Electroclash stirring up Oahu's club scene

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Fashion Writer

Hair and makeup by Aquaria Salon; clothing by Diesel. Models, from left: Iona dancer Summer Partlon; Aquaria Salon owner Rebecca Long, CHntroversy producer Ollie Chavenia, Kaleo Kamaka of Pictures Plus.

Electroclash hair is about contradictions, like having two 'dos on one head. Kaleo Kamaka's is a modified, modernized Mohawk.

Makeup is often pretty and neutral with a splash of the unexpected, such as the feathered eye shadow on Summer Partlon. Makeup is Aveda. Photos by Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

It's more edgy, eclectic, gritty and underground than the mainstream club scene.

It's Electroclash, a style just beginning to emerge in Honolulu clubs. "Electro" comes from the music, a techno-'80s beat. "Clash" derives from contradictions and unexpected juxtapositions in the sounds and fashion at the event.

"These are the 'real deal' club people. It's a response to ... (the city's) commercial clubbing, which just isn't fun any more," claims Kevin Sanada, who DJ'd the first electroclash party at Club Pauahi on Hotel Street last month.

Electroclash has a distinctly '80s vibe. Think vintage '80s Adidas shell shoes, pointy-toed stilettos and a Rocky Balboa hat. Think Kylie Minogue with big curly hair, oversized cargo pants and a tiny tube top. Think Gwen Stefani in a knitted beanie and a side ponytail. Think of the girl in the Mitsubishi commercial jiving to techno music in her pink cap, bangles-up-to-there and dreadlocks.

"It's about shopping at Savers but spending $75 on a haircut," Sanada said.

Hairstyles are a primary element in electroclash, where the Mohawk may be big, but it's not the Mohawk of popular memory. There are no shaved parts. The sides are simply cut shorter and directed every which way.

Rebecca Long, owner of Aquaria Salon, whose style is self-described as electroclash, called the look "two hairdos on one head." For example, one side may be cut in a straight Vidal Sassoon bob while the other side is a layered Jennifer Anniston 'do.

Another look described by Long: a punk, spiky, tribal 'do standing on end with four dyed-blond dreadlocks down the back.

The styles go for both guys and gals.

Makeup is equally off-kilter. Long described the colors as soft and neutral, but the styles can be severe.

For example, shades of brown shadow spiked with one bold stripe of turquoise going right out to the hairline. Eyeshadow may be shaped like feathers, or simply painted on in two brown streaks from lashes to brows.

Electroclash's origins has been attributed to a festival in New York in October 2001.

Since the philosophical foundation of electroclash is individuality and self-expression, the fashion is not a single head-to-toe look.

"The simplest little thing can turn your outfit to a hip, electroclash look," Long said.

Getting into electroclash

The look

• All-out punk rules, with black leather, tons of eyeliner and spiked hair.
• Madonna becomes a bustier-clad disco diva with bracelets stacked to her elbows.
• It's all about big hair on the bejeweled wicked women of "Dynasty."
• Jean-Paul Gaultier turns lingerie into outlandish outerwear.
• Power suits and huge shoulder pads take to the streets with athletic shoes.

The Next C*ntroversy Party

• 10 p.m.–2 a.m., tomorrow night
• Club Pauahi, 68 South Pauahi St. (just off Fort Street Mall)
• $5