dress-making will be used to make a purse, scraps of which build into buttons, scraps of which again become the pedals of a wired flower, made by children with autism in the community. There I feel their love again.

When I visited the store, I saw a couple of customers so thrilled by the regal recycled dresses that they twirl in front of the big fitting mirror for a good few circles. The sales team at MH is super enthusiastic about what they are doing. A Japanese-speaking sales associate even came to the store in her free time, just to be there and relax. Unimagineable.

Jewelry collections by local artists are made from old jewelry pieces. When putting together from a wide range of old jewelries, the new pieces gains an ecclectic and mysterious look, because in those old beads and gems are memories and stories from the past.

Recycled bag and it's free

At the end of shopping, you will receive a complimentary shopping bag with recycled fabrics in vivid colors. No other retailer is doing that as far as I know. A free recycled reusable shopping bag is a statement about Mu'umu'u Heaven's commitment to the recycle art.

Allison Izu

Hard to find the perfect petite jeans? You are not alone and "somebody is thinking about you", said Allison Izu Song, Honolulu-based fashion designer, who is petite and designs for petite women.

Graduated from FIT

at NYC (sort of MIT in fashion education), the Hawaii-born designer came back to her roots and started the Allison Izu brand, bringing her talents and skills of garment making to her sisters who are "vertically challenged". It was during her FIT years that Allison found one of the biggest bias in the fashion industry: while the average American woman is about 5'4", the industry is fitting for 5'8" or 5'10", the contemporary beauty ideal of the tall and skinny. No wonder most of us feel so ill-fitted.

Allison made the concept of "petite" clear: "Petite doesn't mean thin. It just means short" (5'4" and shorter). In fact, there are a variety of petite body types, "whether you are straight or curvy, you have a butt or you don't have a butt". By talking with the designer, I can tell she really cares and thinks a lot about her petite sisters.

Q: I really love your "Short and Sweet" tagline. How did you come up with that?

A: We have a few taglines: "short and sweet", "vertically challenged, fashionally advanced", "to hell with hemming". [The peakaboo image depicts] She is short. She is peeking over things.

Q: I thought you are a well-established brand. When did you start?

A: I started in 2006. But I've been working on it for a while. I had manufacturing issues. So it pushed the release date back to 2008. It took me two years to get the basic pattern for the pants. Every designer works off the basic. I reproportioned mine. A lot of it was fitting my friends who are short, anywhere from 5'4" to 5'' to get the proportion on everybody.

Q: How did you get into the petite?

A: Because I am 5'2". I knew I have a lot of problems with clothing, shopping and hemming it and everything. Because I knew about fashion, I knew how to alter it. I can take it to a tailor. But for other people, they don't really know that they can have something better. They kind of make do with what we have. Even when you buy a jeans that are washed. For short girl, the thigh wash goes to her mid-calf, and it is supposed to stop at your knee. So even those kinds of little details that people might not notice, I started to take notice. I wanted to make a better jean so we look tall and we look skinnier too. When you knee ends at where your calf is, you end up looking slouchy.

Q: Why do you start from denim?

A: It was a mistake. I thought denim would be the easiest place to start. It was actually a blessing in disguise. I found denim is the hardest thing for shorter women to deal with. And it is a harder place to start designing it, because it is a lot about fit. Women have a hard time finding jeans that fit them well. Everyone feels it, whether you are tall or short or skinny or bigger. It's something we all deal with. With denim, I can offer different styles that can be a good fit for different body types. There is a straight boy figure, if the girls are curvier, if the girls don't have a butt or have too much of a butt. So I try to design different styles for different body types.

Q: What are the major styles you offer?

A: Kolohe, meaning the rascle, is the skinny and sexy jeans. It's for girls who are confident to wear those kind of jeans. I do a lot of variations on skinny jeans. One of them is more of a straight skinny. I found a lot of women like it, because it doesn't emphasize their hips too much. But for this new Fall line, I did an ultra skinny. It still is 5' and looks like a pencil. So that's for a more risky type of person. I think it will be a fun look for a lot of people.

Paniolo, meaning cowboy, is bootcut. Bootcut origniated from cowboys or sailors who need to put their boots under their pants. It is a universal cut. I think it looks good on every body type. From the knee, it flares out to the ankle. Wide legged are exaggerated. But the bootcut is a really small measurement from your knee. It is good to balance your hip and it makes you look more flattering.

