Therapy marks two years at Kahala Mall

Nadine Kam photos
From right, Therapy boutique owner Tina Wary, Julie Waters and Umee Honolulu's Deena White Tearney, who was one of five featured designers at the first of Therapy boutique's second anniversary events Nov. 5 at Kahala Mall. The week two celebration takes place 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, with six designers and a performance by Chase Dean.

Two years deserves two weeks of celebrations, and Therapy boutique owner Tina Wary will be hosting Week Two from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 12, showcasing designs by local brands and designers Angry Lady Bug, Organik, La'akea Designs, Roberta Oaks, HI State of Mind, and Val Loh Designs.

The first celebration took place Nov. 5 at the Kahala Mall boutique, when Tina welcomed Moopiland's Keiko Knudson, ccdoodle's Christy Chung, Gem Parfait's Allison Fujita, Ecolicious' Dexter Doi and Carol D'Angelo, and Umee Honolulu's Deena White Tearney. Bangles by Erin were also featured, though the designer couldn't be there. There were pre-holiday discounts on merchandise offered by the featured designers.

Those who attended were also treated to a fabulous food spread created by Tina's husband Ed, he of Auntie Pasto's and Dixie Grill fame. There was enough of a spread to have made it onto my food blog, but I thought I'd keep it all here. Wonder if he'll top himself at this coming Saturday's event?

Moopiland designer Keiko Knudson shows one of her latest dresses, made with Hawaiian-style print fabric from Japan.

ccdoodle's Christy Chung showed her fabric clutches as well as her fabric sashes.

Creations by Gem Parfait's Allison Fujita, below, attorney by day and jewelry designer by night.

Ecolicious' Dexter Doi and Carol D'Angelo showed their latest tees and tanks.

Salty Girl Jewelry's Amber Chesebro with her mom Wendy Olsen, who inspired her daughter's jewelry making by teaching her how to create macrame as a child, and who always kept beads and findings around the house for her own projects.

The food spreads are generally light at fashion parties, where everyone's trying to be thin, but hey, when you're a boutique owner married to a restaurateur, as in Auntie Pasto's and Dixie Grill's Ed Wary, you've got a built-in caterer who wants to make an impression. More food follows! ...

Fashion incubator close to (temporary) reality

Nadine Kam photos
The Hifi fundraiser shirt designer Sierra Dew, center, with Deanna Edon, left, and Hifi co-founder Melissa May White modeling the shirt.

Traffic flowed in and out of designer Andy South's Chinatown studio at a steady clip at the launch party Dec. 2 for Hawaii Fashion Incubator's 2011 fundraiser shirt. The event, hosted by Hifi, South and Hawaii RED Magazine, aimed to raise funds toward supporting a fashion resource center for Hawaii.

Sierra Dew designed the $20 shirt, which features stylized imagery of an a'eo in flight, and bearing the words for Hifi's mission of "moving fashion forward."

Fashion supporters could choose from men's and women's shirts or totebags, which will come in handy as a green way of hauling the holiday purchases. When it was over, most of the one-size-fits-all women's shirts (I guess all us fashion fanatics must be a size 2-4, LOL!) were sold out, according to Hifi co-founder Melissa May White, who says they're getting ready to place a re-order.

The event was timely tied to the holiday gift-shopping season, so there were also holiday pop-up shops by Sierra, as well as HI State of Mind’s Katrina Bodnyk and Umee’s Deena White Tearney.

It all supported a good cause since Melissa and her fellow conspirator Toby Portner have been dreaming, since 2006, of linking like-minded creatives and finding a multi-use site for nurturing young designers and artists.

Although White said Hifi "started for the reason each of us had our own goal in fashion, but I've found that I'm enjoying the act of connecting people more."

To get people to start thinking about what that might entail and the possibilities arising from such a community facility, Hifi intends to launch a monthlong pop-up laboratory in February 2011 for hosting classes, workshops, exhibits, films, events and trunk shows. They'll put up a calendar, and individuals or groups can sign up for a time slot for their event.

Events already on the calendar include Sierra Dew's popular stencil classes, and an open workshop with Andy South, in which designers can bring in their project to work on site, with critiques and help from South.

The group is now seeking sponsors, donated goods and services, and volunteers toward achieving this goal.

If you missed the event but want to support the cause, find out more at www.hawaiifashion.org.

To see more photos, visit honolulupulse.com.

HI State of Mind designer Katrina Bodnyk shows one of her repurposed silk skirts. On the rack are her silk halter tops.

Umee designer Deena White Tearney, right, shows some of her designs, with Lauryn Inouye wearing a pair of Umee shorts.

Deena's business cards bear images of her designs, many utilizing imported Italian fabrics. One of her wedding designs is shown at right.