Robert Tolentino photos
Kaitlyn Metcalf in JAM Design Concepts handmade feather bustier and skirt ($450), which appears in Fashion Chicago Magazine this month.

In the heart of a Chicago winter, there’s a little bit of warm Hawaii, thanks in part to the mother-daughter team of Jane Ann Metcalf of JAM Design Concepts and Kaitlyn Metcalf, a contributing writer for Fashion Chicago magazine.

The four-page, January 2012, spread was shot locally at Pat Moore’s residence by photographer Robert Tolentino, and also picking up credits were Toni Farley and Lisa Ponce de Leon for hair and makeup, lighting and photographic assistant  Brice Kurihara, and model Sarah Inouye, in fashions from Nordstrom and JAM Design Concepts.

You can check out more at www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/320825

Dalia MacPhee strapless mermaid dress ($328) from Nordstrom, with a Kate Spade necklace ($398) from its fashion jewelry department.

BCBG sweater from Nordstrom Individualist, with Tom Ford sunglasses ($425).

WSJ
The Wall Street Journal offered a handful of styling tips to make Hawaiian wear look modern.

In an article entitled “Endless Summer,” that appeared Jan. 14, the Wall Street Journal hailed “the wonders of Hawaii” in fashion.

Last year, I called 2011 the year of the Hawaiian comeback due to the resurgence of Hawaiian prints and styles on European and New York runways, and it’s looking like designers have yet to tire of the motifs.

The continuation was helped, in part, by Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s trip here last spring, when I helped send them on a mission to scour vintage shops for pieces of old Hawaii. One of the places on the list I sent over was Catherine’s Closet, the vintage shop at 125 Merchant St. run by Catherine Fong.
In a blog post last April, I posed the rhetorical question, “Could it be safe to guess we may find a bit of vintage Hawaii inspiration on their next runway?”

Photo courtesy Catherine’s Closet
Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough, left, and Lazaro Hernandez, with Catherine’s Closet owner Catherine Fong.

Sure enough, WSJ writer Alexa Brazilian described their spring collection as “a veritable luau of pareu skirts, hibiscus blooms and tiki imagery.”

Brazilian reports that Hernandez said, “We found ourselves fascinated and drawn toward relics of midcentury tiki culture after an extended trip to Hawaii. Primitive things at a time of concurrent obsessions with everything futuristic was interesting.”

Brazilian also noted that others falling under Hawaii’s spell include Richard Chai, Mark Fast, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci and Joseph Altuzarra.

Hopefully, local designers will be able to capitalize on the moment as well.