It’s sad enough for the economy when a retailer goes out of business, but in most cases shoppers are able to find similar products elsewhere.

It’s another story when the departing designer offers originality that’s irreplaceable.

Suffice to say that fans of Montsuki and its designer, Patty Yamasaki Sugai, are in a panic and have claimed just about all her kimono-based designs that remain in her boutique before she closes her doors at the end of the month after 36 years of business. A retirement sale will continue through Monday at the Kaimuki store. What’s left are mostly Japanese vintage and collectible items Sugai’s amassed over the years for inspiration and store display. Included are obis and kimonos, sewing notions, art books, lacquerware, jewelry, dress racks and more.

“Time sure does go by fast,” Sugai said. “I am overwhelmed by the response in asking me to resize, repair and get a few more pieces before the retirement of Montsuki, and people are even trying to talk me out of it.”

Seeing her clientele panic leaves her feeling guilty, but she’s adamant about closing up shop.

“I’ve come to a time in my life when I can see what I want to keep and purge. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing, but it’s been a personal feeling over the past couple of years that I need to make a change,” she said. “I can see where retail is going and the things going on in the economy, and it’s discouraging.

“One of the most discouraging things is going out to special events and looking at what people wear. Everything is so casual, and a lot of people are so messy-looking.

“I don’t understand this,” she said. “We have so many more stores now, yet you see all this messiness around. When our parents were growing up, getting dressed and going out was something special, even if they didn’t have a lot of money.”

It helped that her mother, Janet Yamasaki, was a factory seamstress for local design houses before striking out on her own. Unusual for women of the Greatest Generation, who grew up during the Great Depression, Yamasaki was an individualist who sought to break out of factory mode.

“She went out on her own trying to better herself, learning to make patterns, then designing for private companies,” Sugai said. “Later in life we started talking about what it’s like to work for somebody else and do what they want instead of what you want.”

Tired of compromise, mother and daughter teamed up to start Montsuki in 1979. Sugai, an artist in her 30s at the time, believed that opening their own shop would offer a better outlet for their creativity, and the pair quickly won a loyal following for their clothing.

Their original designs incorporated natural fibers, but Sugai’s interest in Japanese textiles grew as she discovered more sources for vintage silk kimonos, obis and traditional dyed fabrics, or shiboris, that included tie-dyed cloth, rustic kasuris and ikats.

More than just another retail boutique, Montsuki also became a comfortable place where clients could hang out all day and talk story with Yamasaki and Sugai.

When her mother died in 2008 at the age of 80, Sugai found herself struggling to perform triple duty designing, pattern-making and overseeing production. But her clients remained supportive, and she always made time for custom work, in addition to creating one-of-a-kind garments to fill her boutique racks.

“I don’t know what I’ll be doing, but I’m not going to be idle,” she said. “I’ll be looking for something to do, and it probably won’t involve clothing.”

She’s had offers to sell her business but has refused, wanting the peace of mind of keeping Montsuki’s legacy and integrity intact.

“We came in quietly and I can leave like that.”

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Montsuki’s retirement sale continues through Monday at 1132-F Koko Head Ave. in Kaimuki, above Jose’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina. Call 734-3457.