By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Tourists explore the rocky ledges.

Just a few days ago we were talking in the office about the Waianae teacher who had gone hiking and fallen to his death, and I started thinking of all the tourists who come to Hawaii — some saving and looking forward to it all their lives — only to drown or fall in hiking accidents because they don’t know the ocean and terrain. Locals know better, right?

So where did I find myself yesterday but hiking down a cliff for a photo shoot, in a dress and rubber slippers because of a last-minute change from flat, easy Kailua Beach! While lugging clothes, spilling the contents of my open purse at one point, I imagined my obituary headline reading, “She died for fashion.” Journalists tend to think morbid thoughts anyway, starting in journ school when instructors warned our first jobs would likely involve obit writing and one of my classmates would often imagine undistinguished headlines about his own untimely demise as a young, anonymous, “Man, 20, dies.”

It turns out we weren’t the only ones there that day and an hour after starting, we spotted another crew for a Canada publication coming down the slope. It’s not every day you see a makeup artist scrambling down rocks in 2-1/2 to 3-inch heeled boots!

It turns out they were photographing Justine Miguel and the girl deserves a lot of credit for climbing, mostly bare skinned, up some precarious slopes full of sharp rock for the shots the photographer wanted. She often looks so soft and fragile but she’s very athletic, which I cannot claim.

The experience cured me of wanting to be on “The Amazing Race.” I imagined what it would have been like if there were a video camera focused on my butt scaling the rocks. I picture the fire pole scene in “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” Not a good thing. The things we do to get the perfect fashion shot.

Justine Miguel gets warmed up in front of the camera.

I tossed some granola crumbs toward ants milling around their hole in the sand, and this other visitor came out of the rocks. The beach was pristine, so I don’t know what this guy survives on.

Looking up at the big sun.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Karen Tiller, executive director of Hawaii Opera Theatre, second from right, with Salvatore Ferragamo’s Vice President of Stores-Western Region Peter Christman, area manager Valerie Sylvester, and general manager Shane Matsuda.

Fund-raising is more important than ever to arts organizations, and Salavatore Ferragamo, Ala Moana, opened its doors to fans of Hawaii Opera Theatre, following the Sunday performance of “Le Nozze di Figaro” Jan. 31.

I missed the performance but the gushing enthusiasm that greeted production star Leon Williams, plus the “Count and Countess” Michael Chioldi and Inna Dekach, and petite Shawnette Sulker, told me it went over well.

Guests sipped Veuve Clicquot while enjoying pupu created by Darren Demaya including ahi tartare in purple endive, chicken summer rolls, and fresh fruit and berries in cream.

Funds raised through sales that evening will benefit HOT. I had my eye on one of Ferragamo’s new handbags but couldn’t commit on the spot.

Rodrigo Iasuda, left, with Jackie Ho and Leon Williams, who played the title role in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” through Feb. 2.

Michael Chioldi and Inna Dekach were the Count and Countess in “Figaro.”

Valerie Sylvester, center, and Peter Christman, Ferragamo’s Vice President of Stores-Western Region, welcomed Shawnette Sulker, who had the role of Susanna in “Figaro.”

HOT fan Ada Mei shared her evening’s photos with Chioldi and Ivaylo Alexiev.

John Michael White cozied up to Shirling Stanton, left, and Tokiko Chein.

Stephanie Matsumoto showed up with Holger Gruenert.

As much as I love the cute tiny purse, I’m afraid I’ve acquired too much technology. I’m constantly trying to unstuff in search of pen, keys and coin purse buried beneath two phones, camera, cables and video camera. Time to surrender to the lure of the big bag, with plenty of inner pockets and a zippered center divider. Either one of these will do nicely.

