Reyn Spooner marks 60 years

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Reyn Spooner marked it's 60th anniversary with a fashion show on Ala Moana Center's Center Stage July 7, that took viewers on a journey from the 1950s to the present.

Opening the show were models Roycen Dehmer and Desmond Centro in Reyn's rice bag shorts from the 1950s, that had emcee Jordan Segundo quipping, "They did a lot of recycling then."

I'm glad that recycling is back in a big way, showing that good ideas may skip a generation, but always come back with a generation seeking the "new."

Nadine Kam photos
From left, in Reyn Spooner, company chairman Charlie Baxter, president Kirk Hubbard III, and Japan partners Takuro Sakatoku, Ryota Matsumoto and Fumio Matsubara, following the brand's fashion show on Ala Moana's Center Stage.


Sixty years is a grandpa territory, but over the years, Reyn Spooner has remained relevant in keeping up with the times. In recent years, the brand has collaborated with such urban lifestyle and fashion brands as Stüssy, Opening Ceremony, Converse and Vans.

And, it doesn't end there.

Company chairman Charlie Baxter, a former San Francisco-based e-commerce CEO, invested in Reyn Spooner because he said he sees its potential reach far beyond Hawaii's shores.

"It's really a state treasure," he said, with a history of influencing many major resort and lifestyle brands, and a story that resonates around the globe for people who love Hawaii.

Always cognizant of its Hawaii roots and ties to community, one of Reyn Spooner's latest designs Reyn Spooner designs is a limited edition aloha print honoring The Friends of Iolani Palace’s 50th anniversary. A portion of sales will support the organization’s restoration, preservation and conservation efforts. The shirts retail for $118, women’s scarves are $80, and eco totes are $26.

The company initially found its niche creating an aloha shirt casual enough for weekends, and dignified enough for customers to wear professionally. Back then, the only shirts on the market were poor fitting, loud-colored garments made for the fledgling tourism industry.

One of the company's biggest hits was an all-cotton, pullover aloha shirt with a button-down collar. But founder Reyn McCullough wasn't satisfied with the intensity and brightness of the tropical- and calico-print fabrics he was using. He liked the shirts worn by surfers—those bleached out by constant sun exposure. After experimenting with ways to achieve the same chambray effect, he realized the easiest solution was to simply turn his fabrics inside out. The company is still widely recognized as the originator of the "reverse print" they remain famous for today.

Following the fashion show, the celebration continued at the Reyn Spooner store near Macy's. Guests were treated to seafood dishes from Roy's Restaurant, with signature Spooner Kloth serving as a table cloth.

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

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.

Sean Combs presents Instagram fashion show

Sean John photo

Sean Combs launched his latest men's collection with an Instagram Fashion Show, with images released beginning 10 a.m. this morning, Feb. 8. Viewers will be invited to check out images from the latest collection at http://instagram.com/iamdiddy, with pieces only available at Macy’s.

The multi-media star claims the Instagram fashion presentation is the first in social media history. Although I'm sure smaller showcases have taken place—there have been many an Instagram art show for instance—he may very well be the most high-profile personality to make use of the service in such a timely way.

I think it's a great idea for a small company with no budget, but a bigger company can't discount the electricity and energy that comes from a physical display, even if it's just a walk-around presentation.

Prada fall men's collection arrives

Nadine Kam photos
Robert Gibson was among the Prada fans who showed up at the Ala Moana Center boutique Aug. 21 to view the fall men's collection, including the shimmery Lurex polo he's wearing. The statement fabric also appears in a long-sleeve style, ties, socks and womenswear.

Prada's Ala Moana Center boutique hosted a trunk show of its Fall-Winter 2011 men's collection on Aug. 21, giving fans an opportunity to show off pieces they had pre-ordered.

Lurex polos are already proving popular here, where the short sleeves can ease from late summer through the end of the year. Also on the racks were sweaters, suiting, denim and luxurious suede jackets with intarsia designs.

Of course I also gravitated to the women's area, where '70s-inspired drop-waist and Mondrian-style color-blocked dresses were being shown along with real and eco-fur capes, as well as eco-fur bags in to-die-for splashes of color.

From left, shoppers John Schamber, Wayne Yoshigai, Kimiko Hill and Richard Kuwada, already in pieces from the new Prada collections.

Prada photos
The Prada Lurex shirts as styled on the ready-to-wear runway.

