By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Nuuanu Gallery looked like a clothing boutique with a combination of the “Dirty Laundry” exhibition and Saturday’s T-Party going on. Mariko Merritt has fun with some of the shirts.

Dropped by Nuuanu Gallery’s second T-Party on Saturday, the 13th, where there were some very cool designs and the artists were there to talk story and inspiration.

I couldn’t stay long though. Had dozens of things to return, the aftermath of another grueling photo shoot for HI Luxury magazine. And of course errands always take longer to complete in reality than in theory, so I was late for and missed the LesPros Girls model contest finale. Hopefully, I can get the results later.

There were handmade bags and scarves in addition to the T-shirts. This bag by Kelsey Napier was $15.

From left, artists John Koga, Alan Konishi and Mat Kubo show their designs outside Nuuanu Gallery.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam video

Stopped by Nuuanu Gallery last Friday to check out boxes of T-shirts coming in from artists across the country, on exhibit as part of Jesse Arneson’s and Scott Na’auao’s “Dirty Laundry” show continuing through Sept. 21. Official grand opening is during First Friday, the 5th.

The idea is to not get rid of your old shirt just because it has an itty bitty stain or hideous blotch. I, for one, am prone to wearing white and somehow ending up at pasta restaurants and spattering marinara sauce on myself. Now, apparently, all life’s little accidents can be turned into art! I’m already accustomed to wearing holey T-shirts at home because I have parrots who love nothing better than to pick seams apart while riding on my shoulders. And forget wearing jewelry around them.

The gallery still held the Tom Okimoto and Satoru Abe exhibition when I was there. Over the weekend it was transformed with a grape sorbet color scheme.

Above is a video of Scott and Jesse opening boxes and taking a look at some of the shirts for the first time, with gallerina Mariko Merritt also admiring the shirts and some of the aromas wafting from them.

My favorites were Rosemarie Fiore’s fireworks painted works, though they are meant to be seen, not worn due to chemical treatments and general shredding and burning that wouldn’t stand up to washing.

By Nadine Kam

Dussault Apparel photo
Criss Angel and Jason Dussault, founder and head designer of Dussault Apparel, are about to launch Criss Angel clothing lines.

If every singer and celebutante can have his/her own clothing line, surely a man of magic and illusions like Criss Angel can conjure up something for adoring fans to wear. Next time you’re in Vegas, you’ll be able to check out Criss Angel Believe and MF13 merch, in ever-popular gothic/rock ‘n’ roll style.

Dussault Apparel will design and produce, with Criss Angel, the MF13 line of apparel including jeans, T-shirts and accessories to be sold exclusively at the Criss Angel Mindfreak store in the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and online through his Web site, www.crissangel.com.

Dussault will also design and produce a collection of T-shirts for the new illusion-based “Criss Angel Believe,” the Criss Angel-Cirque du Soleil production opening at the Luxor on Oct. 10. The Criss Angel Believe merchandise will be sold exclusively at the Luxor’s Cirque du Soleil store.

By Nadine Kam

Joker T-shirts are featured in the window at Hot Topic. (Sorry about the reflections but they were behind glass.)

With the long-awaited debut of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight,” this weekend, Hot Topic is offering a promotion in which those who spend $20 on any Dark Knight merchandise from the store will receive a voucher good for $8 off your ticket to see the movie. That would be pretty close to seeing the movie free if you were planning to pick up some merch anyway.

They say the voucher will be accepted at Consolidated and Regal Cinemas here.I was walking by the store and of course the image of Heath Ledger as the Joker caught my eye. I had been waiting to see this movie since it was announced that he would play the Joker. It makes me sad now. If he were alive today, the T-shirts would be great marketing; now such things feel a little macabre and exploitive. I’m know I’m going to miss him forever.

By Nadine Kam

Among the new arrivals at Nordstrom Rack are a bunch of Ed Hardy T-shirts for just under $50.

Retailers are feeling the pinch of reduced spending but it’s hard to believe considering the malls are as jammed as ever. It’s still hard to find parking.

