By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
A peek inside the Marciano boutique, which opened this morning at Royal Hawaiian Center.

Ventured into Waikiki this morning for a peek inside the newly open Marciano boutique, the first in Hawaii, at Royal Hawaiian Center.

The brand is known for glamorous, sexy clothing, and a spot check on prices revealed dresses at about $188 and tops starting at $40. The palette is strong on red, black and hunter green and there was also a selection of lace tops suitable for the soon-to-arrive holidays. Just thought I’d remind you of those. Somehow, the span between October and December always feels condensed, and always a fine time for a little stress relief, which brings me to:

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An ahhh! moment: Agasa Yamana, left, and Reiko Tokushige Rogers, CEO and Executive Producer of Studio Rim Hawaii, Inc., relax in the women’s lounge at Moana Lani Spa. Or, try to. Reiko is recording her thoughts about the palatial spa.

The Moana Surfrider’s celebration of the opening of its Moana Lani Spa this morning. I was stressed getting out the door this morning, thinking of the eight stories I have due by Friday (actually three are due Sunday but do I want to work Saturday?), but all that faded away just walking through the spa, which may be the biggest on this island, covering 16,000 square feet. Only Ihilani may be bigger, and I’m sure someone will correct me if it is.

There was a huge crowd waiting to get in the door, but once in, seriously, the place is so big that exploring the rooms, I rarely saw more than six people at once.

The view from one of the men’s massage therapy rooms; likely the last I’ll see of it. Don’t worry. The views are just as good from the women’s rooms.

The amenities:
>> 2 Oceanfront couples treatment suites
>> 8 massage therapy rooms
>> 2 body treatment rooms
>> 1 Vichy shower water therapy room
>> 3 facial rooms

The Westin WorkOut fitness center is built, but the last step is placing the machines which I was told would arrive today. Exercisers will have a view of Kalakaua Avenue, which can be just as entertaining as anything on TV, making workout time fly by.

Orchids at the pedicure station.

Most of the rooms have incredible views of the beach, and I didn’t want to leave, threatening to come back with my laptop computer, only to be told no computers are allowed in the spa. For good reason! Work has been presented as a “lifestyle” to those of us who can’t separate the two, but even when it’s fun, the wear and tear is there.

If you need to relax, call 237-2535 or visit www.moanalanispa.com 

Jovana Ihilani Ignjatovic visited the spa with her parents. Her first two names translate as “majestic heavenly splendor.” Her last name is Serbian. She was most interested in a nearby Jacuzzi but her parents thought it was best to keep her away from the water.

The spa carries Kauai-based Malie spa therapy products, as well as ComfortZone products. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii director of public relations Candice Kraughto shows her stash of ComfortZone lip products, at $24 to $25 each. She may be the only person to carry her cosmetics in a Tiffany box instead of a makeup pouch. I’ve known Candice a long time. She’s one of the few who remember I once had a vintage/consignment shop called Hippie Chicks. She always bought the most beautiful things and I asked before if she kept any of it. She didn’t, but if she did, I’d probably buy it back! Iguess some things never change. She’s carrying a Louis Vuitton Alma  bag in ivory.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Steve Czerniak and Allison Kim-Czerniak welcomed patrons to celebrate the first anniversary of their Alliway boutique at Ward Warehouse.

Alliway celebrated its one-year anniversary with a party Friday night packed with friends and well-wishers who didn’t have to walk far to find a platter of food right in front of them, no doubt due in part to the work of The Wedding Café’s Tanna Dang who kept an array of savories and sweets coming, from onion-and-pear tarts, prosciutto & melon antipast to chocolate and pistachio macaroons.

Also to mark the occasion, Allison Kim-Czerniak, who believes in helping young designers get a start, hosted the debut of Marylea Conrad’s latest creation, a line of Hawaii- and nature-inspired jewelry named after her 8-month old daughter Kiele. The line is Ki-ele, with the hyphen thrown in there to help people with pronunciation. OK, I’m just wondering who born in Hawaii can’t pronounce the name, but that just tells me Marylea probably has plans beyond our shores.

But the youngest designer on the premises was 9-year-old Tai Masuda, whose necklace I admired as soon as I walked in the door. I kept looking for it on the shelves, only to find out that she’s Alli’s intern and designed the necklace herself.

Ever impatient, I was like, “Well, when are you going to make some for the store?” Tai said she was hopeful about the possibility of selling her work but said she “didn’t want to push” Alli, who was enthusiastic but just wanted to make sure Tai was ready to “release” her design.

