Scott Schuman called attention to the world of street fashion when he launched The Sartorialist in New York in 2005. Although others had documented street fashion before, his timely blog format proved to be the perfect vehicle for sharing images of people dressed in unique ways that caught his eye. It was inspiring to those with an interest in fashion, budding stylists and photographers, and what followed was a legion of copycat blogs dedicated to documenting street fashion around the globe.

The celebration of street style was meant to be an antidote to the top-down dictates of fashion houses, but a funny thing happened as the movement progressed. In the words of street documentarian Yvan Rodic, aka the Face Hunter: "Now, street-style photography has itself become commercialized. Lots of so-called street style photographers’ often limit themselves to uber-aware fashion peacocks.

"It’s why the world needs more than ever a more genuine documentation of real people style."

His words preface a new book, "Honolulu Street Style" (Intellect Books, $23), dedicated to Hawaii’s street fashion; it’s a collaboration between the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Andrew Reilly, Hawaii Red online magazine founder Malie Moran and photographer Attila Pohlmann. The book, available at Amazon.com before hitting stores, is the second in a series that started with Shanghai and travels next to Sydney.

Honolulu is not exactly recognized as a hotbed of street style, but that’s the point of the series it’s aimed at drawing eyes away from fashion capitals and focusing on emerging style centers.

Reilly, an assistant professor of apparel product design and merchandising in the family and consumer sciences department, had already been working on a book proposal to document the history of fashion in Honolulu when his academic publisher asked whether he had any interest in writing a book about the city’s street fashion. At the same time, Moran expressed interest in preserving some of the imagery from her street-oriented website in book form; in fall 2012 they decided to pool their resources, calling on Pohlmann to shoot all new photos gathered over six months in early 2013.

Their search for urban Hawaii style took them through Chinatown, Manoa, Kakaako and Waikiki, from cityscape to sandy beach and neighborhood nooks and crannies.

While a polished universal urban style has emerged even in steamy Bangkok men wear formal button-up shirts Hawaii has always been a place for fashion rebels. As Reilly notes in the book, the breezy aloha shirt, created at a time when businessmen wore suits, was banned from serious places of business for 30 years until Aloha Friday was created in 1966 to give the local garment industry a boost.

Other pioneers, including T-shirt maverick Rick Ralston and Surf Line Hawaii’s Dave Rochlen, came from elsewhere to embrace Hawaii’s climate and lifestyle, creating garments befitting the beach and active pursuits and becoming leaders in the casual-wear industry.

Reilly, who arrived in Hawaii in 2007 after growing up in Florida and teaching in the Midwest, said he was immediately struck by locals’ fearlessness when it comes to wearing color.

"I thought it was striking. In other places, fashion has to be muted, dark, or if people choose to wear color, it’s a small splash of color.

"Hawaii is also a center of international commerce, and that’s all represented in clothing. It’s not unusual to see people in heritage clothing. It all amounts to an amazing amount of variety. It’s not static in the way that when I think of New York, I think of black because it’s a professional look and that’s what you wear."

Honolulu’s look continues to evolve with input from throughout the world.

"With Twitter and Facebook, there are so many influences and their effects are immediate. You can see what celebrities are wearing, what your friends are wearing and take that in," Reilly said. "Consumption of fashion is rapidly accelerating. You can see it in the big retailers coming to town, and new collections that arrive every six weeks.

"Fashion is not meant to last, but style expresses who you are, what your mood is, and that can change from day to day."

Although Reilly had not formed an opinion of Honolulu style before starting on the project, by the end "I had a newfound respect for street style and the innovation I saw. These people understood how to express themselves and how to make clothing uniquely their own."

He was particularly taken by the use of accessories, often pieces of jewelry chosen for the stories they told about a person’s heritage, travels or friendships.

"Because of the weather, everyone wears T-shirts and shorts, so they have to get that uniqueness some other way," he said. "Around campus, backpacks and skateboards are forms of personal expression. I see students walking around with skateboards with the underside showing so others can see the brand and design.

"One thing I hope this book will accomplish is to show people that Hawaii does have a style and aesthetic beyond what they think it is, and understand there is a fashion industry here that I think is on an upswing now.

"Hawaii had an impact on fashion from the 1930s through ’60s, and I think it will make an impact again."