By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
This is where I ended up Friday night, admiring the photographs of Harold Julian at Honolulu Design Center, the setting for the launch of the GroundUP Agency’s Model Division. Also exhibiting photos were Willy Branland, Aaron Yoshino, John Hook and Aaron Rideout.

Friday was the live equivalent of a variety show, that started at the Halekulani, followed by Dave & Buster’s, then the Honolulu Design Center.

The ballroom of Halekulani was packed with guests celebrating the 25th anniversary since the hotel’s 1984 renovation and reopening. (Halekulani’s legacy actually dates to 1917, when the hotel comprised a few modest bungalows on Gray’s Beach.) Coincidentally, Halekulani Corp. announced a new partnership alliance with Japan’s luxury Imperial Hotel group, adding another reason to celebrate, with Imperial president Tetsuya Kobayashi also in town for the occasion.

The room was so full that it was hard to back up for photos. One person back for the event, from Las Vegas, was the hotel’s former head of public relations, Joyce Matsumoto, who said she would not have missed it for the world. Nobu had not opened when she left, so she planted herself in front of the chef’s station to enjoy his sushi. Guests also raved about the shrimp ravioli with mushroom sauce and the foie gras paté at other stations.

Matt Catingub and his musical friends entertained guests at Halekulani’s 25th anniversary celebration May 8.

Amity Street introduced their CD with a performance in the Dave & Buster’s Showroom. From left are Jason Everett, Eli Oguma, Jhon Lynch and John Gonzalez Del Solar.

After Halekulani, I made a stop to check out Amity Street in Dave & Buster’s Showroom. I heard them playing live on KTUH one night and was compelled to check out the band in person. You can hear them on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/amitystreet or check out my video here to listen to them perform “Chameleon.”

Then it was on to Honolulu Design Center where GroundUP artists were busy with a couple of live paintings in the Cupola Theatre.

The event was held to launch the GroundUP Agency’s new model division, bringing a fashion element to the agency’s growing arts and entertainment empire. Models stepped onto the runway in basic white tank tops, jeans, black attire and bikinis to demonstrate their walk for event planners, stylists, photographers and young designers in the crowd.

GroundUP crew members take a break from their work to strike a pose with Boss Noa Laporga (front, second from right).

The event introduced models from the GroundUP Agency’s new model division.

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By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos, except for Douglas Kirkland’s, which should be evident
The third floor VIP Salon at Chanel Waikiki has been transformed into an art gallery for the exhibition of 36 photos by Douglas Kirkland of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, taken in 1962 when the designer was 27 years old.

Chanel’s Waikiki boutique welcomed Douglas Kirkland during a reception Thursday night welcoming the photographer and opening the exhibition of 36 of his photos of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, taken in 1962. The show continues through June 6.

The exhibition opened in New York eight months ago, and while curator James Cavello, president of Westwood Gallery in New York, said he showed 15 pieces at Art Basel in Miami — the most important art show in the nation — and in Los Angeles, but this is only the second time the exhibition is being shown in its entirety. The occasion is to mark Chanel’s 25th anniversary in Honolulu, the first city in the United States to have a Chanel boutique. To make way for the exhibition, the boutique’s third-floor was emptied of its usual displays and walls and track lighting were added to transform it into a fitting gallery space for Kirkland’s work.

Seeing the photos again, he said, “I feel Mademoiselle is here tonight.”

For many guests, meeting Kirkland provided a connection to the fashion icon, who he still refers to as Mademoiselle.

“If you knew her, you called her Mademoiselle, not Coco. She hated that. She had a short career as a cabaret singer — not a very successful one. Coco was her stage name.”

The photographer was only 27 when he got the assignment from Look magazine to photograph Chanel. The interest grew out of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wardrobe, which included Chanel pieces, and editors at the time wanted to share a glimpse into the world of haute couture.

Kirkland said, naturally, “I felt overwhelmed, but whenever I was in these situations I would never admit this. That was my attitude.”

Because of his youth, however, he said the designer didn’t trust him and requested that he first photograph her models in her designs.

“I brought her the prints, and what she saw she liked, and the doors opened,” he said. “I was free to go anywhere in her atelier.”

Kirkland has shot in Hawaii before, during the making of the movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and for the “Day in the Life of Hawaii” photography project in 1983, when he photographed the Big Island by air. He also notably spent an “evening with Marilyn Monroe” for Look, photographing her in bed the year before she died.

Douglas Kirkland photo
The photographer spent an evening with Marilyn Monroe in 1961.

One party-goer, Holly Bloom, brought back more memories for Kirkland, by wearing a dress bearing an image of Audrey Hepburn, who he photographed on the set of “How to Steal a Million.” He was photographing Audrey when he met his wife Françoise, who was visiting her mother, who worked in the film’s publicity department.

“Was it love at first sight?” I asked. “Yes!” he said, before backtracking a bit, saying, “Well, you better ask her.”