Tai has a really good eye and outgoing personality, so she was helping a lot of adults make their choices. I was torn between a pair of silver earrings with deep blue stones or gold earrings with orange stones. At one point, I was ready to go with the silver because I already have a lot of gold earrings and, for practical purposes, thought it best to diversify. Tai was mildly enthused, but when I showed her the gold, she became wildly enthused. “Oh, that’s the one!” she said, noting it was better for my skin tone. Yup. There is a reason I favor the warmer color.

The only thing left to do was cut the birthday cake from The Cake Gallery, but Alli was wavering on that. It was a little too perfect to mar.

Anyway, it was a fun party and eventful first year. Congratulations Steve and Alli!

Marylea Conrad, left, debuted her Ki-ele line of jewelry, named after her second daughter. Her first daughter was welcomed with a line of swimwear, Melia Conrad, named after her. We’re wondering what will happen if Marylea ever gave birth to a boy. She’s with Brie Thalman, who also modeled for the jewelry line.

Tai Masuda, left, and Nanea Alden. I was admiring the necklace Tai was wearing and found out she made it. Below, she helps a customer make a decision.

There was much debate as to whether or not this Cake Love creation was ever going to be eaten. Even toward the end of the evening, Alli was reluctant to cut into it, but alas, a cake must fulfill its destiny. We’ll always have pictures.

By Nadine Kam

Running this in tomorrow’s paper, but in case you need to plan to escape from work or dress accordingly:

Sephora welcomes Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers Fragrance Collection of five scents — Love, Lil’ Angel, Music, Baby and G, for Gwen — with kawaii doll atomizers inspired by L.A.M.B.

The introductions take place from noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Ala Moana store, and the same times Friday at the Pearlridge location.

Dress like your favorite Harajuku Girl and you’ll go home with a free gift. Those who purchase all five fragrances will receive a free charm bracelet and disco ball to house the entire collection.

By Nadine Kam

Click on the photo of Leanne Marshall’s fashion show for a Newsday report on the “Project Runway” shows, with videos.

Timing was bad for this year’s “Project Runway,” with the New York shows now over and the series not even close to wrapping up, such that a record six designers were able to show at Bryant Park.

The season has been lackluster, likely due to stunt casting rather than casting for talent. Leanne Marshall is the favorite to win and I was rooting for her from the start, even though it was a shaky one for her. I liked that she’s from Portland, Ore., an under-the-radar sort of city. Whenever I go there, people always ask, “Why? What’s there?”

A lot. Farmer’s markets, great outdoors, restaurants that keep improving, fun and quirky boutiques, great furniture shops, etc. I love the city’s sort of Wild West pioneering, throw-out-the-rules style and indie spirit. It makes for some innovative, forward designs. (Strangely enough, I was just informed by someone I just met that I seem rather schizophrenic. On the one hand, I love Portland’s scruffy, scrappy, boot-strapping indie vibe, but I also love the other extreme of New York polish and well-edited aesthetic, and Leanne’s designs seem to reconcile the two aspects.)

A Seaplane fashion show.

I’ve been buying work by Portland designers for about 12 years, mostly through the local designer Mother Ship Seaplane. Sadly, I’ve also watched their prices climb — after a move from Belmont, where I bought a house, to the luxe NW 23rd Street — from about $40 for a handmade, original designer piece, to more than $250. Well-deserved, but …well, you know. It’s the difference between coming home with five pieces and one.

If you’re not shopping young designer there, there are also spectacular vintage and second-hand shops all over town where I could always find great pieces like 1950s-60s nylon blouses for $8 to $12, and 1950s dresses and a black velvet cape-y jacket with ruffled collar for $25. I haven’t been back there for two years though, so I’m pretty sure prices have shot up since the city continues its trend of being Californiafied. I hope it stops soon, though it has brought better restaurants to the city.

Another look at designs you might find at Seaplane.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Outside his newest Spiral Girl boutique, Hidetsugu Okiyama, center, is pictured with Body & Soul president and CEO Tao E. Miller, left, and Le Grand Marquet owner Masanori Akiyama.

A taste of Shibuya 109 has hit Ala Moana Center with the opening of Spiral Girls, a trendy Japan-based casual-wear boutique whose president Hidetsugu Okiyama was in town to oversee the grand opening the morning of Sept. 12.

