Your Dapper debuts poker-themed bow-tie collection for spring-summer 2015

Nadine Kam photos
Katherine Chinn and Brent Nakano founded Your Dapper in 2013 with friend and fashion enthusiast with John DeCosta, specializing in bow ties.

The reason I have two twitter accounts is because I learned early, after starting my @Fashiontribe account, that the “normal” person isn’t as interested in fashion as I am. Perhaps even less so is the person who is interested in food, which I cover on my other beat.

The foodie and the fashionista are usually two different creatures. The fashionista is a nibbler, or simply doesn’t eat, to maintain a paparazzi-ready figure. And any food gathering is best attended in a garment with a lot of give. Think caftan, muumuu, old-school boxy aloha shirt, or anything sans a belt or other constricting feature. Not exactly fashionable.

But those ahead of the game know fashion transcends all boundaries. You find it in the presentation of food, technology, home decor, entertainment and lifestyle.

Your Dapper aimed to bring lifestyle into focus during a men’s presentation that took place Nov. 2. part of Hawai’i Fashion Month.

The event took place in the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel Coconut Club on the 21st floor, where early arrivals had a view of the sunset before enjoying food and drink created by trendsetting barmen and chefs, with the idea of setting the stage for the good life with good clothes, food and drink.

Samuel Armitage, right, wearing Your Dapper’s Bluff bow tie, adjusts the Deux Ex Machina tie worn by Nicolas Carter.

Among those at the table: Jamal Lahiani, culinary consultant at Your Dapper and Chef of Tropics Taphouse Group; Tim Rita Jr., beverage consultant for Your Dapper and mixologist at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas; Christian Self, Bevy; Dave Newman, Pint and Jigger; Robert McGee, Link; and Jeremy Shigekane, former Chef de Cuisine of Hoku’s and Chai’s Island Bistro.

Each chose a bow tie from Your Dapper’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection to serve as inspiration for their food or cocktail. Recipes and and descriptions of each pairing are available at www.yourdapper.com/blog.

Behind Your Dapper are Punahou grad and brand strategist Brent Nakano, designer Katherine Chinn, and Punahou grad and business director John DeCosta.

Chinn, who grew up in Burbank, fulfilled her childhood dream of being a costume designer, but longed to branch out into something she could call her own when she met Nakano, who encouraged her to pursue her passion for menswear.

She said she loves bows and bow ties for herself, but got the idea for a different kind of men’s bow tie when looking at casual summer cotton and madras shirts.

“I saw a big hole in the market because bow ties are usually designed for more formal, classic looks,” she said, and the structured bow ties didn’t fit in with a casual spring and summer vibe.

For spring and summer 2015, Your Dapper’s Poker-themed collection features soft, unstructured cotton voile creations that are lightweight and cut in a rectangle for a loose, fluttery and yes, dapper, look. The aim is to be the best-dressed gent in the room. Every alpha understands that.

Until spring arrives, you can pick up Fall 2014 ties for holiday dressing, at $70 each, at YourDapper.com, as well as view some of the recipes from the event on the Your Dapper blog.

Your Dapper’s presentation was built around a mock poker game. At left, Ikaika Johnson wears “Glass House,” while Matthew Hirokane is in “Gambit.”

Akikazu Matsuno shows another way to wear Your Dapper’s “Juke” bow tie, in the pocket of a hoodie vest.

Paul Anthony Jackson in a white-on-white ensemble that includes Your Dapper’s “Wet T-shirt” tie.

Tyler Rodrigues wears Your Dapper’s “Cheesy Pickup Line” tie.

The lifestyle-driven brand also featured food tied to the poker and bow-tie theme, including Jamal Lahiani’s dish of farfalle, or bow-tie pasta, and fish.

Among the libations offered up in the spirit of the event was Bevy’s Deus Ex Machina, of chartreuse, arack, absinthe, lime, lemongrass and “stuff,” concocted by Christian Self.