Karl Lagerfeld was recently taken by one of Kirkland’s images of a Chanel dress modeled by Yves Saint Laurent muse Betty Catroux, and he plans to recreate the dress in a future collection. Inspired by the images, he also reproduced Kirkland’s images in a book, “Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel Summer 62.”

I asked people throughout the evening which was their favorite photo, and many chose this image of the iconic Chanel, observing a sitting in her 31 Rue Cambon atelier, cigarette hanging from her lips, and scissors dangling from a length of ribbon around her neck.

Douglas Kirkland holds court, surrounded by a circle of admirers in the center of the salon.

Douglas, at 27, with Mademoiselle.

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By Nadine Kam

“Valentino: The Last Emperor” photos
Valentino is surrounded by models in his signature red, and his pugs.

We are doubly blessed this month to be able to see the film, “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” playing at Kahala Theatres, followed by a trip to the Chanel Waikiki boutique to get a taste of the rarified world of haute couture, as depicted in the movie, on vivid display.

Chanel will be bringing in its Métiers d’Art Collection 2009, “Paris Moscow,” for a special exhibition May 9 through June 6. (Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld makes an appearance in the “Valentino” film, toward its end.) I’ll have more information about the show, as well as images from the collection in Thursday’s paper, but for now, Valentino.

Anyone with the slightest interest in fashion MUST see this film, by Matt Tyrnauer. I saw it on Friday night, during a benefit screening presented by the Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation, also held in advance of the organization’s 20th annual Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, running May 21 to 24.

The film is funny and sad, with all the elements of great drama, including a quixotic protaganist, villains in the form of business execs and financiers, and tragedy in light of market forces and changing of the guard, leading to the end of the era in which Valentino thrived.

Beyond surface beauty, there are dozens of hands involved in constructing these garments by hand, with skills above and beyond what most people will ever be exposed to, because what most of us see is the ready-to-wear. By film’s end, one reviewer still couldn’t separate haute couture from L.L. Bean. That’s so sad. (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Moani Hara models an origami-inspired dress by Alysia Himoto.

TV fashion reality situations seem so controlled there’s no room for the serendipitous times when good images emerge from plain dumb luck. (Don’t look at mine, but wait for photographer Jamm Aquino’s to appear in Friday’s print edition.)

That’s what happened when I was previewing the University of Hawaii at Manoa Apparel Product Design and Merchandising seniors’ designs for their show coming up Sunday at noon at Pacific Beach Hotel. Usually we use the Art Department Building because, well, it’s art. Even in its messiest nooks, it possesses an uncalculated, chaotic beauty.

Designer Erin Ludolph arranges the obi on model Jenna Gyotoku.

Its bamboo forest was perfect for the students’ “Alice in Wonderland” theme, while harsher backdrops worked with more structured origami-inspired creations.

Nevertheless, we were there two hours and started to repeat backdrops, so one of the instructors asked if we wanted to take a look at the blacksmithing workshop.

Yeah!

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By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos

I lost one of my rubber slippers when it fell out of my car at the Hilton Saturday, so I had to look for a new pair on Easter Sunday.

While wandering through Ala Moana Center, I passed the timely Fifi Lapin artist-in-residence display at LeSportsac. So cute! Find out more about the artist and view more of Fifi’s fashion images at http://fifi-lapin.blogspot.com

Of course the job of a window display is to stop people in their tracks and make them walk in the door, where one of the front displays was a Hawaii and Guam exclusive bag bearing images of manapua, coconuts, Spam musubi and other images of island culture. Check it out:

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
A T&C purple, long-sleeved shirt was altered to go from laidback casual to sexy.

Over the weekend, Jon Ching, manager of T&C Surf Designs’ Kahala Mall store, presented in-store Deconstruction/Reconstruction demonstrations on how-to recycle plain, old T-shirts into sexier, edgier pieces.

Perhaps borrowing from a burger campaign, the idea is T&C Your Way. This is, after all, the era of personalization and consumers want choices in all matters. So why wear a T-shirt everyone has if you don’t have to?

Ching showed a braiding technique that can be done simply and easily using only scissors, needle and thread. It leaves a ruched effect and a more shapely, body-conscious fit.

The technique worked really well with T&C’s tattoo graphics, so as a result, people bought new shirts like those used by the T&C crew used in the store’s window display. The window was designed by UH fashion merchandising students, and the clothing on view is up for auction, tentatively through the end of the week. When I was there, it was up to $75 for one of the men’s outfits, and $65 for the dress with hot pink braided straps.

For those with no talent whatsoever, or those too timid to take scissors to their new shirt, Ching is actually willing to do the work free, for now. That is a really good deal because the purple tattoo shirt in the window is only $24, and to have a custom piece at that price is pretty awesome.

Three men’s shirts were cut and stitched together to creating this wearable collage.