Boutique manager Makiko Maddaloni, left, and Kanako Hatamoto show some of the Spiral Girl T-shirts, running from about $30 to $50. Dresses are about $72. The boutique also carries a Spiral Girl-branded line of jewelry made in collaboration with Hawaii’s Maxi Jewelry Co.

Okiyama opened his first boutique five years ago, coiniciding with Japan’s casual boom, and his chain of stores now numbers 30. The Hawaii store is his first in the United States, and with Body & Soul president and CEO Tao Miller helping with the Japanese to English translation, Okiyama said that he believes there’s room for his company here because he sees a lot of Hawaii people traveling to Japan, who really love the youthful, playful style of Shibuya 109.

Spiral Girls makes layering easy.

Okiyama said Hawaii is still an ideal launching point for Japanese companies trying to acclimate to doing business in the United States, allowing them to adapt their designs to American tastes while still attracting a sizable clientele of Japanese visitors and residents who are already familiar with the brand. The strategy has worked with restaurants before, but it looks like the next Japanese invasion of Hawaii will be on the clothing front.

By Nadine Kam

The dress.

Well, I guess I spoke too soon when I said I wouldn’t be adding to my wardrobe over Labor Day weekend. After I wrote that Friday, I headed home, then out for dinner, when a friend called and said a top I had admired at Betsey Johnson had gone on sale and did I want her to buy it or put it on hold for me. “It’s $75, $75!” she emphasized.

“Uh, well, I have to try it on,” I said, but told her to go ahead and put it on hold.

So I went to Ala Moana first thing Saturday morning, just before the store opened, but what I had really looked at that night was the same design, as a dress with a feminine 1930s-40s vibe. I tried both on, and even though the top was on sale, I still liked the dress better for ease of wear. With the top I’d still have to hunt for the right pencil skirt — darn, I had just passed on a good M Missoni one on sale at NM weeks ago — or jeans, which I rarely wear. So I got the dress AND a peace dove bracelet.

The bracelet.

I interviewed the designer at the time the Honolulu boutique opened and it’s amazing to think it was only then that — although she’s been in business for 30 years — she was just starting to license her brand, which seemed very belated. Girls would have killed long before now for Betsey Johnson jewelry, shoes, sunglasses, purses, etc. But, I get it. When you’re so engrossed in the day-to-day biz, it’s hard to address the future beyond the next collection. I don’t envy designers. It’s a tough business, hard to predict consumers’ future desires and you pretty much have to make the right call every season.

Anyway, my friend called while I was in the store and goes, “Are you buying it and would you mind if I buy the same thing?”

She was in the mall so walked over and ended up with the top, so I guess it all worked out. I don’t know how other people feel about friends buying the same clothes, though it seems to happen to me now more than ever. I guess it’s natural for people who hang out together to share or grow into similar tastes, but it makes it hard when you have to check in with each other to make sure you’re not wearing the same thing at the same time.

By Nadine Kam

Labor Day weekend usually means three things here: outdoors, barbecues and end of summer sales. I know a lot of people looking forward to shopping but I’m kind of shopped out, having cornered the market on difficult-to-wear shoes in recent months. I’m not usually a shoe person at all, but the styles cropping up over the past year have just been so amazing. (Sorry Katlin, I bought your Jeffrey Campbell shoe too, in purple AND black, so we’ll be twins! BTW, I’ve seen bow ties at Nordstrom and Ralph Lauren.)

I’m not the only one. The Twitterverse has been abuzz lately with talk about fabulous shoe finds. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Designers always have to find something to capture our attention and hard-won dollars. Just as we’re suffering “It” bag burnout, they’ve amped up the shoes and shades.

If shopping is your weekend sport, here are a few things going on:

>> Barneys New York: Get an additional 60 percent off selected sale items through Monday. Waikele Premium Outlets.

>> Fighting Eel: Labor Day clearance with an additional 25 percent off select items that have already been marked down, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, at 47 N. Hotel St. Call 524-1472.

>> Shasa Emporium: Labor Day Weekend sale through Monday with 25 percent off all Tylie Malibu handbangs, 25 percent off existing markdowns, 25 percent off select denim, and 10 percent off regular priced merch, with some restrictions. At Kahala Mall. Call 735-5122.

Split Obsession photo

>> Split Obsession: Back to school sale through Sunday with 60 percent off its sale rack, 30 percent off all denim and bags, 20 percent off sweaters and toys, 15 percent off all tees and hats, and 10 percent off all blind box toys and accessories. At Koko Marina Shopping Center.

