Native Hawaiian designer Micah Kamohoalii is bringing Hawaii to New York Fashion Week. But the renowned kapa artist and kumu hula said he isn’t planning a typical fashion show. His presentation on Runway 7 at Sony Hall on Sept. 9 will be a cultural showcase, he said, featuring hula, kapa pounding, chanting and singing.
“I’m not trying to do New York,” said Kamohoalii, who started his clothing line, Dezigns by Kamohoalii, in 2005. “I’m going to do Hawaii. That’s all I know.”
Kamohoalii said his focus is to educate people and showcase Hawaiian culture in the most authentic ways. To do this, he partnered with lau hala weavers and feather-work artisans, whose work will be featured with Kamohoalii’s clothes.
He is bringing his cousin, award-winning vocalist Amy Hanaiali‘i, to sing at his show and former Miss Hawaii Desiree Moana Cruz to chant. Also, he chose seven dancers from his Halau Na Kipu‘upu‘u to perform hula kahiko and auana numbers with him during the opening and finale segments of his show, which will also incorporate a video about Hawaii and the history of kapa. Even his models are a nod to the diversity of Hawaii: His sisters, mom, cousins and aunties, including Nita Pilago of Wahine Toa Designs, are among the 20 women who will strut down the runway.
Kumu Barbara Watanabe is one of the lau hala weavers whose hats will be featured in Kamohoalii’s runway show. Watanabe, a student of lau hala masters Josephine Fergerstrom, Ed Kaneko and Jim Skibby, has been weaving for 12 years and has known Kamohoalii for many years. Her hats and other lau hala pieces have never been showcased on such a large scale, she said, but are mainly featured at the Donkey Mill Art Center in Holualoa, hula halau performances and other local events.
“I’m very honored that he’s taking my hats and other products made here locally (by other artisans) and sharing it with the world,” Watanabe said. “It’s just amazing.”
And Kamohoalii isn’t the only Hawaii designer to receive national and international acclaim. Three other Native Hawaiian designers — Manaola Yap, Kini Zamora and Kehaulani Nielson — will be featured in REDValentino’s special collection next month. They will each create a textile pattern that will be included in REDValentino’s ready-to-wear collection debuting at the Chelsea in Bloom Festival in London. Their designs will also be sold at REDValentino’s store at Ala Moana Center and online.
The partnership with these three Native Hawaiian designers arose from REDValentino’s controversial ulu pattern, which was used in its Spring/Summer 2021 collection without acknowledging its Hawaiian origins. The pattern was eventually removed after receiving hundreds of comments criticizing the company for cultural appropriation.
REDValentino contacted the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and then kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine, who invited Yap, Zamora and Nielson to participate in a collaboration with the company.
“Our designs may be contemporary, but they follow a long and rich cultural tradition held by our kupuna of incorporating our observations of our environment, our spirituality and our mo‘olelo (history) into our artistic expressions,” said Nielson of Kahulale‘a in a statement. “The ability to share this aspect of culture with the world is very exciting.”
Kamohoalii said he feels the same way. Although he initially wasn’t going to participate in New York Fashion Week when he got the invitation from producers, he said he called them back and decided to give it a shot. It wasn’t because his dream is to present in New York, he said, but for the opportunities it could provide for future designers who are Hawaiian or from Hawaii.
Coming from a family of kapa artists, Kamohoalii said his designs represent his culture and genealogy, and he hopes the rest of the world sees that through his show.
“There are so many deep connections in our clothes. I wear these clothes because they’re like spiritual totems,” said Kamohoalii, who lives on the Waimea Hawaiian Homestead with his family and works as a cultural consultant on Hawaii island. “We’re a living, thriving, breathing culture. I really wanted to show the excellence of our culture and show authenticity and why Hawaiians are the way they are and why we have aloha spirit.”
For more information and to donate to help Kamohoalii raise $60,000 for his team of 30 to attend fashion week, visit dbkhawaii.com.
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Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