Nolu means elastic. I did a really cute skirt with an elastic waist. I thought it would be fun. You can wear it on your natural waist. So it will be very short. Or you can pull it down and wear it on your hip. So it will be a lilttle longer skirt, a little more casual. I thought it will be a good versatile. Instead of you should only wear it here [the waist], you can try it at different places. Elastic makes it pinch at the waist and make it kind of a bubble effect, kind of a 80s look. I like that.

Q: Which style is the best seller?

A: The kolohe I did before was really popular, because it wasn't super skinny. A lot of people would tell me like, "oh, I don't wear skinny jeans". But I tell them "no, you have to try this on. It's not your usual skinny jeans". A lot of women walk away with skinny jeans. The Honolulu was very popular, the trouser pants. I try to make it a little dressier. Something you can wear in the office and feel really professional. It got the skinny welt pockets in the back. A lot of women like that, because it can go with any age.

Q: What detailing do you use?

A: Welt pocket gives a tuxedo feel and looks really good on jeans. Whether you have a butt or you don't have a butt, that pocket looks great on you. Everybody loves it. It accentuates your back side. A lot of women really appreciate that.

Gold zipper is YKK zipper. So they're well-made zipper. I try to use it in different ways. I try to add details that people don't have on their denim. We did just a zipper front, which a lot of people worry about, not having a button closure. But the zipper locks when you put it down. A lot of people didn't realize that. Actually it works really well. Something fun and different.

Gold button are more for jackets and shirts. But a lot of people like it on the shorts, which makes it a little bit dressier. You see a lot of silver with denim. For Fall, we are using deep indigo and black denim. The gold makes it richer than silver. Silver makes it more rock and roll. But gold makes it richer.

Q: What sizes do you have?

A: From triple 0 to 10. Petite is not just an Asian thing. Typitally American is 5'4". If anything, you shrink.

Q: How do you feel about denim market?

A: Americans wear a little more casual. Jeans are casual, but we can still dress it up. I think the denim market will always be there. But it's saturated. For me, I don't want to stay in it. I want to cater to shorter women in everything. As 5'2", I still have problem with tops, the straps that sort of thing. That part is short, too. And it's too low. Even with dresses. Our dresses hit our mid-calf and they are supposed to hit our knees. And people don't spend the money to hem it properly. So I'd like to create a line where people can buy it off the rack and wear it out of the store.

Q: When will be your e-shop going online?

A: We are trying to get it ready by the end of the month. Even from the mainland, email me "I want to buy your jeans". It would make it a lot easier for people to buy. For now, I am only in Hawaii. A lot of people have heard about me or interested. They are like "I am not going to fly to Hawaii just to buy jeans". So it would be a good thing [to have e-shop]. I am trying to offer free shipping, because a lot of people want to try five different pairs in two different sizes. I want to let them do that and return what they don't want and keep what they do.

Q: Do you want to say something to your shorter sisters?

A: I hope they find that somebody is thinking about them in the industry. That's what I felt as a shorter person. Every fit model is 5'8". That's weird. It [petite women] is a very big population. Some jeans I buy got 35 inch inseam. They are cut off a good 4 or 6 inches. And I am 5'2'. I am thinking there got to be people shorter than me, so they must have a really hard time. It's just get the awareness out there that I exist. I always tell people, "just try it on", because there are a lot of people who are even 5'5". They are like "oh, I am not petite". I tell them "just try it on". And I found I have customers who are 5'6". So it's just the matter of getting the awareness out there.

For more information, go to Allison Izu website.

Blue Hawaii Surf

Girls who shop at Blue Hawaii Surf can find trendy street looks by mixing graphic tees, zipper-legged jeans, fedoras and a variety of affordable fashionable pieces.

Jennifer, the women's merchandiser of BHS, walked me through its fall collection: two walls and shelves of trendy wears and accessories. I am surprised by how far its merchandises go from its "surf" domain to the street styles.

Trends

"Five years ago, the trends (in Hawaii) were too off. People got the trends a year later," said Jennifer. Now Blue Hawaii Surf offers trendy wears in sync with the fashion captials. Thanks to Jennifer, here goes the list of for current trends.

Bohemian rocker look

The trend was started by Gucci in the Fall 2008 collection, which seemed at the time (February 2008) to come from nowhere. Then it caught on with a force that practically put every fashion model in a hippie hair band. BHS presents the look by pairing Hurley embroided peasant dress with Element faux leather jacket. (Check out the slideshow for the look). I cringed at the idea of wearing leather jacket on the island, but one can definitely wear it in heavily air-conditioned rooms. The store even carries crochet purses to go with the look.

