'A' is for Avel and advocacy at Avel Bacudio fashion show

Nadine Kam photos
Models in neoprene swimwear line up before the start of Avel Bacudio's fashion show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Resort.

"Triple Threat Advocacy" is not the frilly sort of name we expect from a fashion show, but designer Avel Bacudio's heart was in the right place as he staged a showing of swimwear, couture and Fall 2017 ready-to-wear designs in support of the Northern Luzon School for the Visually Impaired.

The nonprofit organization in his home country of the Philippines provides board, lodging, educational services and livelihood training and equal opportunities for visually impaired students to promote independence and meaningful lives. The school relies mostly on donations for support.

Designer Avel Bacudio shows one of his gowns before the start of his fashion show.

The event presented by Magnum Model and Talent Productions and sponsored by Philippine Airlines, took place Sept. 11 in the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Resort's Coral Ballroom. Audience members were treated to intimate peformances by recording artist Billy Crawford and Philippines Prince of R&B and Jay R Sillona, who both posed for selfies with fans in the midst of performances.


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Among the models and opening the show was 2012 Miss Universe 1st Runner-Up Janine Mari Tugonon. She is in the running to become one of the Top 12 of 2017 Nu Muses. To vote for her, visit numus.es/janine. Anyone is welcome to cast one vote per day through 5 p.m. PST, Sept. 17.

Kekoa Lyons wears one of Bacudio's minimalist neoprene sweaters, sales of which will help support visually impaired children in the Philippines. Adult sizes run $75, children's sweaters run $55 at aveldesigns.com.

The close of his show brought out keiki and adult models in neoprene, digital-print sweaters emblazoned with "A"s and other letters of the alphabet, the "A" representing both Avel and advocacy for the visually impaired students.

The charity is close to his heart because of his own brush with blindness a decade ago when he suffered from retinal detachment that could have ended his career.

Bacudio was raised in Bicol, in Southern Luzon, better known for being home to one of the smallest freshwater fish in the world, the dwarf pygmy goby, than fashion. He rose to present his work on international stages after being chosen to participate in a student fashion competition in Paris. Bacudio earned the title of "Asia's Most Influential Designer during Mercedes-Benz Stylo Asia Fashion Week 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, beating 24 other designers from 11 countries throughout Asia. Shoe designer Jimmy Choo is one of his champions, and is working to bring Bacudio's work to the attention of fashion enthusiasts in the West.

Oscar de la Renta remembered at de Young Museum

Nadine Kam photos
Oscar de la Renta's 2000-01 Spanish-influenced designs were the focal point of one of the tableau in a retrospective of his work at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The exhibition continues through May 30.

"Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective" on view at the de Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Fransisco, celebrates the work of the designer who was born in the Dominican Republic, trained in Spain, and made his career in the United States, until his death on Oct. 20, 2014, at the age of 82.

The world premiere exhibition, curated by André Leon Talley, former editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, includes 120 ensembles, curated from the best museums in the United States, and his friends, family and clients.

The designer was born Oscar Arístides Renta Fiallo in the Dominican Republic and trained with Spanish designers Cristóbal Balenciaga and Lanvin designer Antonio del Castillo.

Some of my favorite pieces in the Spanish section were pieces the designer created for Balmain, this summer dance dress and bolero were worn by De la Renta's wife Annette. It comprises silk, jet beads, passementerie and raffia.

After moving to the United States to create ready-to-wear fashion in the early 1960s, he made his name as by dressing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In addition to designing for his own eponymous brand, he designed the haute couture collection for Balmain between 1993 and 2002.

The exhibition covers five decades of de la Renta fashion, but instead of being organized chronologically, it is organized by themes, showing how Spanish influences in his life were consistently reflected in his work. Other galleries reflect a fascination with Asia, a love of gardens, and his popularity with New York society, celebrities and heads of state over decades. He dressed everyone from Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minnelli to Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

Beyond fashion, a video gallery screens mini docs about the designer, including his desire to give back to his home country, by opening schools and orphanages to help disadvantaged children.
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Tickets for the Oscar de la Renta exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco start at $30 per person, including general admission. Discounts available for seniors, students and youth. Free for ages 5 and younger. Premium tickets are also available. The museum is in Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. Open 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, through May 30.

This spring 2005 flounced lace evening dress was designed especially for Annette and was the designer's favorite, comprising black tulle and black silk taffeta applique.

De la Renta enjoyed gardening and that was the theme of a Vogue photo shoot by Peter Lindbergh, published in October 1997. These mannequins in floral silk Balmain gowns were arranged to recreate one of the images.

Acknowledging the rise of the Asian model that coincided with China's and Korea's growing economic power, Vogue reimagined a 1948 Cecil Beaton photograph, with eight Asian models wearing Oscar de la Renta Spring 2011 ballgowns. The new photo was shot by Steven Meisel. This detail of the photo is displayed on a video screen, with mannequins in the dresses posed in similar fashion.

