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TOP: Designer Jodi Salmonson adjusts a dress from her KariJane line. LEFT: Model Rita Blais is in an ensemblefrom the Martinique travel collection. Hair by Jestine Perez, makeup by Jeanilou Torrado, accessories from The Butik. |
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Designing Ilanders Hawaii's designers are as diverse as our cultural roots. As FACE of Nuuanu fashion shows and the plethora of showcases throughout Chinatown have attested, emerging Island designers range in age from 9 to 87 and come from a broad range of states and countries, from New Jersey and California to Laos, France, South Korea and Argentina. The three new designers selected for our spring issue also represent the range of fashion roots from which local designers grow. One is a university-trained designer who worked her way up a traditional career ladder; the second is an environmental health expert with no fashion background, and the third learned fashion from his grandmother and achieved couture status in Florida. ~ Paula Rath |
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JODI SALMONSON, KARIJANE
THREADS
Kailua designer Jodi Salmonson paid her fashion dues. Trained in fashion at UH-Manoa, she worked one year for You and Me, Naturally, and eight years for local manufacturer RPM (makers of Leinaala and Lauren Michele) doing everything from sketching to design, pattern-making, sgrading and buying fabrics.
Salmonson has now introduced her own line, KariJane Threads. It has quickly gained a reputation for being fun, fresh and flattering. Her design process starts with a fabric, usually rayon crepe or cotton.
I just choose what I like, then I look
at it and ask myself, What would it best be?
she said.
Her silhouettes are decidedly feminine, featuring backless halters, crossover V-necks,
scoop necks and lots of asymmetry.
Salmonson does all the work herself, from sketching, pattern-making and grading right up to the final sewing. This is purely made in Hawaii. A busy mother of two sons, Cory, 10, and Tanner, 4, Salmonson works out of a homey studio in back of her Kailua abode.
Her latest line is Martinique, created with travel in mind. The six classic resort pieces in silk and sustainable bamboo pack beautifully.
KariJane Threads clothing is sold at
Kkio in Kailua, Kona on the Big
Island, Global Village in Kailua and
The Butik in Kakaako.
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TOP: Emily models a Toulouse corset and skirt, $4,600. Hair and makeup: Rene Rodriguez. RIGHT: Designer Sebastien Toulouse models a decon- structed aloha shirt made mod with the addition of a zipper up the side. |
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The couture gowns of Sebastien Toulouse are show-stoppers. For him, fashion is an art form. His clothes have drama and a rock-star sensibility, yet are flattering to many figures. “Corsetry is my metier, my calling card,” Toulouse said. As a Taoist who believes in reincarnation, he said, he remembers lacing up a corset on a woman of Spanish royalty in the 15th century. His fashion background includes working with Thierry Mugler, a genius at corsetry (even Mugler’s Angel perfume bottle is corset-shaped) and creating custom wedding gowns in New York.
Just last year, Toulouse backed away from the world of high fashion because, he said, “As you go up the ladder in fashion, personalities get ugly.” He fled the East Coast, choosing to live in Hawai'i. Although the casual nature of
life in the Islands may not be as conducive to couture as, say, New York, Toulouse feels he will find a select clientele for his one-of-a-kind gowns. His philosophy: “The body is my canvas, but it is not my property. It has a life, and that
person needs to be respected. My clothing should frame my customer’s image, not swallow it or abuse it.”
Couture and corsetry are not Toulouse’s only strengths. He hopes to do costume work in local theater, and to create
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LEFT:
Designer Ed Fernandez
is wearing
The
Organik’s “Wave” T-
shirt, WeSC
jeans and
Vans.
RIGHT:
Model
Stephanie
Ortega
wears Silver
jeans from
Second
Skin, “Owl”
shirt from The Organik
ED FERNANDEZ,THE ORGANIK
Ed Fernandez of Kailua, Kona, doesn’t come from a fashion background. He’s an environmental health specialist, whose day job is consulting on food safety with Starbucks.
Oddly enough, he came up with the name “The Organik” and trademarked it before he knew what sort of product the business would provide. At the time, he thought maybe it would be an all-natural surf wax, until the idea took a detour. He and his cousin, Brian Jones of Seattle, were driving to Cape Cod for a family gathering when they came up with the idea of an organic line of T-shirts. Fernandez creates the concepts; Jones executes the graphics.
In a matter of months, the pair have developed four collections in earth-friendly fabrics sourced from Turkey, India and Peru:
• certified organic cotton (carbon neutral, produced by wind and solar energy), in standard men’s cuts
• certified organic pima cotton, slim fit in men’s and women’s styles
• bamboo, slim fit men’s and women’s styles •polyester/rayon blends manufactured from recycled plastic bottles — for men only now, but in the fall, they’ll add long-sleeved hooded T-shirts for men and women.