Acid washes

Jeans don't have to be the bland basic. It can be the statement piece with intriguingly textured acid wash or studs and rips strategically placed on the better attention zones. For an acid wash example, click the slideshow.

Zippers

Zippers bump up the ladder of trimmings from the functional nobody-care closure to the status of the new decoration star. The metal tone and rhythmic teeth give zipper a rocker edge. Thus, the once humble zippers find their new lives on the jeans legs, the shorts sides, or the center back of a sweatshirt.

Perky plaid

A recurring fall pattern, plaid goes wild this year. Instead of a simple two color combo with one color usually being black, plaid gets colorful and comes in different sizes and angels. You can find plaid on jackets, dresses, shirts, shorts and what not.

Burnouts

Tees reinvent itself by a new textured look. Still being graphical with more and more creative and visually stimulating prints, tees come up with new looks texture-wise. Burnout is the perfect finish that gives a breezy summer look, because the fabric gets thinner at the burn-off parts. BHS has the best priced burnout tee that I can find in town so far, at $47. You can wear it out but stay not seeing through.

Fedoras

Since the Kennedy times, Americans haven't worn much of a hat. Now it's big for women to wear fedoras. Actually, I remember I saw fedoras as halloween costumes in Waikiki in 2007. It just moves from a one-day costume to everyday must-have. For holidays, BHS will carry the flapper look hat.

Mix and match

Hurley, Obey, Insight, Element, brands that have a Southern California vibe, can be coordinated for a fresh look. "Now the surf brands are trying to be trendier," Jennifer informed me. Natually, one can find trendy pieces in a classical surf store like BHS.

What BHS does is to offer "affordable price point with upscale trends". Most items sell under $100. Different from fast fashion stores, BHS carries products that are made in better quality and with finer details. For example, the tees (oh, BHS has so many eye-popping graffiti Obey tees) feel softer and drapier. And on a zippered top, three button bridges cross the zipper. The buttons turn out to be magnet snaps. Easy to button on and off, but it gives a biker look.

Location

3rd Floor at Ala Moana Shopping Center, the Macy's side

While the store at Ala Moana is trendier, BHS Waikele is more about surf and Hawaiian wear. Next time, I should cover its men's and surf wear. Stay tuned.

MisFortune Hawaii

"Sometimes, things are out in a couple of hours," Steven Naszavadi, the boutique owner, told me about this unique store, which reopened in mid-April and changed its owner and name from MisFortune Boutique to MisFortune Hawaii.

I can testify the sold-out speed. Last week, I saw this pair of earring at $16. I really liked it and thought I can always come back later. This week, it is gone. A tip for shoppers at MisFortune: buy it now if you really like it.

The quick turnaround results from the store concept of "the unique boutique".

New and exciting things

Izumi Naszvadi, the merchandiser, only brings in what catches her eyes and excites her. Customers like new things, new styles and new designers. Right now, empire-waist knee-length dresses seem to be the main style in the store, which are cute and body flattering. There are neutrals as well as colors.

New arrivals come twice a week. Most items are from New York City or Los Angeles. The store is also looking to carry local designers who can "represent Hawaii from a different angle", said Steven.

The unique factor

Everything in the store comes in limited amount. It is highly unlikely that you bump into someone wearing the same clothes or carrying the same bag, if you buy it from MisForune. And that is why so many items are out quickly, when the stocks are low for each style.

Variety

Daywear, partywear, wedding dress. beachwear. Amazing jewelry, handbags, purses, scarfs. You can find a little bit of everything here. Besdies the cute dresses, the bags are one of a kind, well designed and of good quality. Check out the slideshow below and you will see their great bags.

Irresistable prices

The wholesaler-turned-retailer set the prices surprisingly low. For example, the black dress with chiffon overlayer sells at $44. The purple tank top sells at $27.3 with 30% off. So if you are looking for something different and unique at great prices, MisForune Hawaii is a store that you cannot miss.

Location

Ward Center Right across Brookstone, as highlighted in yellow in the map below.

Noa Noa HNL

Sash dress of Noa Noa

Brightly colored ethnic print, Indonesian artifacts, Indian music in the backgroun, beautiful and masterfully rendered batik, my first impression of NoaNoa isthat this is an Indonesia-themed boutique.

