Pupukea designer mixes fashion, farming, nostalgia

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer

Routh Bolomet's designs, featuring white or black machine-washable gauze and lace from England, draw their inspiration from a Victorian-era notion of femininity. Pololei.com

Born in Hawai'i, Bolomet moved from her Kapahulu home when she was 6. She lived in California, Guam and Florida as her mother, a professional Polynesian dancer, traveled where the gigs were.

When Bolomet was 8, her mother bought her a sewing machine. By the age of 10 she was making costumes for the troupe. "My mother saw it as my chore," she said.

Through a friend, Bolomet met a Los Angeles designer named Leisa who had apprenticed with fashion icon Coco Chanel. Leisa accepted Bolomet as her apprentice, teaching the teenager couture design and sewing techniques. Bolomet remembers Leisa taking her to tea. "She told me I had to wear something I had made, but I had to wear it inside out," Bolomet recalls. The lesson, a la Coco Chanel? That construction of fine garments should be so exquisite that it is just as beautiful wrong-side-out.

Bolomet attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, where she majored in fashion design. When she graduated, there were no jobs in the industry in Los Angeles, so she came back to Hawai'i to help her father rebuild his house and farm after hurricane Iwa.

To keep her hand in design while helping at the farm, Bolomet introduced a line of women's wear called Polynesian Pretteez, inspired by the Victorian era. However, it didn't take long for her to realize she needed to return to the Mainland if she wanted her fashion design career to really take off.

She landed a job in fashion illustration with a company specializing in uniforms for upscale resorts. The perks were unbeatable — resorts often asked her to experience their service firsthand. For 15 years, she created uniforms for clients such as Hyatt Regency, the Pebble Beach Lodge, Fairmont Hotels and Disney World.

Five years ago, Bolomet's father died of heart disease. She places some on the blame on the chemicals he used on his farm. Last year, she and her husband, Pascal, and daughter, Sophie, now 4, returned to the North Shore to work the farm without using chemicals.

They started with vegetables, but "we got nailed by the bugs," Bolomet said. They began farming culinary herbs (dill, basils, mints and teas) because the aroma of the herbs is supposed to drive away the bugs. The herbs became a more successful crop than the vegetables.

The farm is not financially self-sustaining, so to help support farm and family, Bolomet returned to what she knows best: fashion design. She recently reintroduced Polynesian Pretteez as Pololei.

The look is unabashedly feminine, harkening back to Victorian times when ladies "did tea." The tea dresses and mu'u mu'u are called The Waimea Collection as a nod to the beautiful North Shore valley. Fabrics are either white or black machine-washable gauze and laces from England. Some styles require 10 yards of fabric.

Bolomet plans to expand Pololei to accommodate weddings, hula halau and other special occasions. She has the capability to create colors by request through Los Angeles dyers, accommodating as few as three garments per dye lot.

Prices for The Waimea Collection were recently reduced after Bolomet searched out better deals on lace and fabrics. They range from $125 to $350.

To learn more about Bolomet and The Waimea Collection, go to pololei.com. Her size chart is especially enlightening as she walks potential customers through a sophisticated measurement chart that includes neck size, around the shoulder width, forearm and wrist.