Dale Ruff of Louis Vuitton was there and asked how I liked their new window displays. Well, I love birds so naturally gravitated to the windows. I not only enjoyed looking at the display, I whipped out my iPhone to show him the photo I snapped en route to the Ferragamo party, to add to my Project 365. I also enjoyed December’s lighted holiday display.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Frieda Hulse, right, with one of her sometime models, Marika Wilson, draped in of her last finds in Frieda’s shop, the jaggedly cut hem of a black skirt.

I met Frieda Hulse when she just arrived from New York in fall of 1991. I was just wandering through the Swap Meet and she had some nubby raw silk jackets that caught my eye. I had a vintage/consignment shop called Hippie Chicks, so when she said she had 20 boxes of vintage clothing from New York at her apartment, I was there.

When I got there, I was amazed. The tiny apartment, where the Hawai’i Convention Center came up, was wall to wall boxes. At the time I thought it might be a temporary condition, but for as long as I’ve known her, boxes came in faster than they left.

And, even though she was in the business of selling secondhand clothes, every sale was a battle. Every time I showed the slightest interest in an item, she’d eye it as if appreciating it for the first time, then decide she wanted to keep it. I’m not a good actress at all, but I learned to feign nonchalance in hope of getting her to sell something to me. Some people never learned the trick so walked away disappointed or angry.

iPhone video link

When the convention center was built, Frieda moved downtown, and that’s how most people know her today, as the designer/owner behind Urban Nomad at 1023 Smith St.

For as long as I’ve known her, though, she always wanted to return to New York and never stopped reminding people. Pro-Hawaii people resented it, and others stopped listening after 10 years.

But last May I began to take her seriously, so sat her down on May 27, 2009, for a mini video interview to run when she did leave. It just took another eight months, long after she closed her doors in early fall, but she finally left last Monday, Jan. 25, 2010. Even then, people didn’t really believe she would go. She arranged to meet friends at Manifest, but when she didn’t show, people gravitated to her shop, where she was still trying to pack and clean up, and was still dithering about leaving that night. There was still a lot of things in her store, and she hadn’t managed to sell her non-running Jaguar. I’m sure many will be surprised to hear she’s actually left.

To the very end, even though she said I could buy a $5 or $10 bag and stuff into it anything I wanted, I was still fighting her for the smallest patch of mink (sorry PETA but the animal’s been dead for at least 60 years) that I envisioned as a nice pin or hat embellishment. But I guess that is what fashion creatives do, see promise in all manner of ephemera, making every little treasure that much harder to give up.

Her first stop is Berlin — that’s what she told me anyway — where she’ll be incommunicado until she reaches New York in a month or two. I don’t know. She might get sidetracked by Paris, or some other city. She promises to send word when she settles, but with Frieda, you never know.

Designer Takeo with Freida.

Some were lucky enough to walk away with her original dresses. I was able to pick up a leather tie she created under the name Haruko and label Kamikaze when she was in New York years ago. I also picked up some last remnants like:

Accidental tie-dye created when she left a pile of silks in a garbage bag for months on her lanai, exposed to sun, wind and rain. Coincidentally, I just saw this photo of Derek Lam’s new Nadia python “tie dye” bag, $3,950, below:

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By Nadine Kam

Associated Press photosTwo designs by Jean-Paul Gaultier shown Jan. 27 during the Spring 2010 Haute Couture Shows in Paris.

While the 2010 spring French haute couture collections had the spotlight this week, everywhere you look you’ll see a different season in play. Spring 2010 ready-to-wear collections are arriving in stores, and while that’s fine for Hawaii, it may be a couple of months before the weather warms elsewhere in the country to the point the spring collections are deemed wearable. By then, we’ll already be into the summer phase of the collections.

Meanwhile, any time of year, you can check Style.com (it’s even easier and quicker with the iPhone app) to see the entire collection of every major designer, from seasons past, present and future.

Style.com photos Loving the richness of Lanvin’s pre-fall 2010 collection, which began with designer Alber Elbaz asking, “Can we introduce some dream into daytime?”