Its dressing room is busily decorated with Fijian and Samoan tapa, Island painting, Indonesian wood carved frame. The room is constructed with raw wood, which shows its grain. The entrace is not doored but screened by a length of ethnic print fabric.

Pacific print

The first and foremost feature of its Indonesianess is its geometric patterns usually in two colors of similar hues and different intensity. After talking with the sales person, who did not disclose her name to me, I realized that it is more than Indonesian print only, though many iteams are designed and made in Indonesia. There are a whole collection of Asian and Pacific prints, including Hawaiian, Fijian, Tongan, Thai, Samoan, and even Iranian.

Its star print is Java batik. Batik is a type of resist dye by applying wax to the fabric to prevent the dye from sinking into the fabric. I tried the dying method once in an embellishment class and understand the difficulty in creating a pattern accurately. So their exquisite hand-crafted batiks are thrilling to me, because that level of accuracy means years of practice and perfection.

Tropical styles

NoaNoa have racks of men's shirts very similar to Aloha shirt. Actually, men's shirt is their best sellers. Another Hawaiian wear is hula skirt with that puff around the hip.

One amazing style is "sash" skirt, with a long piece of fabric attached to the bottom, either skirt or pants, and can be worn in multiple ways by wraping around the torso in different ways and exposing varied amount of skin. I think that is smart, because the wearer then has the options and dress according to need and mood. In this sense, sash skirt is not "ready-to-wear", now so universal in all clothing stores, because the style leaves creative freedom for the consumer and let her to finish a look based on what's provided.

Natural fabrics

Most products are natural fibers: cotton, linen and silk, which are very appropriate for Pacific islands creations. Synthetic fabrics are western inventions from Europe. And in the Pacific, people use what nature provides.

What customers said

In my brief visit to the store, a man in his 50s purchased a shirt. He said the prints are good alternatives to Hawaiian prints. Well, boredoom is a driving force behind trend change. After all, who want to wear what everyone else is wearing and lose oneself in the crowd? Another feature the customer liked is its cotton fabric, thinner and breezier, good for hot summer days.

One of my girl friends also mentioned NoaNoa as one of her shopping destinations, because here there are a large collection of plus size clothing. They are easy fit and colorful. Petite Japanese tourists also like the store. So the store must have a large spectrum in size.

Other than clothing

On the check-out counter, there are jewelries and music albums. There is a small shelf of Putumayo music, which contains a world-wide music, such as Indian, Native American, Brazilian, and African.

Its ethnic jewelry from Bali is made in silve and turquoise, priced at $59.

Price range: $290 to $65. For example, its linen shirts are $99.

The store is unique, similar and different at the same time. I would not describe the store as exotic, because Hawaii is part of the Pacific and there is a common cultural tie of the islands. But Indonesian and the rest Pacific inspired prints and styles are different from Hawaian wear. It opens the possibilities of other ways of dressing and living under the tropical sun.The website on its business card seems to be another clothing company from New Zealand with the same name. So if you are interested in the store, check it out on your next shopping trip to Ward Center.

NoaNoa. The sales person told me it's about becoming beautiful. I checked online Hawaiian dictionary. It means "a priest not of high rank". It's like American Dream Hawaiian version: commoners to elites in terms of social status, not in terms of financial success. Anway, it may be an Indonesian word.

Noa Noa

divine, airy, dreamy ...

I am totally enchanted by the NoaNoa website design, its summer looks, the aesthetics it represents and everything (well, I haven't seen its price tags yet). The flash-only website doesn't allow me to download any picture. By visiting NoaNoa website by yourself, you will know what I mean. Check out their look book and high summer line presentation.

NoaNoa is a brand for women and girls with NoaNoa miniature for little girls. Similar to Cinnamon Girl, Noanoa design for mother and daughter, but it does not promote the "uniform" concept. If Cinnamon Girl of Honolulu is overly feminine and floral, NoaNoa has the right mix of femininity and masculinity, catalyzing into a well-balanced creation. For example, it balances solid color with prints; pants are as thoughtfully designed as dresses.

The company is headquartered in New Zealand, though it started from Denmark and sells mostly in Europe and Canada. I wish one day it will come to the USA. For some reasons (trade barrier or market strategy, I could only guess), some good European brands stop at Canada and never step onto the vast consumer kingdom of the USA. For example, another Danish brand Vero Moda is all the rage in China and it is not in the USA.

