‘IOLANI artwork given Uniqlo glow

Uniqlo may not be coming to Hawaii any time soon, but a piece of Hawaii will be traveling to 1,200 Uniqlo stores around the globe this summer thanks to a collaboration between a local design house and the Tokyo-based apparel giant.

The announcement was made Wednesday during a news conference from the JFW-International Fashion Fair’s Hawaii Pavilion in Tokyo, where ‘IOLANI is one of several local clothing companies participating in a DBEDT-sponsored initiative promoting Hawaii designers abroad.

The 2014 spring/summer ‘IOLANI Hawaiian Classics line will be available in Uniqlo stores beginning in May. Because there is no Uniqlo store locally, online shopping will have to suffice for fans of both brands.

The collection will include men’s shirts, shorts and T-shirts and women’s tunics, dresses, shorts, handbags, skirts and T-shirts, all inspired by ‘IOLANI’s print archives, with design, fabric and production by Uniqlo.

Talks started last spring, when a Uniqlo designer came to Hawaii in search of a collaboration partner.

"The art director NIGO (founder of A Bathing Ape) loves Hawaii, and so does the owner, so they wanted to do a Hawaii collection," ‘IOLANI chief operating officer Carla Kawa­kami explained.

One of the artists from Uniqlo’s T-shirt division dropped in to look at the ‘IOLANI art archives, dating back to the 1960s, explaining that she would put a tab on pieces she liked. Knowing theirs was one of a handful of companies up for consideration, Kawa­kami said she got worried when the artist put a tab only on the first four pieces and stopped, while continuing to leaf through dozens of pages.

In the end, the woman explained that she liked all the artwork presented but got tired of tabbing the pages. She ended up taking 90 pieces of artwork back to Japan, and 28 were chosen for the final collection.

The collection had been conceived as a T-shirt line, but once the art was presented to department heads in Tokyo, every division wanted a piece of the action, which is how the collection was expanded to include dresses, shorts and men’s shirts as well. It’s still a mystery as to how many pieces the collection will entail, as each department works autonomously.

Kawa­kami said working with Uniqlo and seeing the way prints were manipulated and muted, and monochrome colors were introduced, provided a valuable learning experience for ‘IOLANI, which marked its 60th anniversary last fall.

"We produce for Hawaii. They produce for the world, so they know what works in New York or Paris. I looked at every sample that came in and said, ‘This is really, really nice.’ It really gave us a fun, new outlook that gave us a shot in the arm."

More importantly, in the age of imitation and digital theft of proprietary artwork, Kawa­kami said she appreciates Uniqlo’s respectful and collaborative approach, which has helped boost countless smaller companies over the years.

Kawakami said many companies have co-opted the aloha shirt without giving Hawaii any credit, basically stealing an icon from us, but Uniqlo has been willing to share credit to the point that the company’s name doesn’t even appear on the ‘IOLANI Hawaiian Classics label.

"They don’t want to exploit Hawaii, they don’t want to take your name or take what you do, but really showcase what we can do, and they’ve created a young look for Hawaii again," Kawa­­kami said.

"When we received the samples, we were laughing at how they put things together, but you put it on and it looks fabulous! They made it fun and a little bit edgier than what’s being done here.

"The collection went to Paris for a press preview in November, and the media, who are the toughest critics, loved it."