Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hosts annual fashion show

Fashion is about theater and attention to details, so when Shelley Cramer went casting about for a venue for Saks Fifth Avenue’s annual fashion show, she found it on Maui, at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.

The problem was, how to get 100 of the Waikiki store’s clients and business leaders over to Maui.

“I wanted to create something special that would hopefully be a memorable experience for our clients,” said Cramer, vice president and general manager of Saks Waikiki.

“I didn’t know whether we could make it happen, but I asked Hawaiian Airlines and they let us charter a plane to fly our customers over. It was the first time they’d done it as well. I think they believed in the cause.”

The Oct. 12 show, a benefit for the Kidney Foundation, Hawaiian Humane Society and Hawaii Ag and Culinary Alliance, eventually raised more than $200,000 from table sales and a live auction that included such prizes as atelier visits with Beverly Hills, Calif., jewelry designer Robert Procop and a shopping spree and dinner with the show’s special guest designer, Zang Toi, in New York.

“It’s like all the stars aligned for us. Everyone wanted to do it,” she said of Roberts Hawaii, which provided shuttle service from Kahului Airport to the Ritz-Carlton, and the hotel’s staff, who helped handle arrangements.

The show took place on the property’s Beach House Lawn, more typically used as a venue for beachfront weddings.

There were no hitches when guests flew in on a 2:49 p.m. flight, heading straight to the venue for dinner, followed by the fashion show featuring designs from Saks, Fendi, Balmain and Hawaii designer Manaola, with the finale by Toi, who is marking the 30th anniversary of his couture house and was in town to present his segment.

Toi is known for classic elegance and a minimalist palette. His clients have included Melinda Gates, Sharon Stone, Ivana Trump and members of the Saudi royal family.

Manaola Yap opened the show with a chant and the presentation of six ensembles from his “Kane and Kanaloa” spring 2020 collection.

Toi closed the show with pieces from his spring 2020 ready-to-wear anniversary collection inspired by the batiks of his birthplace, Malaysia, and its queen, who he said loves pastels.

“I haven’t forgotten my roots,” the designer said over lunch at Eating House 1849 at Waikiki’s International Market Place in advance of the show. He recounted growing up in the small rural village of Kuala Krai in the northeastern state of Kelantan, the seventh son of grocery store owners.

While his brothers and sisters excelled in school, he was the baby who didn’t like school and spent all his time drawing.

“My father said, ‘I don’t worry about the other ones, but that’s OK. One day you can take over the grocery store.’ I said, ‘OK.’”

Toi said his family was very poor, but his parents saved all the money earned at the grocery store to finance their kids’ educations. At 18, Toi left Malaysia for New York with just $300 in his pocket to study at Parsons School of Design. Upon graduating he worked for another designer for seven years before striking out on his own.

With no money to market himself, Toi made illustrations of his inaugural 13-piece Resort 1990 collection on a single sheet of paper that he photocopied, colored in and sent out to top magazine editors. Within a few days Vogue came calling and wanted him to deliver the entire collection to then-new editor Anna Wintour’s office.

“When the collection came back, three pieces were missing. I was too afraid to ask why,” he said. A few days later he received a congratulatory phone call. One of his dresses had made it into Vogue. Heading into the new decade, the magazine also named Toi as one of its four picks as designers of the ’90s, which he said put him on the fashion map.

In 1991 Toi won the Mouton-Cadet Young Designers Award. Also recognized by his home country, in March 1997 he was knighted by the sultan of Kelantan.

With 30 years of success in an industry in which many designers struggle to survive five years, Toi credits his work ethic growing up in his parents’ grocery store, as well as understanding that “fashion is not just about fashion. It’s 80% business. No matter how big you are or how many backers you have, if in two or three years you’re not making money, they’re gonna shut you down.”

He credits some of his business longevity to remaining an independent company. “I spend three months as a designer and nine months as a traveling salesman.”

As to whether Saks can top this fashion show next year, Cramer said, “I think I have an idea.”