I love the way NoaNoa dresses a woman. Its models wearing flat shoes says a lot about the brand. It's women-centric, not distorting any part of the natural human body to please men. Or we could say, NoaNoa has a different beauty ideal than the mainstream American overly sexual and highly commercialized women image.

NoaNoa women celebrate their womenhood in comfortable clothes. Unlike the current above-the-knee hemline trend, NoaNoa has varied hem lengths. The neckline and shoulder area are elegantly exposed (and covered). I especially love the harem trousers. Must be super comfortable and easy to move in that you don't need to pay attention not to showing any body parts undesirable for the public to view. The silhouette is not all that dangerously curvy, returning modesty to women.

When the runway designs as well as mainstream merchandise sculpt women into beauty queens, NoaNoa is a fresh breeze that releases women from high expectations of looking "perfect" and revives women in its naturally beautiful form. Maybe I am getting older and feeling distanced from the contemporary American women's clothing. This New Zealand brand appeals to my sense of beauty and balance.

Dolce Honolulu

"Fun, colorful and comfortable", Christie, the owner of the store, described her first boutique in these three words. With her Ralph Lauren trained fashion sense, Christie created the cozy cute store that shines in the Ward Center with its vibrant colors, quality fabrics and trendy styles.

Dolce, the sweetie

Dolce Honolulu (a blog-style website by Christie to share her fashion tips and observations) is a new-born baby, opened to the world on November, 2008. Meaning "sweet" in Italian, the name innocently alludes to the sexy and sometimes dramatic high fashion brand from Italy, Dolce and Gabbana. By dramatic, I mean outwordly elaborated, aloof from everyday life.

Christie decorates the store in a bright and fun way. Looks at the yellow pencils and colorful rubber bands, a creative way to make the store look modern, relaxed, detailed and loved.

Trendy in blood

DH, on the other hand, has nothing dramatic (well, maybe a little bit in its small jazzy ways), but it does share the trendy pulse that palpates from fashion capticals all the way to mid Pacific. The majority of DH merchandise are cherry-picked from New York and Los Angeles. One can have a well coordinated outfit from DH that looks stylish and comfortable at the same time, as if these two elements can easily rhyme.

The store has a wonderful collection of graphic tees. The ones that caught my eyes are the exquisite animal drawings printed big and bold by Lauren Moshi. Unlike the ubiquitous logo tees (ew, I am so sick of them), these highly individualized artsy tees can gracefuly bump the taste bar to the next level for a wearer.Look at the owl tee with a cozy.

Christie's pick

1. burnout tee: breezy, textured with ruched sleeve details
2. j brand jeans: light-weight denim in navy or black, slim fit (feels really thin. salute to technology.)
3. toy watch: fun to accessorize a casual street look

Product origin: made in USA

Many are made in the USA, even with basics like T-shirt. Well, they are more fashion tees with light-weave cotton, artistic graphics, special styling like a zipper pocket. The price tag for a USA-made tee goes from $70 to $90+. There are also silk dresses or tunics made in India and Sri Lanka. DH is not just about cosmopolitan. It is global as well.

Fabrication: cotton & silk

Mostly cotton, good quality cotton. I touched them, jeans or tees. Feels crisp and cool.

Chiffon silk scarves and satin silk dresses add more luxurious touch to it. Christie emphasized that even its silk dresses can machine wash and hanger dry. Very consumer friendly.

I love boutiques like Dolce Honolulu, where you can meet and talk with the boutique owner, who selects, presents and sells the merchandise in person. There is a "personal" and "individual" halo around such independent-standing fashion stores, where everything keeps its essence in the best form, unlike the national/international chain with everything so diluted.

Fashionista's Market

Two hours well spent in a room full of discounted fashion merchandise and good-looking people, with loud music and summer drinks. It's my first time in fashionista's market. What made me happy is not seeing the excitement or finding good deals, but talking with local designers who translate their inspirations from the land and ocean to their artworks, whether it is a pair of earrings or a tank top. Here a common love of Hawaii is transmitted by their creations. The stuffs on display are more than just stuff or the commercial concept of merchandise but embodiments of their taste and beliefs in life.


Roberta Oaks

Dressed in her own design (halter-neck in bright blue with graphics in red popping out so that my eyes blinked at the picture feeling electrified), Roberta talked about her love of color and the sophistication of harmonizing colors in one garment. Being an art and photography graduate from the mainland, she traveled to ocean islands before settling here in Hawaii to work on her art. It didn't take her too long to burst into the fashion industry by creating her own line, sewing herself at first and now selling to 150 stores worldwide. You can visit her website to view her latest designs.


