2011 American Girl is local girl

American Girl photos
Kanani Akina at her shave ice stand. Check out the realistic plastic cups and her rubber slippers.

ENTER TO WIN! » Through April 15, create a Kanani-themed postcard atamericangirl.com/ girloftheyear to be entered in a drawing to win a Kanani doll and book. See the American Girl catalog at americangirl.com, or request a catalog by calling 800-845-0005. » Design an outfit for Kanani and win a doll in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's American Girl 2011 Girl of the Year Giveaway.

Kanani Akina debuts as the 2011 emblem of the American Girl line of dolls

By Nadine Kam

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Along with the start of the new year, tomorrow brings the debut of American Girl's 2011 Girl of the Year, who happens to be from Kauai, the first in the popular series of dolls to come from Hawaii.

Kanani Akina is an 18-inch doll with tawny skin, dark hair and hazel eyes, and the launch coincides with the release of two books by Lisa Yee, "Aloha, Kanani" and "Good Job, Kanani," that tell her back story. This includes friends who surf; her duties at the family shave ice shop, Akina's Shave Ice and Sweet Treats; and a cousin from New York who has trouble adjusting to Kanani's local lifestyle.

Every effort was made to get the details correct, including consulting with local cultural experts Peter Apo and Maile Meyer.

Kanani dolls will be available for one year, and in addition to her "meet" outfit of a blue, floral-print cotton dress and beaded necklace, other clothing options include a swimsuit, board shorts, "Aloha" T-shirt, denim capris and a hula halau ensemble with uli uli and lei.

Other accessories include a paddleboard set, shave ice stand and plush monk seal to reflect Kanani's love of Hawaii's ocean creatures. American Girl will donate $1 (up to $100,000) for each Kanani plush monk seal sold in 2011 to the National Wildlife Federation to help raise awareness about endangered animals.<

Prices range from $100 for the doll and book, about $28 for extra outfits, and $29 to $50 for girls' outfits to match the doll's.

AMERICAN GIRL is a division of Mattel Inc., started 25 years ago with a mission to celebrate girlhood. In 1992, the company launched American Girl magazine, which has grown to 500,000 subscribers.

American Girl spokeswoman Stephanie Spanos said developing a new character is an 18-month process that begins with reader surveys and focus groups that aim to gauge "who girls are today. We're always looking for interests girls have, activities they're into, issues they're facing," she said.

The 2010 American Girl, Lanie, is described as a nature girl, a response to girls' dilemma of living in urban or suburban landscapes, surrounded by technology and concrete, and feeling disconnected from nature.

When it came to determining the qualities of the 2011 Girl of the Year, Spanos said, "we started seeing that what is most important to our clientele is helping people and animals."

As for where the Girl of the Year's hails from, "Hawaii rose to the top," she said.

Aside from the isles' physical beauty, "Hawaii is exotic without being too foreign to young readers, while being uncommon in children's fiction and offering something unique in aloha spirit," she said. "It's that relaxed spirit of good will and community that we wanted to share with girls."

In the story "Aloha, Kanani" that accompanies the doll, Kanani is proud of her island lifestyle, but when her well-to-do cousin Rachel arrives from New York, with her trendy clothes and gold—not puka-shell—jewelry, Kanani starts to see everything around her, from local museums, the saimin she eats, to the peeling paint of her family store as being less charming and more shabby compared with Rachel's experiences at NYC's Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum.

Although author Lisa Yee is from South Pasadena, Calif., she had written "Good Luck, Ivy," for an American Girl historical character, Ivy Ling, a 9-year-old Chinese-American girl growing up in 1970s San Francisco.

Yee said she was thrilled to get the call regarding the Hawaii doll.

"I knew it was about a girl growing up in the islands and I should probably include an animal in the story. Beyond that, other than being about the aloha spirit, the story was pretty much up to me," Yee said by phone from her home.

"It was a dream project. Her family runs a shave ice stand, so I had to eat shave ice. They also sell sweet treats, so whenever I saw a bakery, I had to stop."

In researching the book, Yee was drawn to the plight of the honu (sea turtle) and Hawaiian monk seal, and her decision to focus on the endangered seal led her to set the story on Kauai, where she found help from members of the Kauai Monk Seal Watch Program.

Although her aim had been to find one of the creatures sunning on the beach, days of searching were fruitless. Finally, while en route to the airport to head home, she got a call about a sighting.

"I didn't know what to do, but for me, it might have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience so I turned the car around and it was a thrill to see the seal on the beach. I was dressed for my trip to L.A., but there I was with sneakers and long pants, running in the sand!

"It was so amazing. If I had gotten the call 20 minutes later I would have missed it."

Kanani in her halau outfit.

BEFORE WORKING with American Girl, Yee said , she knew about the company and the quality of its products, but considers herself to be "more of a stuffed-animal person."

She says she respects the company even more now. "The detail they put into everything they create is so amazing. They call on a lot of experts because it's crucial to get everything right.

"I've been to American Girl events where I've met the readers, who absorb the stories, and when you see the girls with these dolls, you see how they've made them part of their family. The books are a way for young readers to experience different lifestyles, see different parts of the world, and they can do that sitting in their own home."

The intent of the book is not to convey an overt message or moral, but in Kanani's case, Yee said, "It's really about aloha spirit—thinking about others, not just yourself."

Bundle up

Sometimes function overrules fashion in the face of a chilly climate

By Nadine Kam
Style editor

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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM

Kayoko Yonaga wears a lighter option for cold weather, from Patagonia, starting with a crewneck Necessity top of 55 percent organic cotton and 45 percent Tencel ($49), down sweater vest ($150), wool acrylic beanie ($35) and organic cotton denim ($95).