Watching the “Sex and the City” movie at Ward last week turned out to be a shopping hazard. I ended up walking over to Nordstrom Rack before the movie. Found only one el cheapo summer dress. Whew! But after meeting up with my friends, we went back to the store after the movie. Perhaps feeling inspired, I picked up a jacket, shoes and dress. Then, we went for Coldstone Ice Cream. Then we went back to the store and I found two more jackets. Bummer.

Then checked out the sales racks at Neiman this past weekend. I felt immune due to the heat, which doesn’t encourage dressing up. As usual, there was lots of beautiful stuff. Considering an Elizabeth and James top and a totally impractical, happy piece by Phillip Lim I don’t need.

This dress is among the summer arrivals at Neiman Marcus. I loved the plushness of it all, the idea of being swathed in a sheet and going through the day as if you never got out of bed. I was so busy hugging the dress I didn’t check the label or price.

By Nadine Kam

www.ejfoundation.org
The Environmental Justice Foundation shirts were designed by, from left, Luella Bartley, Betty Jackson and Katharine Hamnett.

It’s nice to see Brit designer Luella Bartley using her power for good. She just may be the Bono of the fashion world considering her work for the Environmental Justice Foundation, and Tonic, an ethical T-shirt company whose sales benefit environmental and social welfare projects around the world.

The 100 percent cotton shirts for EJF, above, are priced in pounds at www.ejfoundation.org, making them about $60 for us Yanks. There’s also a colorful floral design by Christian Lacroix. Sales of the men’s and women’s shirts will help to fund the current campaigns:

>> Promoting ethical and sustainable cotton production free from forced child labor and pesticides.
>> Protecting coastal regions and communities from the destruction of precious natural habitats caused by shrimp farms.
>> Seeking an end to illegal fishing, which causes destruction of natural marine environments and livelihoods of coastal communities in developing countries.
>> Persuading governments to ban the use of Endosulfan, a pervasive pesticides.
>> Ending illegal trafficking of plants and animals that is reducing wildlife populations, some to the verge of extinction.
>> Bringing an end to bycatch, millions of tons of fish that are accidentally caught and discarded annually.

At the Tonic Web site www.tonicgen.com four designs by Bartley are featured. The T-shirts are made of a 70/30 blend of bamboo fiber and cotton, and priced at $45 for men and women. Sales will help the following causes:

>> “Pagan Sun” tee: Protect 1/4 acre of endangered coral reef near Palau, Micronesia with partner SaveNature.org. The project aims to protect more than 600 coral and 1,400 fish species, plus sea turtles, dugongs, giant clams and chambered nautilus.
>> Stag tee: A partnership with Alive & Kicking, UK, provides free soccer balls with educational messages about HIV/AIDS and malaria to kids, to combine athletics with education.
>> Robin tee: Along with Friends of Paradis des Indiens, Tonic is helping provide shoes to 2,500 children in Haiti to help them get to school and learn academic subjects and skills such as carpentry, sewing, weaving, agriculture and reforestation.
>> Scary Douglas tee: Revenue from sales of this shirt goes to The Global Fund for Children, who support Fundación Sim’s Healthy Little Mouths program, providing mobile dental clinics that offer free check-ups, toothbrushes and toothpaste to children in Colombia.

By Nadine Kam

Design by Humans artwork
March 25’s winning design at Design By Humans is Punktipus by New York artist Manki.

Fancy yourself a T-shirt designer? You can put your skills to the test at Design By Hümans, a Web site where artists around the globe put their work out to be rated in the site’s Shirt of the Day, Shirt of the Week and Shirt of the Month contests. A design winning all three categories could earn you up to $3,500 in cash and store credit, plus residuals from sales of T-shirts bearing your design.

An additional contest running through March 31 is the opportunity to design a T-shirt for the London-based electro-rock band Temposhark’s “The Invisible Line” tour. The winner will be chosen by the band and will receive $1,000 and “other goodies,” whatever that means.

Those with no artistic skills whatsoever can shop the winning designs or peek at a T-shirt 101 tutorial which outlines the color processes involved in applying designs to shirts.

T-shirts sell for about $15 to $24. You can also earn affiliate dollars by sending other people to the site, like this: www.designbyhumans.com

Up for vote are “Employee of the Month” by Casajordi from France, and “Lonely Luchador,” below, by Gaunty of Bilbao, Spain.