Omnia Jewelry

Upon entering the room, I was instantly attracted to Andromeda's table with an exquisite and uncluttered display of her jewelries. The presentation (the branches, boats, plates as well as her artsy husband designed business card) distinguished her as a great designer. All the metal and beading works are handmade. I yearned for a pair of silver earrings in the shape of breaking wave or snail head. It is a pity that it didn't fit to my pierce. She even offered to thin it out to fit my ears. I love the idea of "tailored" jewelry.


Ginger 13

Cindy Yokoyama uses the most vibrant colors in her bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Her design is fun and funky. She may use two different earrings for an asymmetric look. Skulls are a recurring theme. I especially like the Longevity earring, in which she pairs gilded skull with emerald carved word. In Chinese, it means longevity or a wish for a long life. The two opposing symbols create a twisted humor. For a peek of her latest designs, visit her website.



Wings Hawaii

They are from Maui. Young, energetic and creative, a team of good friends who materialize their love of nature in their clothing and accessories. A big metal pendant, named after a Hawaiian owl, is said to guard off evil spirit. Another visually provoking pendant is a depiction of seahorse wing. After first, I thought it's a tweaked version of butterfly wing. A repeating image is a mermaid, fragile and floating with long tasseled hair, rising from a shell like a dream. The only thing I bought that day is their mermaid tank top in turquoise. A very cut top for a hot summer day.

There were also Cloth Hawaii, Wedding Cafe, and Dysfunction magazine among other vendors in the market. Though there was not a big crowd in the room as compared to the next Exhibition room for "The Big Sale of America", discount for families, fashionistas who did come for a fashion hunt were thrilled in front of the body-elongating mirrors in the large curtainless doorless fitting room. I know we shared that moment of feeling beautiful and affordable at the same time.

Models as musees

The exhibition at Met features the ideal female bodies through the last century, from goddess in 1940s to the grunge in 1990s. Let's take a look at two women that epitomizes the drastic change of body image in half a century.

Audrey Hepburn: the goddess


Classical, elegant, intelligent ... a woman from high society with good education and upbringing.

Though she has a slim cigar in the mouth, a fad in the 50s and probably considered a rebel at her time, she looks like to have a "silver spoon" in her mouth, instead of cigar.

Audrey has a long neck and poses like a swan. The outfit with a floor-length hem, a bateau neckline and long sleeve up to the upper arm (another fashion in her time) covers her body with modesty. Though the silhouette accentuates her waistline, it is not high-voltage charged. No boob and hips protruding.

The jewelry head pin and necklace reinforced her status that belongs to the luxury and leisure beyond the reach of the mass.



Kate Moss: the grunge

Contemporary, sexy and rebellious... a woman from the common with street sophistication.

After the youthquake in the 1960s and the power suit in the 1980s, women are no longer as domesticated and docile as they used to be. She dares to expose more of her body and pose in a way that loses balance or composure. You can call it "laid-back" or "I don't care a shit"? But it is a willful pose with an iota of spontaneity.

See how the one-shoulder one-sleeve dress show and conceal her body? The neckline almost dips to one inch above her nipple. And the short-short hemline reveals the whole length of legs all the way to the butt.

Note

Both women are European but made big impact on American fashion and female image. So it is far to label the entry as America.

Li Ning

Everything is possible.

One of the best-known Chinese brands across the board in China.
In 2008, the company experienced a 53.8% growth in revenue.
It has 6,000+ stores and generated about $1billion revenue in 2008.

Mr. Li Ning

The namesake is a multiple Olympic gold medal gymnast.
His stardom in China after 1984 Los Angele Olympic is something comparable to Michael Phelps of 2008 for Americans.

He succeeded in switching careers from a professional athlete to a businessman. Till today, he is the chairman of the company. He forged the transition partly by receiving higher education from the Business College of Peking University. I met him in one class. He looked less energetic as sportsman and more shrewd as a businessman.


Li Ning Co. Ltd

Two years after the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Li Ning exited his sports career and founded the company under his name in Guangdong. He is neither a designer nor a businessman, but he is able to build a household apparel and footwear brand in China. Today it grows to become a multi-brand company, adding accessories and sports equipment under its belt.

I think its branding achievements can be attributed to not only celebrity marketing (celebrity endorsement can only carry you that far), but also the innovation in its product development, quality and marketing strategies. In a word, it is the whole system behind the brand.