Stuart Ing shows a Lurex tie with its small touch of shine for more conservative dressers.

There was a raffle for a Prada book, and Prada Area Manager Candace Konjevic presents the tome to winner Kimiko Hill.

Pages from the book trace Prada's nearly 100-year history, up to the present, including these sketches reflecting Miuccia Prada's fairytale inspiration for Spring 2008. The book, $125, is available at the boutique.

A couple of the Prada dresses for fall.

Prada photo
The strapped clutch is a woman's new shield. The large buttons on the dress are a key design element for fall at Prada, and the trompe l'oeil boot mimics the look of a grownup Mary Jane worn with knee-high socks.

Polyascko2's 'A Philosophy Fashioned' for men

John, left, and Gerald Alexander pose with their models after their Polyascko2 fashion show at The Edition Waikiki Jan. 22.

Polyascko2's John and Gerald Alexander put on one of the most ambitious shows I've seen in a while at The Edition Waikiki Saturday night, about 15 models, about 80 ensembles, running more than an hour long. For comparison, each New York Fashion Week show typically runs 15 to 20 minutes.

I was making my video, noting YouTube has increased its time limitation to 15 minutes from 10. Woohoo! since my video was running 11 minutes long. My co-worker said that kind of running time is self-indulgent, but I figure the models want to see themselves, the designers never get to see the show because they're backstage, etc. I probably included two-thirds of what was shown, which were the designers' statement three-quarter sleeve shirts, some casual street and outerwear, cardis and some sharp suiting.

I headed to the dressing room after the show (no, not to see men undressing!) to check out the clothing, beautifully cut and sewn from great fabric. I expected no less from the made-in-Italy garments, which are well worth their price points, starting at about $175.

I love the crisp, polished look presented, definitely worthy of the big leagues, though here, the buttoned-up looks will be a hard sell for men more accustomed to the hang-loose mentality. They're most likely to find a niche in Waikiki, with exposure to international clientele, and guys with money, who aren't afraid to make a statement with their clothing.

All day long, there was a fear that it might start raining at any time, a big worry because the show was taking place on the hotel's open-air pool deck. It is such an amazing venue for a fashion show, and this was the biggest to take place on the property since it opened last October.

I loved the way trees framed the models, and even when it rained, the water slick on the wood deck created a dark, ambient shine.

I would love to see more shows here, but for women's shows, they might have to add flooring over the deck because skinny heels could easily slip through some of the wood slats, as those who wear them quickly find out.

Other guests did not find any charm in the couple episodes of rain, which sent some scurrying for cover (which is why it looks empty in certain parts of the video), and others grabbing pillows off the loungers to cover their 'dos.

Pacing for the show could have been better, but that would have entailed hiring more models. With gaps between model appearances, the show ran a little too long for those unaccustomed to seeing that much menswear in one sitting. One girl moaned, "This is so boring, it's all men's!"

I guess she hadn't bothered to check on the details of the show before deciding to show up!

I think the brothers did a great job in showing Honolulu what a real fashion show looks like, and hope they inspire others to improve on that foundation.

Click on Hudson's photo for my YouTube video.

Video link for iPhone

Women ushering guests to their seats found time to pose on the red carpet.

Paris men's designers go bold for fall

Style.com photos
Jean Paul Gaultier's designs are being cast as suited for a new James Bond who embraces his feminine side, outwardly masculine but hiding fishnets tights, silken scarves and peekaboo cutouts.

OMG is what I have to say about the fall-winter men's collections being shown in Paris this week. The past two years have been about basics as the iffy world economy scared design houses from taking too much risk. It's added up to a lot of repetition and dullness on the retail floor.

I've picked up inexpensive things here and there, but haven't really been buying clothes for a year, watching the seasons come and go, trying things on, but not feeling inspired to take the last step and walk something to the cashier, when after all, how many black jackets, T-shirts and pieces of denim can one have? I could only come to the conclusion that I was buying the same pieces over and over, and didn't want to continue on that track.

So the latest Paris collections are like a beacon of light. If designers are feeling more comfortable with creativity, we have a lot to look forward to come fall. I can't wait to see what they have in store for women when the haute couture shows start on Monday!

To check out all the photos from the shows as they happen, visit Style.com.





Thierry Mugler designs.

Issey Miyake design.

Viktor & Rolf design.