Detail of jeweled tassels gracing a jacket and skirt ensemble from one of de la Renta's Asia-inspired collections.

This 1998-99 Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain evening dress is of green silk tafetta with beads, sequins and metallic thread embroidery. It was juxtaposed with Russian artist Konstantin Makovsky's 1884 painting, "Preparing for the Wedding."

More Spanish ruffles.

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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

Politics and fashion share MAMo 2015 runway

Nicholas Tomasello photo courtesy MAMo
Keiki models for Maile Andrade waved the Hawaiian flag during her segment of the Maoli Arts Month MAMo Wearable Arts Show, a fashion showcase presented by artists and designers of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander heritage.

BY NADINE KAM


In Hawaii, fashion and politics rarely mix but during the Maoli Arts Month’s annual MAMo Wearable Art Show, they came together in a dramatic way.

Robert Cazimero and his Halau Na Kamalei led the evening, on May 20, with a performance calling attention to the Mauna Kea telescope controversy, with dancers forming the shape of the mountain by touching their thumbs and fingertips together. It became a symbol for the first half of the show, with many of the models embracing the gesture during their finale walks in a symbol of solidarity.

Nadine Kam video still
Another of Maile Andrade’s model’s formed the shape of a mountain with her fingertips, symbolic of the controversy over the construction of another telescope on Mauna Kea.

Though I am not Hawaiian I couldn’t help be moved by the gesture. The Maunakea issue is something I’ve thought about while driving around and looking at the landscape. It is evident that the ancient Hawaiians were brilliant engineers.

Today, we still see ancient fishponds that, with proper tending, continue to function as intended. And Hawaiians created the ahupua’a system of land division that took into account the interrelationship of elements in the natural landscape that would optimize self-sustainability.

The wisdom of such a division is obvious when I watch the water runoff from rain, which doesn’t follow manmade roads, but the natural geography of the land in defiance of Western engineers. In spite of their “education,” the western waywardness is like that of a spoiled child insisting, “This is what I want to do, and I’m going to do it,” with little consideration for long-term consequences.

The ahupua’a system was able to sustain, what I’ve read, was a pre-contact population of 1 million people, about the same as we have in the islands today.

Nicholas Tomasello photos courtesy MAMo
Beyond politics, there was many a theatrical fashion moment. The work of Maori weaver and fashion designer Shona Tawhiao, of Te Ao Tu, was a standout. Shown here and below.

A feathered cape presented during the Te Ao Tu showcase of Maori designers.

I wonder how we got to this point of importing our food supply and question the current irresponsibility of developing prime agricultural land when obviously, food supply will continue to become a more pressing concern as time passes.

Today we are looking at California running out of the water, 80 percent of which goes toward the agricultural industry that feeds much of the nation.

Developers smugly take a “not in my lifetime” approach to their work, but unfortunately, the reality of the California situation is that we’re looking at a matter of a decade.

I believe that the ancient Hawaiians were not against the kind of engineering and advancement that considered the welfare of all. There is a pono solution to Mauna Kea if both sides are willing to come together to speak about the facts and their differences instead of fighting.

Beyond politics, the event offered a lively showcase of what is being done not only by Hawaii’s artists, designers and cultural practitioners, but a handful of Maori artists as well.

I was particularly enamored by those created by Maori couture designer Shona Tawhiao, who takes native basket weaving and materials to avant garde heights. Her designs were dark, edgy and breathtaking. Elements reminded me of Alexander McQueen and the head gear created for him by Philip Treacy.

The work of local fiber artist Marques Marzan.

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Many of Marzan’s models wore metal armature and accessories on their heads and arms.

Nordstrom launches Moschino's bear-themed capsule collection

Nordstrom photos
This Moschino iPhone case is one of 11 items from a capsule collection that debuted on the Milan runway today, and will be available tomorrow at Nordstrom Ala Moana.

Moschino’s capsule collection of pieces from its Fall/Winter 2015 collection debuted on the Milan runway today and will launch exclusively tomorrow at only six of Nordstrom’s 116 North American stores, including Nordstrom Ala Moana.

In the store now are designer Jeremy Scott’s bear-themed collection, including iPhone cases, handbags, ready-to-wear fashion and accessories ranging from $75 to $1,495.

Scott’s past two themed collections for Moschino, featuring items inspired by Barbie and McDonalds, helped create buzz over what he would show next.

Other Nordstrom stores that will receive the collection are Americana at Brand in Glendale, Calif, Fashion Island Newport Beach, The Grove Los Angeles, San Francisco Centre and Aventura in Florida.

After the launch, the collection will be available online at Nordstrom.com beginning March 1.

A few more items:

Moschino jacket bag, $1,495.

Moschino quilted backpack, $725.

Moschino bear bag, $525.

Moschino weekender bag, $1,295.

Moschino bucket bag, $895.
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.