Samson Malani
>> Age: 37
>> Residence: Kaneohe
>> Occupation: Clothing maker, music producer, studio owner
There aren’t enough hours in the day for clothing/music entrepreneur and father of two Samson Malani. He wakes at 3:30 a.m. and, after a quick breakfast and check of the news, usually heads off to the gym for a workout. Then it’s back home to share breakfast with wife Janet, daughter Significance, 6, and son Freedom, 18 months.
Once the kids are off to school, Malani — former co-owner of urban and hip-hop music label Tiki Entertainment — kicks into high gear on his work projects. At the moment those include Creatorcom (music studios, gear development and Kailua Music School), Believe Clothing Manufacturing (direct-to-garment digital printing, embroidery and screen printing) and the opening of his new clothing store, The Makau Marketplace, in coming months. The store, at 1687 Kalauokalani Way near Ala Moana Center, will showcase locally made, everyday clothing and accessories.
Later in the day Malani heads back to the gym, followed by dinner and more work.
With a schedule like that, he said he relies on quick and easy clothing choices. These are some of his favorites.
>> Workday workhorse: “Black, navy, slate or white organic Alstyle T-shirt.”
>> Favorite shirt: “It’s a Purple Label Ralph Lauren dress shirt. It was custom tailored, too, and now I can’t fit in it anymore because of my gym habits. I bought it at one of my most successful moments in my entertainment career. It was a lot of money but it felt like butter, like a second skin.”
>> Business meeting attire: “A plain-colored, collared (Nike) Dri-Fit T or polo and cargo shorts — or any wrinkle-free pants will do.”
>> Favorite Makau Marketplace T-shirt: “I’d like to say all of them because they are so limited in production and each piece has a story to it, but if I could choose just one, I’d say a Hibred shirt that is off a piece of artwork I designed a few years ago titled ‘How Would He Feel?’ The image was inspired by Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole’s song ‘Hawaii ’78,’ depicting King Kamehameha I looking up and connecting with Na Akua and crying with either tears of sadness or tears of joy — depending on where we are on our cultural timeline.”
>> Local designers: “My cousin Saint ‘Malu’ Kalama is from a different planet. When he and (local emcee, designer and radio personality) Krystilez bounce ideas off of me, we create magic for our own brand, Hibred. Ola from Fitted and Sig Zane, of course. A shout-out to Jaclyn Carreira from Keiki Elements, also, because I like what she creates for kids.”
>> Date-night attire: “Anything comfortable. I’ve been working so hard, I owe her a date or a few soon. We take a lot of mini-ones, though, because she’s a major pillar in my life.”
>> Big bad accessories: “I sometimes wear a gold waterfall-link bracelet and a pinkie ring. I have a bunch of chains that I don’t wear, mostly because they’re rapper-sized and I don’t much care for the attention. Not like my younger years. I also have an extensive — and expensive — watch collection that I don’t wear anymore since I started getting stronger and I have to resize them all.”
By Erin Smith, special to the Star-Advertiser. “Island Lookbook” is a weekly feature that spotlights local trendsetters. Contact features@staradvertiser.com.
