Aloha wear for show and tail
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Fashion Writer
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| Fashion is a dog-meet-dog world as designer Monica Shigenaga's pooch Jordan, left, and friend Lambchop hang out in Cocojor outfits.
Photos by Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Fancy some Finery for FIdo? So you want to dress up your doggy Hawai'i style? Cocojor Hawai'i's catalog features about 50 styles, ranging in price from $7 to about $50. Each has an Island-related name, such as: • Hukilau skirt |
Doggy-wear designer Monica Shigenaga, who calls her company Cocojor after her American Staffordshire terriers Coco and Jordan, is making a hit in Hollywood with her canine aloha wear.
The 36-year-old Hawai'i Kai native got her big break when supermodel Mila Jovovich spotted a Cocojor bikini in Holt Renfrew in Canada and bought it for a Hollywood starlet friend.
It was spotted by a producer of Beverly Hills event company Silver Spoon, which invited Shigenaga to the Ultimate Hollywood Dog and Baby Shower last April.
The designer schmoozed with Hollywood dog-lovers such as Tori Spelling, Tia Carrere, Minnie Driver, Robert Wagner and Hillary and Hayley Duff, some of whom bought her aloha-print bikinis, board shorts, aloha shirts and mu'umu'u for their pooches.
She introduced her doggy fragrance, Pua Melia, a plumeria-based scent, at the event. Cocojor was so popular that Shigenaga has been invited back to Hollywood for a pre-Emmy party in September. There she will unveil her newest collection, Cocojor d'Vogue, a line Shigenaga describes as "a Eurasian, cosmopolitan blend of fabrics and styles from around the world."
Dances with woofs
Cocojor results from Shigenaga's two passions, sewing and dogs. Although she had spent most of her working years as an executive secretary in hotel management offices, a divorce caused her to pause and rethink her life. "One day I was just sitting and thinking, and I looked at my two dogs and asked them, 'What should I do?' And it came to me like a bolt of lightning. I'll make Hawaiian clothes for dogs!"
Shigenaga's mother, Yoshiko Shigenaga, taught her to sew when she was a little girl. Yoshiko was a seamstress who first came to the Islands dreaming of becoming an aloha wear designer. Marriage and children came first, however, and she was unable to fulfill her dream. Now Monica is trying to fulfill it for her, but with a different species.
For six years, Shigenaga has been breeding, grooming and showing dogs, mainly in Japan. As a result, "I know the anatomy of the dog, and I always consider the dog first." She tests her aloha wear on every size of dog, from the tiny chihuahua to great danes.
"We have no discrimination in sizes," Shigenaga said with pride.
She has to use obedience-trained dogs as her "fit models" because she subjects them to treadmill tests "to check for angulation and durability."
The ilima style, with its ruffled halter neck, looks (and fits) best on a small dog. The Menehune overall, on the other hand, is better for a big bowser. Even a large pooch can't fail to charm in a Hukilau skirt or Moana tea dress.
"Who says big dogs can't wear dresses?" she said. Cocojor has about 50 styles in sizes XXS to 3XL.
For those with absolutely no shame, Shigenaga will make an aloha shirt that matches doggy's duds.
There are hats, too, but they aren't for every dog. While the paniolo hat is adorable in concept, it requires a patient, tolerant pooch to wear it. As with the designer's surfer, holoholo and beach hats, there are straps with Velcro that go under the chin and around the ears. Get the Velcro in the wrong place and you could have one angry animal.
Understanding that the dog days of summer can be tough on her furry friends, Shigenaga has developed a line of accessories that act as cooling products. Some of the Kaimana Hales, Moemoe mats, vests and bandanas contain nontoxic cooling gel beads. Shigenaga said that if you soak them in water for 15 minutes it will activate the crystals and the item will stay cool at 65 degrees for up to three weeks.
Commitment to Hawai'i
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| Monica Shigenaga has Jordan model her aloha wear. She sells her pet clothing in Japan, Hawai'i, online and elsewhere. |
"Hawaiian wear should be manufactured here. It's not the same mana if you do it somewhere else," she insists.
Thinking that Hawai'i wasn't quite ready for doggy wardrobing, she introduced Cocojor first in Canada and Japan.
Japan has embraced Cocojor the way it embraced hula and 'ukulele. They simply can't get enough. Shigenaga has her line in upscale Japanese department stores such as Mitsukoshi, as well as high-end resorts and boutiques. Last month she opened a Cocojor Hawai'i showroom/boutique in Kyoto, Japan. California, land of the ultimate spoiled, pampered pooch, is her next target.
At the moment, Cocojor is available in Hawai'i only at Bark Avenue in the Koko Marina Shopping Center and at www.cocojorhawaii.com.
Renee Chun, owner of Bark Avenue canine café and boutique, said Cocojor has a select local clientele. "It's for the owner whose dogs are their surrogate children. They don't want the regular old thing you'll find in any pet store and see on everyone else." Among her best sellers are the sleeveless aloha shirt and holoholo hat. "Oh, and the cooling mats and bandanas," she exclaimed. "They really work, especially here in Hawai'i's climate."
Reach Paula Rath at prath@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5464.
