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.

Cindy’s sister Wendy, left, helps her run the boutique. She’s with Kasey Le and Kasey’s mother Shari Sodetani-Le, whose clothing offer a hint as to what’s to come for Acid Dolls, in the form of mother-daughter apparel. Shh!

Collaborations are king at the Acid Dolls boutique, and that isn’t restricted to clothing. Skincare expert extraordinaire Izumi Montenero of Beauty Elements shows a moisturizing beauty mask kit she and King created exclusively for the boutique.

Acid Dolls style is compatible with the work of Salon Glitter, where from left, Melissa Kessner, Adrienne Baribeau and Yuko Fadigan create Calgel nail art. You can find them at 903 Keeaumoku St., across from McDonald’s. You can read my story about Fadigan’s salon here. I didn’t want to show Yuko my nails, which had grown out, but I’m ready to switch to a Valentine’s Day theme anyway.

Makeup artist Jessica Hoffman, right, with Kecia Littman, gives a glimpse of the back of her Acid Dolls dress.