>> Hawaii’s CW Station and the Valerie Joseph Boutique are presenting the fall launch of “90210″ in advance of the TV premiere, and the season premiere of “Gossip Girl” from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday at the Ala Moana Center boutique. Attendees will also have the opportunity to win a makeover from Profiles Hair Salon. There will also be fashion shows at noon Saturday and Monday on the Ala Moana Center Stage.

If you just happen to be in the mall, Blue Hawaii LifeStyle has launched its signature açai bowls, featuring the super antioxidant berry, organic granola and organic honey, and will be offering free tastings from 9 to 11 a.m Sunday and 8:30 to 11 a.m. Monday. Bowls otherwise will sell for $6.95 to $11.95. Look for it in the Nordstrom wing. Call 949-080.

You can follow Ala Moana at www.twitter.com/alamoanacenter for updates on sales and events, for instance, an Ann Taylor Labor Day Sale with up to 60 percent off original prices on select styles, and an A|X Armani Exchange end of summer sale with an additional 25 percent off already reduced merchandise.

>> “Fashion + Music = Art” add up from 8 p.m. Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday (you have the day off, right?). The event will feature an 11 p.m. fashion show by Urban Nomad, sponsored by DisFunkshion magazine, with live street graffiti artist, an art gallery by local artists and photographers, body artistry by Flaunt Makeovers and the music of DJ Euphorik. Cover is free. At Ala Moana Center, 3rd floor, Ho’okipa Terrace. For more info, visit www.pearlhawaii.com.

Honolulu Academy of Arts

Also, check out the gift shop at Honolulu Academy of Arts, which has introduced a line of handblown glass jewelry by L.A. artist Jenny Gaynor, who studied in Murano, Italy. Call 532-8703.

While you have the time, some may want to enter Avon Books’ Model Photo contest that ties in to the release of Carol Alt’s new book, “The Year’s Model”? Up for grabs is a prize of a professional photo shoot, a meet-and-greet with a modeling agency, a wardrobe and the possibility of gracing the cover of Carol Alt’s next book. Just upload your lovely mug online through Nov. 21, 2008 at http://www.harpercollins.com/Imprints/Avon/Sweeps.aspx

By Nadine Kam

Hey Gucci fans, Ala Moana Center has joined the Web 2.0 universe and is now on Twitter. They posted this special offer this morning, good through Monday:

“Visit Gucci for a Hawaii exclusive charm with purchase now through 8/18/08. While supplies last, call 942-1148.”

You can continue following them for special offers at http://twitter.com/AlaMoanaCenter

You can follow me at http://twitter.com/fashiontribe

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Mini cupcakes from Cake Couture accompanied delicious pupu from Town restaurant at a party to celebrate the debut of Celine’s Tourbillon collection. It was a cupcake kind of weekend for me, starting with pink-frosted mini cupcakes at Betsey Johnson Thursday, a cupcake going away for our SB intern Bali Fergusson Friday, and heading to lunch at The Contemporary Museum Saturday there was a bridal shower on the lawn with a tiered arrangement of cupcakes for dessert.

A garden party theme party marked the debut of Celine’s new Tourbillon collection of handbags and accessories. The design reflects Celine Vipiana’s passion for horses, and with the swirling pattern that looks like a floral print from a distance is imagery of a carriage race against canvases of white, blue, red, black and green.

Prices start at $165 for a key case to $890 for a travel-size weekend bag.

From left, Celine store manager Miki Hayashi Yim welcomed Maki Takushi, Toshie Taniguchi and Masami Clahan. Maki created dozens of green-hued flower arrangements in many sizes, like the one above, for the event. Knowing the color scheme, she was able to coordinate her outfit — with light green scarf and cream-colored jacket— to match the flowers perfectly!

Celine photo
It’s hard to see, but within the floral, whirling trompe-l’oeil Tourbillon pattern is imagery of a horse, carriage and rider.

Emily Lopez showed up with two dates, her husband Michael Goyne, left, and Kawika Williams.

By Nadine Kam

Readers outside Hawaii who have had trouble finding Fighting Eel, or those too lazy to shop the old-fashioned way—by placing one foot in front of the other and strolling store isles—can now shop online at the company’s official online shop.

The company has just launched the shop on its Web site and to mark the occasion is offering free shipping on all orders, plus, the first 100 customers will receive a free one-size-fits-all Puffy Tube Top with purchase.

Go to www.fightingeel.com/shop to browse through current summer styles like the Dress Luka ($168), above, and Dress Triangle ($166).