Marketing Highlights


One example of its marketing success is JIONG footwear. Soon after the Chinese character caught on among Chinese online community in the past two years, Li Ning developed and sold shoes with the character and cartoon faces printed on the sides. The word originally means "light". In the contemporary online world, the word carries a new meaning: the state of being depressed or embarrassed, derived from its visual shape, like a face with two dropping eyebrows and a wailing mouth. The mood resonates with so many Internet users, mostly city dwellers who are distressed with their living conditions: a crowded city and a busy lifestyle.

A highlight of its marketing success is encapsulated in the Beijing Olympic torch lighting moment. Li Ning ran or rather flew around the ceiling of the Stadium before inflamed the torch. All eyes on him and his brand name was limelighted with mega-watt power. The company rolled out an integrated promotion compaign with Beijing Olympic. They could increase their visibility without being a sponsor to the game.

A National Brand, and Then ...

46-year-old Li Ning surely can continue his tenure in his company for another decade or so. The company is growing with a tremendous momentum after the Beijing Olympics. It was listed on public stocks. And it established R&D center for product development.

As with any business, the sports gear and wear company must have the world map in mind and not satisfied with its status quo as a brand landlocked in China. But the company is not successfully globalized, so far. International market consists only 0.8% of its total sales. Its website is not consumer-oriented, eyeball-friendly or contemporary looking. Juxtapose it with Nike's website and you see a huge gap in their online presentation. It neglects the now thing, e-commerce, and relies heavily on brick-and-mortar retailing method.

If ever there is a world-renown clothing brand from China, Li Ning might be among the first tier. It establised a design and R&D center in Portland, Oregon, close to Nike's headquarters. Next year, the company will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Still a young company, as many other businesses in the private sectors of China, it takes a lot more to win international consumers who are not enchanted by the name.

An Interview with a Consumer

I just briefly interviewed my husband, one of the first Li Ning brand followers, since his high school age.

Q: Why do you like the brand?
A: It's the best Chinese brand (as opposed to foreign brand). Somehow, (consumers do not usually analyze the mechanics behind marketing), the brand looks superior to other shoe brand, say Doublestar. Well, its design does not look as good as Li Ning, though it has good quality. But since it is no gurantee of quality in China, the look is more important.

Q: Is there any other retired athlete who follows Li Ning's example?
A: Sure. Some. For example, Deng Yaping. But nobody can pull it off as Li Ning does.

Q: Why so?
A: Probably, Li Ning sounds more striking as a brand name than say Deng Yaping.

Issey Miyake

The zenith of Japanese fashion design caliber.
The reason why Japanese design has gained a footing in the fashion orthodox of Europe.

Mr. Issey Miyake

The miracle name means "Three Houses One Life". (See, I can read kangji.) It's a poetic name. The owner of the name was born in pre-nuked Hiroshima (1938). The horror of the atomic disaster must have triggered an antibody from the child at the age of seven that he desired beauty and peace in the expression of visual art. He studied graphic design and apprenticed at Paris and New York. He returned to his root at the age of 32 and opened his own design studio. For more info on his bio, click to infomat.


He had two major technical innovations:

A-POC, a piece of cloth. Make a garment with one piece of cloth, meaning no traditional cut-and-sew. Even better, customers can cut the cloth to their own satisfaction. I didn't see how IS does that and could only admire his creative gene. Check out its promotion video. Very creative with a perfect synchronization of its images and music.

Pleats Please, a method to creat pleated texture on a cloth already cut. Again, I cannot imagine how he make the pattern if the cloth is going to shrink after pleating. Must be very mathematical.

Issey Miyake Design

You can admire his innovations on his website. I looked through the Spring/Summer 2009 line of APOC, Pleats Please, HAAT, and Issey Miyake FETE and was totally converted to be his fan.

I LOVE his aesthetics. Clean, textured, beautiful color coordination, masterfully proportioned and comfortable yet rare silhouettes. I want those lantern-shaped pants and opaque striped dresses. Every woman should have those instead of cotton T-shirt and skinny jeans all year round. On top of that, its models do not wear dangerously high stilettos. The flats look perfect with the outfits. Its design is like a fresh breeze through the window from the spring meadow, so unlike any other designs you could find on style.com.

