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The new designers
See photo gallery for more images and shots that didn't make the cut.
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Over the past half-dozen years, we've seen an unprecedented surge of fashion in the Islands. Talented designers are defecting from the big pressure cookers of New York and Los Angeles, choosing our more mellow lifestyle. It's a challenge to manage the business side of fashion here, but these designers are finding ways to make their fashion splash in our part of the pond. ~Paula Rath
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Meleana Blaich on the lanai of her tutu, Amelia Bailey, whose Manoa home inspired her spring/summer collection. |
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Handbags from the Tutu's Lanai line. |
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After establishing a successful handbag business in New York, Meleana Blaich, 27, decided to come home in 2006.
"I always knew I wanted to come home. I couldn't see myself designing and succeeding in that world," she said. "It's such a feeling of disposable fashion and always moving on to the next and the new. I want to design things people will love and wear for years to come."
Her spring/summer collection, called Tutu's Lanai, takes its inspiration from the Manoa home of her grandmother, respected kupuna and floral designer Amelia Bailey.
The person she misses most in New York is fellow Punahou graduate and handbag designer Bliss Lau, with whom Blaich shared a studio. Lau helped jump-start Blaich's business by talking her into a trade show, where several boutique owners snapped up Blaich's bags. Lucky, Nylon, California Apparel, Daily Candy and Elle Girl have featured the feminine floral bags on their editorial pages. Blaich's handbags sell for $135 to $180 at Baik Designs, Riches Kahala, and online at www.meleana.com. They are also sold through Anthropologie's online catalog (though they are not identified by the line's name).
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Holland Henderson of Kailua and Stacey Schiller of Kahala, both 32, have been friends since seventh grade. They attended Punahou together, then went on to Chapman College, later transferring to the University of San Francisco, together, of course.
When they both found themselves pregnant, a business partnership was hatched. Frustrated by a search for cute maternity clothes, they modified a couple of commercial patterns to create their own.
The garments were so successful that they investigated pattern makers and cut-and-sew contractors in Honolulu, and Leighlani Maternity was born. The name combines each of their daughters' middle names — Leigh and Lani.
The line is meant for hip moms who want to maintain their personal style. Fitted, feminine and even sexy, the dresses, skirts, pants and tops are appropriate for work, a party, or dinner and a movie. Learning to adjust the sizes and create clothes that can be worn through the final trimester has been a challenge, Henderson said: "It's so awful to grow out of your maternity clothes."
Their clothes are sold locally at Kahala Kids, Makana Mother & Baby, and Sweet Peas.
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| Holland Henderson, left, model Christina Hassing and Stacey Schiller celebrate a pretty pregnancy. |
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This dress can be worn four different ways. |
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Yoga morphed from her passion to a fashion business. Ashtanga yoga has been a critical element in the life of Laurie Momi Chee of Makiki, 26, for years, teaching the type-A woman "how to be in the present." Five years ago she began dyeing T-shirts and having them silk-screened by a family friend. They said "Got yoga" and they were an instant hit.
Now her Lily Lotus garments have risen from the yoga mat to become after-yoga wear. Her spring line is dyed brilliant shades such as persimmon, amethyst and emerald, and flashes a little bling in the form of crystals and sewn-in necklaces.
What's next for Lily Lotus? "I'm looking for more sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton and maybe bamboo," Chee said. In addition, she is focusing on placing her line in spas.
Lily Lotus is sold at Chelsea in Manoa, Off the Mat in Kaimuki, Shasa Emporium in Kahala Mall and Jasmine Yoga on the North Shore, as well as online at www.lilylotus.com.
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| Yoga instructor Rupali, left, and designer Laurie Momi Chee strike the Pincha Mayurasana pose at Yoga Hawaii's Kaimuki studio. |
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They met through Craig's List. April Graves of Kapahulu, 25, needed a creative outlet for her fashion design and costuming skills, and choreographer Angel Prince needed a costumer for her dance and multimedia show, "Disposable Nation." They simply clicked.
The match was a natural for Graves, who is a dancer as well as a fashion graduate of the Pratt Institute in New York. In fact, her design technique involves dance. She begins with draping, looking at the body as "a vessel," she said: "I take the fabric and dance in it and see where the lines take me."
"April is fabulous to work with," said Prince. "She inspires me and helps shape the direction of the show."
Now that "Disposable Nation" has made its appearances at the Kahilu Theatre in Kamuela, Graves is back to designing custom clothing for adventurous women. "I enjoy pulling the characteristics
of each person and blending them with my own style; helping them find themselves in their clothes and connecting, feeling like one with themselves. There's magic to that." Reach her at ang@openvision.org.
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| Dancer/choreographer Angel Prince wears April Graves' Mother Earth costume for the multimedia show "Disposable Nation." |
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOAQUIN SIOPACK
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