By Nadine Kam

Hiya and welcome to Fashion Tribe, a creation that I hope will be as much about you as the designers, fashion, style, beauty, the arts and culture covered in the Star-Bulletin Style pages.

I’d like this space to address one subject missing in the daily paper, where, due to space limitations, those who wear and love fashion tend to be underrepresented while I try to keep up with everything our busy retailers and designers are up to. Hopefully, you’ll feel comfortable enough to share your thoughts on trends, designers you love, and what you’re wearing, as well as what beauty products work or don’t work for you to help all who need this vast treasure trove of combined knowledge. Guys are welcome to share too!

This will be a work in progress, but our techies are busily working on a way for you to post photos of your favorite outfits, season must-haves that you’re eyeing, and cool stuff you want to share with the community.

I do want to promote a friendly haven for fashionphiles, so if you are posting, I expect you to play nicely. There will likely be some who want to trash fashion because they consider it to be a frivolous pursuit prone to excess. I think quite the opposite. As a form of art, fashion is an expression of cultural and creative achievement. I can think of no finer use for a pair of hands than to create something of beauty.

I think it’s a mistake to confuse fashion with consumerism, which I believe can be attributed to immaturity. I know the older I get, I tend to buy fewer things because I make better choices, or at least buy things I will actually wear vs. adding to my closet decor. There’s nothing like years of sending costly mistakes off to Goodwill, Salvation Army or Savers to make a person start shopping smarter. This is not to say I have a 100 percent perfect record yet. This brings me to …

Here I am in a photo taken by Emi Hart, with a shirt
Allison Izu Nagato, right, helped me turn
into a halter top at Closet Swap. More photos
of the event can be found at the Fashionista’s Market Web site.

Closet R/X

Erin Kaichi, left, and Jennifer Lim show their T-shirt-turned-halter creations.

Closet mistakes were addressed during Fashionista’s Market first Closet Swap event on Aug. 16. The event brought about 200 women to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii to trade unwanted items.

Women showed up from 9 a.m. with bags of prom dresses, old jeans, T-shirts and other garb that never fit or they never cared to wear after shopping exuberance faded. Some items still had price tags attached.

Ed Muncal gives Elina Koretsky a touch of color.

While waiting for clothing to be sorted and hung on racks, participants were able to get a chair massage courtesy of Elements Spa & Salon, updos and other hairstyling by Ulupono Academy, makeup by Ed Muncal or Flaunt make-overs, decorate cookies, pick up Alterna hair and skincare products at a discount, and take part in a T-shirt workshop with Allison Izu Nagato of Reincarnation.

Allison Izu Nagato helps Amanda Wong on the sewing machine.

I brought in three of my own T-shirts to be reworked. These included a pink Yoshitomo Nara baby-T that was always too snug, a Paul Frank Clancy T that was getting a bit tired, and a psychedelic Japan-made shirt I picked up this year at the Hawaii Opera Theatre Act II fundraiser, that was cute but always too long. I reshaped all into different kinds of halter tops. Very fun and a big mahalo to Allison, who got on the sewing machine to help everyone stitch up their creations. When someone slipped in a shirt studded in rhinestones that broke her sewing needle, she started stitching up garments by hand!

An orange blossom provided color inspiration for Noelehua Archambault.

The more they saw, the more creative women got as the morning progressed, mixing and matching various T-shirt designs from shirts culled from the stacks of clothing that women brought in to swap. All were put to good use, recycled into skirts, pillow cases and tote bags.

I brought in 16 items of clothing to swap, including tops from Banana Republic and A/X, a skirt by Laundry and DKNY cropped hoodie. I thought I’d be lucky if I could find two items in the stacks to take home. My finds included a camel-colored kid leather skirt (tags attached) and an elaborate beaded and sequinned red halter top. Thanks to those who gave these up; I promise to make good use of them!

FM Style Sisters Emi Hart and Alyssa Fung made a call for those who contributed the most clothing and accessories. About a dozen women brought in more than 50 items, but the biggest donations came from Tia Yamashita (74 items) and Rhonda Riveira (79 items). For her contribution, Riveira received a $100 Fashionista’s Market gift certificate. (Next one’s Sept. 29 and 30 at JCCH, see fashionistasmarket.com.)

Knowing that the clothing would go to a good cause, Riveira had emptied her own closet, as well as asking friends and family members for their unwanted items.

Yamashita said she was glad to give up the things she can’t use, knowing that a portion of funds raised from the event , as well as unclaimed clothing would be going to the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter. “I think the cause is a good one,” she said.

The shelter needs clothing throughout the year to clothe those who require its services, including children and teens in need of school clothes, and women who need outfits for work or job interviews.

I was surprised to see Will Hoover there covering the event for the Honolulu Advertiser. Fashion’s not his usual beat, but his opinion was, “This is pretty cool.” He said he was sent by editors who hoped a fight would ensue, but he’s a funny guy so might have been joking.

No such catfights materialized. There was no shoving or elbowing and no one got trampled in the dash for the racks. It was so cordial, that when I dropped a few things, another girl took time off from her hunting to help me pick them up.

Women paid $20 to $30 to swap ’til they drop while also enjoying a bento lunch and going home with goodie bags of samples from Alterna and other sponsors, and a can of Red Bull to get them through the rest of the day. It was a great event! Next up for Fashionista’s Market is its 2nd anniversary party Sept. 22 at Pearl Ultra Lounge.

Fendi at HDC

Doug Jago’s feather accents.

Later that night I headed to the Honolulu Design Center for the Tau Dance Theatre fund-raiser that included a Fendi fashion show.

At the door I ran into Douglas Jago, visual presentation manager for Neiman Marcus, who always manages to catch my eye with his individual panache. He always knows how to capture the spirit of an event while having fun with fashion. His ensemble included a Jil Sander black leather jacket worn under a cream-colored Hugo Boss satin jacket, paired with a black Marc Jacobs skirt. Hidden underneath it all were red sequined pants and the piece de resistance were a bunch of green feathers tucked into his breast pocket. He acquired the feathers from his friend Gipsy Norton.

The man of the evening, Tau Dance Theatre founder and director Peter Rockford Espiritu, was dressed to stand out in a Trina Turk jacket featuring a floral print of chrysanthemums and stylized blossoms reminiscent of clouds in Chinese paintings.

Dialta Alliata de Montereale and Azzurra Alliata, taking a break after the Fendi fashion show.

One of Espiritu’s best cheerleaders is Dialta Alliata de Montereale, who’s enlisted her children in “the cause.” Azzurra Alliata served as one of the Fendi models, while Yana was responsible for capturing the evening’s proceedings on videotape.

The best dressed women were models on the Fendi stage, wearing Fall 2007’s furs, coats and evening dresses. But the talk after the show turned to shoes. Women marveled over the models’ ability to maneuver in 7- to 8-inch heels, a feat that could be perilous on a bumpy street. “They’re actually comfortable,” said model Rain Maiava when I saw her a couple of days after the show.

Also in the crowd was Audrey Fu, who’s enjoying her retirement since closing Villa Roma this summer. Since then, I’ve spotted her at Nobu’s and the Honolulu Academy of Arts Prada preview night for “Showcase 2007.”

Also attending was Tina Bovino Agostini, below center, who had time after modeling to enjoy the rest of the evening with her mother Charlotte Chang, below left, and friend Yvie Bryan. In addition to modeling, Agostini got her real estate license as a Realtor Associate last year and is now helping with her mom at Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 1:00 am and is filed under Scene spy, Parties, Fashion shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.