I also love its website background music, very hypnotizing. If you click into his latest fashion show, you will be mesmerized by the show: the lighting, music, martial art session (when the gongfu masters kicks in suits) and the breathtakingly beautiful clothes. I've seen such original and thoughtful designs for a long time. (Probably because I didn't browse as frequently lately.) I can find traces of Japanese kimono influeces in its collar design and draping.

Issey Miyake clothing is not just a piece of cloth. It has a life in it, because the designer (now Mr. Miyake no longer worked on line development) gives part of his soul to the creation.

Eddie Bauer

It's on the news that Eddie Bauer filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Somewhere I saw the name, probably on WWD, but never visited its store in Honolulu, because there is no store here. Either Honolulu appears to an unattractive retail location for the company, or the multi-hundred store chain is not heavy-weighted enough to bear its coexistence with other luxury brands that line up along Waikiki Kalakahua Ave or Ala Moana Shopping Center.

So what is Eddie Bauer?

EB is an outdoor gear and wear retailer, starting from one Seattle store since 1920. The breakthrough for the brand development is the patented innovation of down-filled insulated jacket (inveted in 1936), which provided warmth and protection for American troops during WWII and adventurers in their first ascents of numerous high mountains.

Another innovation is in retailing approach. EB is the first to provide "unconditional guarantee" for customer satisfaction (invented in 1922). Today, when you enjoy the service of returning goods within 90s in WalMart, you need to thank Eddie Bauer for bringing this level of customer service to the retailing world.

Who is the mastermind behind the brand?

Eddie Bauer, a second-generation Russian-German immigrant, grew up on an adventurer's heaven on an island in Washington. He loved fishing and hunting and turned his hobby into a successfull business.

Like so many other self-started desginers, EB invented the down jacket after getting sick in fishing without enough insulation protection. He patented "Bauer Shuttlecock" (1934) which popularized the game of badminton.

EB is an inventor, a sportsman and a businessman. What a perfect combination of the elements, a balance of work and life!

Why bankrupt?

I could only guess why after almost a century of success the retailer could not survive this economic chill. Telling from its website, the look and feel is so last-century, so traditional and classical, meaning not unique, original, impressive enough to stand out. While the company seems to target at consumers in their active outdoor age, about 20 to 40, the merchandise, so widely and readily available in any other retailers, are basic goods, instead of fashion goods, which can create more same-customer revisit.

The company grew too fast over the last decade, opening too many stores. Its success was built on solid mail-order business model. Retail stores with its modest-looking merchandise can hardly bring in any more new customers.

Instead, the company could have done better focusing on its high-tech outdoor clothing and gear, like Northface. Staying in the top, selling expensive, providing the most edgy of all outdoor products (innovation, innovation, innovation), instead of appealing to the mass. By being everybody, you become nobody.

Salute ...

Eddie Bauer has had its glory. Only it won't shine farther into the new century. Its story keeps me wondering if the initial energy (of invention and synchronization with consumer needs and the zeitgeist) from its founder will always shimmer and wither down the road in its second or third generation of leadership. After all, only when you really love something dear enough can you create something truly great.

Hilo Hattie

In memory of former "The Store of Hawaii", I inaugurated my Pacific Fashion blog with Hilo Hattie.

Hilo Hattie used to be one of the most famous brands from Hawaii, alluring tourists with free trolley rides and free juices and shell necklace at the door. What a luxurious display of generosity and hospitality! You could find souvenirs and Hawaiian wear, such as a family outfit of same-print shirts and dresses. It used to be a Hawaiian must-go shopping destination.

Bygone those glorious days back in the 1980s. Today, their website cannot be opened. The disappearance of their online presence is an indicator of how dissolved they are, as retail stores, a brand and embodiment of what Hawaii has to offer.

Last summer (2008), I almost made my internship gig there. A week before I started summer days in that green two-storied building of Hilo Hattie's headquarters, I received a phone call from their HR, telling me to hold on, because they are undergoing restructuring. Then, boom, they just went bankcrupt.

I can only guess why. Consumers find many other and better alteratives of Aloha wear and souvenirs. Maybe it is a failed outsourcing endeavor. Instead of offering Hawaiian shirts in cheaper prices, the price tag remained higher than competitors. At the same time, the brand lost the charm of being Hawaiian by "made in Hawaii".

For many, Hilo Hattie is a landmark of Hawaiian retailing achievements and an emotional attachment to the land. Like Super Ferry, the Hawaiian-born brand could not live through this harsh winter of economic downturn.

I hope something new will spring from the root.