By Nadine Kam

Amy Davis illustration
Peyton wears c.neeon dress, retro ’90s leather boots by Loius Vuitton, and silk skull scarf by Lucien Pellat-Finet, only because she has “waaaay too many by Mr. McQueen.”

Sometime Honolulu resident, artist and crazy rock ‘n’ roll chick Amy Davis sends word that she just started a new blog for Paper magazine, called Couture Voyeur. Voyeur is such a good word for the legion with a passion for fashion, but not the means.

It’s similar to her past Paper column, Style Fiends, but instead of “various hipsters styled out in très très delish avant fashion,” this time, she’s just reimagining one, Peyton, from week to week.

It’s a visual mashup of all the fashion, accessory and cosmetic finds that fill her eyes and head, emerging through her always fabulous illustrations. That’s one way to “wear” the best of the best when you don’t have the moolah for all. I told her I gotta get me some illustration skillz.

I look forward to viewing more of her finds.

Here are more views of c.neeon for spring/summer 2009:

By admin

Nadine Kam photos
elle Couture Jewellery’s creative director Lance Ishibashi and KCC’s Carol Sakihara at the opening of her students’ exhibition Friday night.

By Nadine Kam

elle Couture Jewellery creative director Lance Ishibashi made room in the new 909 Kapiolani jewelry boutique to share the floor with some talented young designers from Kapiolani Community College over the weekend, with the opening of an exhibition that will be on view through Jan. 29.

Lisa Shiroma’s copper “Star” necklace with satin ribbon.

I enjoyed looking at the pieces and entertained the thought of owning some of them because they are so different from what’s in the marketplace, which tends to follow big trends. Unfortunately, only a handful are actually available for sale, at a maximum of about $330. Given the class project nature of the work, many of them have sentimental attachment to the pieces they created, and you can’t put a price on that.

I loved Mia Takara’s brushed silver “Bear Fuzz,” but unfortunately, she’s not parting with it. It started as a ring with claws that wrap around the finger, but she found it difficult to attach the two pieces.

The students have access to limited tools and materials, but the show just proves how these are not handicaps when imagination is at work.

Since my story ran in the paper Thursday, some generous souls in the community have already offered donations of jewelry findings to the KCC program headed by artist Carol Sakihara. I’m sure more assistance would be welcome.

Jeremiah Skurtu with an “Industrial” ring he created. It was so large, they had to develop a special casting method for it. Below, he also wore a skull ring he created while attending high school in Texas.

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By Nadine Kam

Angry Woebot’s Aaron Martin was putting the finishing touches on his mural at The Contemporary Museum’s Contemporary Cafe yesterday, a work created over three days (slow for him but necessary for the performance aspect).

In case you couldn’t get there during the lunch hours he was working, I shot some video in which he talks a little about his method.

More of his work is also on view at Nuuanu Gallery, 1161 Nuuanu Gallery, through Feb. 7. You can read about the details here.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
The moon shined over Saturday night’s Starlight Ball and one of its go-go dancers in the Henry R. Luce Pavilion.

Stars were hidden by a layer of clouds during the 2009 Starlight Ball Saturday, but the full moon was out and the afternoon’s rains stopped just in time for the party to begin at 7 p.m. There was only one moment where guests had to run for cover of the Honolulu Academy of Arts covered courtyards.

The theme of the Prada-sponsored Art After Dark event was “When Cool Was King,” paying tribute to Vegas and the Rat Pack era. Outside, showgirls greeted guests and inside, guests were invited to bid on silent auction items to benefit the academy-affiliated Art to Go, an after-school community arts program geared toward Hawaii’s underserved youth.

One thing less to bid on: Lesli-Ann Yano was already wearing her Prada Tessuto stones necklace.

At the head of the auction item list were Prada’s new Paillettes evening bag, Tessuto bag, Tessuto stones necklace with Swarovski crystals and Tessuto stones earrings.

I took as many pictures as I could between snacking on ravioli from Ruth’s Chris Steak House, scallops from RumFire Waikiki, duck from Twist at Hanohano, and ahi and purple sweet potato from E&O Trading Co. Those flush enough to dine under the tents were treated to dinner by Chef Mavro. Unfortunately, I had eaten a giant cookie before arriving was barely able to check out Hokulani Bake Shop’s cupcake bar, which allowed guests to choose their cupcake, frosting and sugar sprinkles, an edible form of art-making.

It was all rather sedate and dignified until dinner was over and the dancing began. That’s when the jackets started coming off and rather than the sounds of the Rat Pack, the music was all fun ’80s like Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough,” Madonna’s “Material Girl,” B52’s “Love Shack” and Klymaxx’s “Meeting in the Ladies Room.”

Someone decided the sculpture in the Luce Pavilion should be dressed for the occasion.

Taking a break from dancing were, from left, Prada Hawaii Corp. area manager Joseph Incao, Joanna Bielawski, Hisako Tominaga, David Andreoli and Emilio Nazario.

Elvis and the showgirls were there to pose for pictures with guests. (more…)