For now, we can check out pre-fall collections, and by the end of the next month, the entire fall season will be online. The time warp is enough to make a person’s head spin.It used to be easier to stay in-season, when we had a one-time peek at the next season, then promptly forgot about it until just prior to the time the clothing actually arrived in stores. These days, we’re so attune to what’s coming up next that it’s almost impossible to stay in the moment. By the time the next season’s pieces actually arrive in stores, we’re already burnt out from having had access to the images for five months. It seems the Internet and that instant access has rendered the old retail system somewhat out of sync with the instant-gratification age. The only thing that would keep them in sync is weather. Fall’s heavy fabrics and dark colors don’t really fly in springtime. But in Hawaii, spring styles are suitable all year round, so when they’re shown in the fall it makes sense to have them available.I first noticed the confusion when talking to international makeup artists, who, like the designers, work seasons ahead and, fresh from next season’s shows, often can’t remember the current colors. They tend to be more excited about the next season, the one they are currently working with, than the one current to consumers, which for the makeup artists is so six months ago.

Style.com photos
I would wear ANYTHING from Vera Wang’s pre-fall 2010 collection now! 

Here’s a link to my blog post about how one designer, Norma Kamali, is responding to the changes by going directly to the public and having her pieces immediately available after her shows. Christian Siriano also made a budget capsule collection of his spring line immediately available after September’s shows.Designers with reliable manufacturers in place will be able to deal with the change in trying to reach eager and fickle consumers first. It’s also a development retailers will need to start thinking about now as more designers follow suit. There’s no reason to believe they won’t.

More Vera.

By Nadine Kam

Sephora photo
The Smashbox Heartbreaker “Kiss n’ Tell” eye shadow palette is $34.

Hank Hoffman is back in town, this time at Sephora to show Smashbox’s new Valentine’s Day-ready limited-edition Heartbreaker spring collection of eye shadows, roller gloss and shimmering Fusion Soft Lights highlighting color.

He’ll be at Sephora Ala Moana  from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 29, and appointments for individual consultations are being taken at 944-9797.

“Baked Starlight” Fusion Soft Lights from Smashbox’s spring Heartbreaker collection is $30 at Sephora.   

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam video
Link for iPhone

Douglas Jago brought his flamboyant personal style to the stage at Level 4 Jan. 23 when he showed what he’s been working on when he’s not at his job as visual presentation manager for Neiman Marcus, Honolulu. By day, you’ll usually find him in stylish, though conservative by his standards, suits. But even when at work, he’ll sneak in hints of lace or other details under a jacket.

It’s always fun to spot Doug when he’s not working and dressing to entertain himself. He’s such an inspiration for anyone who feels closeted by Hawaii’s conservative clothing culture. At one point I asked him how he came by his sense of style, and apparently, he hails from a family of dapper gentlemen. He later sent to my home a photo of his father or grandfather, I can’t remember which now, to back up his story.

For his show, he created a menswear-inspired fashion show of handpainted jackets, vests and separates rooted in his recent paintings. The pieces were drawn from his closet, so considering that most of the models were women, it should be obvious his style is quite eclectic!

There’s been many a time I’ve been at NM’s women’s fashion shows, and talking to Doug afterward, he’d say something like, “I’m getting those pants,” of a St. John palazzo, or if I run into him randomly, he might say of what I’m wearing, “I love that shirt; I want that shirt!” Then I look down to remember what I wore that day and find I’ve put on my black H&M shirt with matte sequins in a tiger-stripe pattern.

I’d heard about Doug’s new project while at a Prada customer appreciation event just before Christmas. Alvin Chung was there with his entourage and told me that Doug was painting some denim for him. That was exciting news so I made a mental note to check in with Doug after the holidays. Next thing I know, he had a whole show put together! After the show, he said that although he’d been working on his paintings for a year, it was the clothing that hit and the whole show came together in just a month.

Of course his NM colleagues showed up in support, including boss Al Tomonori, who was all smiles during the course of the exuberant showcase, but admitted with a start time of 11 p.m., it was way past his bedtime.

