Island Style
Anne Namba: Creating designs for every taste, age and gender
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Clothes designer Anne Namba, seen here at her Manoa store, has recently branched out into a men's line.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Anne Namba presents "A Fashion Show Extrava-ganza" Doors open at 10 a.m., with show at 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mamiya Theater, St. Louis School Free admission; public is invited Valet parking available Information: 988-9361 |
The designer, long known for mother-of-the-bride ensembles, is now favored by hip young brides. The collection that used to focus on elegant evening attire is now adding a sophisticated line called Casual Chic.
And then there is the new men's line. Men's? Yes. Namba is bringing men an alternative to conservative, colorless dressing for day and night. Namba's jackets are not the predictable tailored blazer. They are boxy shirt jackets cut from kimono fabrics. A long stretch from a reverse-print aloha shirt, Namba's shirts are crafted from combinations of linen and kimono silk. Vests sport Henley necklines. Silk, linen and hemp trousers with a full cut and flattering drape complete the look.
Randall Anderson, production manager, has been with Namba for 12 years but just began seriously expanding the men's line two months ago. "Clients across the U.S. showed interest, so we decided to jump on it," he said. The company has been making men's wear on a custom basis for weddings and other occasions. Only now did the time seem right to make men more than an afterthought.
Who is the Namba man? "He's artsy, individualistic, confident and enjoys fine fabrics," Anderson said.
Namba is not an ivory-tower designer out of touch. She personally attends trunk shows and makes appearances in cities where she has gained a word-of-mouth reputation. "The feedback from customers is definitely helpful," she said. "It enables me to test new styles, see how they fit and what type of customer selects each garment."
In recent years Namba has seen an evolution toward body consciousness among her customers. "In the beginning my clothes were loose and layered, but now there's a younger clientele who want a more fitted look. Several years ago I heard a customer say, 'I used to think your things were only for old ladies.' Now I've got fur-trimmed bustiers," she said.
However, she added, "I always try to cover all my different client bases. I try to make sure I have a little of everything." To this end, she includes at least one style that works for nearly every body type.
Namba was also hearing from customers that they wanted less-dressy clothes. Lifestyles were changing. Women were retiring or working at home or going out less in the evenings. And they wanted Namba to provide clothing for their everyday lives as well as their special events. Hence, her new line, Casual Chic. First introduced at Liberty House, the daytime line blew out of the store, followed by a reorder that flew just as fast. Namba knew she was onto something.
On the runway Sunday will be simple clothes suitable for the office or an afternoon of shopping. Fabrics include Thai silks trimmed with kimono pieces. There's plenty of black linen and some unexpected high-contrast color combinations, such as bright chartreuse and yellow patchwork strips on jacket hems.
Namba is having linen woven in Italy right now for use in her Casual Chic collection. It's a subtle ombre, or shading, going from purple to blue. She plans to mix it with pieces from bright country kimonos.
Wedding clientele
Namba's bridal business has grown exponentially. Joseph Reyes, assistant designer and a fashion design graduate of the University of Hawai'-Manoa, oversees about one wedding a week. This often means dressing the bride, her mother, the bridesmaids and even flower girls.
Bridal gowns start with Namba's signature Kimono Couture, but the styling and fabric treatments have a broad range, depending on the style and taste of each bride.
One off-white brocade gown consists of a lace-up corset and a skirt with a bustle in the back. Another is a bustier with colorful appliquÚ roses with beads, paired with a diaphanous silk chiffon duster.
One wedding will sport eye-popping color. The bride's pleated silk sheath will be chartreuse, over which she'll wear a bright purple kimono coat with beaded geometric areas in peach, turquoise and dusty rose.
The mother of the bride will complement her daughter in a vibrant peach obi and dress while the flower girls walk down the aisle in dusty rose.
For another wedding, Laurie Marie Kondo, office manager of Mid Pacific Eye Care, spent much of 2000 searching for the perfect wedding dress. She had three criteria: It had to bring out her personality and be wearable after the wedding, and she insisted it be a "Wow!" dress — something that no one had ever worn before or would ever wear again," she said.
She went to nearly every bridal salon in Honolulu and scoured San Francisco. Then a friend recommended Anne Namba. "When I met Anne, I knew she was the one who could create something unique and 'Wow!' She got really excited, and I could tell she cared about me."
After a few minutes of discussion and review of other wedding gowns at Namba's Manoa boutique, Namba sketched a simple style and showed Kondo a vintage white kimono with embroidered cranes. She loved it, but Namba said, "Wait, it's not 'Wow!' yet," and recommended the cranes be outlined with rhinestones. That did it. Kondo had found her perfect wedding gown.
Namba also designed the bridesmaids' burgundy dresses and the flower girl's dress, which was cut from the same white-crane kimono as the bride's.
After a long search, Namba has found seamstresses in India who can hand-bead her designs to meet her high quality standards.
It's getting more difficult for Namba to find kimono. She has agents in Tokyo watching out for them all the time.
Namba travels a great deal. This month, she'll go to London. In October, there will be shows in Japan and India. November will find her in San Francisco and New York.
However, she said, "I'm making an effort not to travel as much right now," as she would rather stay home with her children, Roxanne, 9, and Quinn, 5. The London trip is primarily for Roxanne, who was accepted for a summer program at the London Royal Ballet Academy.
Anne Namba Designs is a family firm. Namba's husband, David Cassidy, manages the business side of things. Her nephew, Kamea Hadar, who is still in high school, does the graphics for her textile designs. He created the horse, peony, dragon, geisha and other motifs for recent prints.
As if her thriving design business hasn't been enough, Namba lends her design skills to Ballet Hawaii, creating new costumes for "The Nutcracker" every year.
A place for play
But her latest adventure is a distinct departure from fashion. She's designing playhouses with her brother-in-law, Lulik Hadar. "I always wanted a club house my kids could go to with their friends, but the commercial ones are so claustrophobic," Namba said. The house under construction is a 12- by 12-foot split-level. It's Tudor style, elevated off the ground. There's even a trap door and a pole kids can slide down to go from the sleeping loft to the bottom floor.
But don't expect Namba's name to go up on a construction site and disappear from the fashion scene anytime soon. Even if she wanted to, she has a loyal customer base that would undoubtedly protest her giving up designing.