Doug with Paulette Fukumoto, owner of TK Image and Modeling, who helped stage the show.

Here are a few video stills from the runway:

Detail of plastic jewelry and painted vest on Nicole Fox.

The colorful ensemble worn by Giselle Pineda echoes Doug’s painting on the easel.

A colorful men’s look, though all the garments culled from Doug’s closet could be considered menswear.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Acid Dolls creator and designer Cindy King hosted a grand opening party Friday night inside and outside her first Acid Dolls boutique, spilling over to neighboring Doraku Sushi later in the evening. Her models filled the boutique windows before and after a fashion show.

Every year the fashion programs at the University of Hawaii and Honolulu Community College mints about 20 to 30 hopeful young designers and countless others interested in retail pursuits. How many of their names do I remember over time? I could count them on a hand-and-a-half.

Think of it like “Project Runway.” Over six or so seasons, how many names are at top of mind? Off the top of my head: Daniel, Santino, Jeffrey, Christian. If I tried harder, I’d come up with Jay, Chloe, Uli, and Leanne, whose garments were adorable but whose name I couldn’t recall until I looked it up by remembering that she came from Portland, Ore.

I don’t remember all for their talent. Sometimes force of personality gets you top-of-mind status, which isn’t easy to achieve because young designers are not only vying with their classmates for a small piece of consumers’ memories. They’re taking on ALL designers.

While we’re being wowed by what Alber Elbaz, Alexander McQueen or Miuccia Prada are dreaming up next, well, the mind automatically makes room for new memories by deleting things less so.

All this is a way of putting things into perspective when I say that Cindy King is one of the students I not only remembered, but actively wondered about over the years because she had the talent, drive and work ethic to make a name for herself.

Fashion show video for iPhone.

Rather than pursuing her dream in bits and pieces over the years, however, she has bided her time until last fall, when the time was right to “unleash the cuteness” and offer a preview of her fully realized vision. What started as the launch of her Acid Dolls line of clothing and accessories caught the attention of Royal Hawaiian Center, which offered her a boutique spot on the third floor, near Doraku Sushi, to showcase her designs and her other artist-designer-beauty collaborations. It’s quite a moment for the designer, who now finds herself in the position of running a boutique full of untested merchandise.

But, the Acid Dolls concept — equal parts girly and sexy, kawaii and street — resonates here. During a grand opening celebration and fashion show Jan. 22, clothing was moving briskly, such that when I returned the next day, a dress and skirt I was eyeing were already gone! Oh well. I found an LBD — complete with pockets for stashing a camera and cell phone, a must these days — that I wore to Douglas Jago’s fashion show later that night!

From left, model sisters Justine and Erica Miguel, and Jessica Matthews, provide a living display of Acid Dolls apparel.

There was a mini reunion going on as Cindy’s classmates, from left, Cecilia Lee, Rachel Barnette and Crystal Pancipanci turned out to show their support. Cecilia’s Jewel Numkki collaboration line for Acid Dolls, was also featured in the fashion show. Lee now lives in California and after designing for Forever21 for a number of years, only recently began focusing on her own line.

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By Nadine Kam

Associated Press photos
More entertaining than wearable, a piece by Guo Pei.

While waiting for the major shows to begin in February, here’s a look at garments presented during Hong Kong Fashion Week this week, most providing entertainment value, but nevertheless demonstrating some serious skills.

The rise of the Internet has made for a quick transfer of ideas such that I see a homogenization of style, so all over the world, designers are becoming more attune to what Western buyers are looking for.

While today’s hallowed fashion names are still European, or, in some niches, American, it’s just a matter of time before China’s designers’ names start rolling off the tongue.

The work of designer Choy Fung Yi.

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By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam video here for iPhone users.

I’m not a New Agey person, but when a press release for “Braco: The Gaze of Miracles” arrived via email, there was much commotion over “the man who stares,” and that’s how I found myself in a room yesterday, staring back.

Supposedly, a healing energy emanates from Braco, and videos simply show him standing in front of rooms full of people locked in mutual gaze.

When the release came in, some people in the office deemed it all “scary,” and as they were debating the chasm between scary and saintly I decided I had to go cubicle hopping and take a look.

Well, I don’t know what they had to be afraid of, because Braco simply looked benign and serene to me, so I decided to check out a gazing session Thursday at Toho No Hikari (MOA Social Hall). Sessions started at 8:30 a.m. and in the afternoon were set for 2, 4 and 6 p.m.

Sessions are billed as running 30 minutes long, but about 10 minutes are spent on introduction, 10 on the actual gazing, and 10 on post-gaze meditation.

I’m not good at meditation because my mind is constantly turning. As I said on my other food blog, I am rarely in the moment because I’m always focused on the immediate future and project deadlines. In yoga and post-aerobic cool-down sessions, they always tell you to relax and empty your mind, but I can never do that, because just the suggestion makes me think, “Why can’t I stop thinking? What’s the first thing I have to do when I leave here? etc.”

So it figured that once Braco did come out from behind the stage curtain, I found myself uncomfortably staring at his shirt, perfectly shredded jeans and gold bracelets. I think you have to be calm in the act of staring, and after getting over the strangeness of it all, if you can manage that, it leads to a greater level of calm, which is reinforced by the post-session meditation.

I can’t speak to any great transformation taking place, but between the 10 minutes of standing and staring, which might have a dizzying effect on some, I did feel some restlessness drain away.

I’m pretty skeptical, so I’m thinking that what he might offer is a point of focus to help individuals, however briefly, forget about themselves.

Prior to the session, I spoke with Angelika Whitecliff, a Maui author who wrote “21 Days with Braco,” (he hasn’t spoken in public for several years), who said he has a “normal” background, having attained a Ph.D. in economics in his native Croatia, and that helping his countrymen to heal became his mission after the Croatian War in the early 1990s, when people needed help dealing with the ethnic cleansing that had taken place.

More gazing sessions will take place as follows:

Jan. 22 and 23: Jodo Mission of Hawaii, 1429 Makiki St.

Jan. 24: Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, 5th floor, 2454 S. Beretania St.

Jan. 25: Toho No Hikari (MOA Social Hall), 3510 Nuuanu Pali Drive.

Sessions are at 8:30 and 10 a.m., noon, and 2, 4 and 6:30 p.m.

There is an $8 fee that goes toward renting the spaces. Call 808-875-8820 or visit www.GlobalMediaProductions.com for more information.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos and video stills
A pistol-packin’ Roberta Oaks, right, was surrounded by well-wishers just before her show started.

The invitation to Roberta Oaks spring 2010 fashion show said little, but offered an intriguing theme of “Guns, Feathers & Fashion,” so I had to check it out Jan. 14 at Bar 35. A note on her invite said the show would start at 8:30 p.m. sharp so I didn’t have to worry about being too early or too late. I hate to wait, and figured, being a fellow Sagittarius, that she’d be true to her word. We tend to be very direct.

Interestingly enough, the backdrop for the show was an exhibition by ARTS at Marks Garage creative director Rich Richardson, making for some interesting juxtapositions, as below. His show, Cartoon Cowboys Invade Chinatown,” combines a symbol of the West, the cowboy, with buzzwords of Eastern philosophy.”

I was sitting under one of the scrolls before the show started, coming face to face with many navels as people tried to read, in the dark no less, the translations of the work. Richardson’s show continues through Jan. 29 in case you want to check it out firsthand.

A couple of Roberta Oaks designs. Most of the show is on the video.

The still soon-to-leave Freida Hulse, right, with Melissa May White, who said Roberta’s show marked her first girls’ night outing since she gave birth — eight months ago. Far too long!