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It's long been said that Hawaii people don't know how to drive in rainy weather, and as recent rains have shown, we could use a little help dressing for cold, rainy weather as well.

In a place where the sun shines about 350 days a year, rain and cold often catch us off guard. Even more puzzling is the question of what to pack for a vacation in cold climes when we don't want to be lugging around a 20-pound coat.

No one wants to spend a lot of money on a coat or jacket they may wear, at most, once or twice a year. A lot of people start with borrowing a coat from a friend or family member, but it's so much more convenient to have something in one's own closet, ready to grab and go the minute the temperature drops.

Those on a budget can start with resale stores like Savers and Goodwill, where mainland transplants often drop off outerwear they no longer need. At Goodwill Beretania, Ken Leung, Goodwill Industries of Hawaii director of retail stores, said coats and jackets come in all year, though the bulk of them seem to arrive in the summer months.

"A lot of people come to us for bargains, because jackets start at $6.99 and up. They might need something to travel and rather than spend $100 and up, they could get away with spending less than $50."

Recent finds included a London Fog women's raincoat for $24.99, and a men's navy peacoat made in Italy and selling for $79.99.

"A lot of people come in saying they need something to go to Las Vegas or Alaska," said Goodwill's Beretania store manager Doreen Bailey. "We also get a lot of tourists, from the mainland and Japan, shopping for winter clothes to take back to where they're from. They say it's a lot cheaper here."

ALTHOUGH MUCH of the heavier apparel would be appropriate for midlayer dressing, performance is also an issue. Without all the original labeling, it is sometimes difficult to determine materials used in secondhand clothing.

You might start at Patagonia, a company with roots in mountain climbing gear and clothing appropriate for scaling the Himalayas.

At the Auahi Street store, assistant store manager Celeste Yamanaka said education is an important aspect of their work.

"We do a lot of teaching people how to dress for cold weather," she said. "A lot of people think that they can wear one jacket and be warm. They don't understand why they have to worry about layers. They don't understand the concept of layering."

Layering essentially involves three or four layers. At Patagonia, it starts with a base layer, a comfortable layer next to the body, designed to wick away moisture that can turn freezing if you start perspiring. Patagonia uses a synthetic Capilene fabric the company claims is more effective than natural fibers.

"Everything we make is super functional. We're not a fashion company," Yamanaka said. "Everything in here you can wear in the city, but you can also wear climbing Mount Everest."

Depending on the temperature, next might come a lightweight midlayer, something appropriate to strip down to when you're indoors. Then comes an insulating layer that should also be activity- and weather-appropriate indoor and out. This warm layer might range from a cashmere or wool sweater or polyester or polypropylene fleece. The materials help trap warm air and hold it close to your body.

If it's not raining, your insulating layer could be enough to serve as an outer layer. The outer layer, or shell, provides you with a barrier from wind and rain. These would include wind-resistant jackets and raincoats made with non-breathable materials.

"We sell a lot of raincoats to people who go walking, fishermen, people who are outdoors a lot," Yamanaka said.

If you're traveling and worried about bulk, Patagonia offers lightweight down sweaters, jackets and vests with tear-resistant, ripstop shells made of recycled polyester and down that traps body heat with a minimum of weight. The pieces fold down or can be stuffed into a self-zippered sack that measures about 7 inches across for easy packing. Cleaning is equally easy, a matter of throwing it into the wash, while following the manufacturer's care instructions.

La'akea Caravalho, who also works at Patagonia, said, "The first thing people go for is looks, but as long as we find out where they're going and what they have in their closets, we can help them pull together what works."

With proper layering, he said: "You can go to the top of Mauna Kea and have as much function as if you had a $400 parka."

IF LAYERING seems complicated, it becomes second nature when one is actually confronted with cold weather. Lynne O'Neill, who grew up in Hawaii, got a taste of it when working in San Francisco, then New York, where she heads a production company, Hula Inc., producing events and fashion shows during New York Fashion Week.

"You learn it really fast; it's survival," she said.

When it comes to finding the finest of insulating materials, luxury brands deliver cashmeres and wool, although, in the face of cold, she said even the most fashionable people on the planet find themselves willing to sacrifice style for warmth.

"We don't care if we look like the Michelin Man because everybody looks like the Michelin Man. The classic is the Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat. She designed a version for Wal-Mart last year and it was the rage," she said. "I have a Commes de Garcons black wool coat and Prada down jacket, but I usually go more for function than fashion and wear something from Land's End or an H&M down jacket. Everyone wears a down jacket when it's cold because they're not as concerned about fashion."

Now back home to escape the New York winter, O'Neill always packs a few winter pieces to face the colder temperatures once she returns to the Big Apple.

"I have it down. I wear layers, starting with a T-shirt and pants, then a polar fleece pullover that zips up. That way, when it's hot you can open it up, and when it's cold, you can zip it up and have a high collar so you don't need a scarf, although I bring a scarf anyway.

"Then the most important piece for winter is the down vest. It's lightweight and not too bulky. I love Land's End's vest and fleece pullover. Then I wear leather gloves lined with cashmere."

Tiffany James provided one extreme example of the notion of letting go of appearances when cold. The co-owner, with her husband Walter, of the lingerie party company UndercoverWear, divides her time between Hawaii, Boston and cruise ships, and travels with as many as 30 ball gowns and every other cocktail dress and garment she might need.

However, on one South American journey, she had packed for Rio de Janeiro, the Caribbean and Argentina, while failing to note how the tip of the continent put them within touring distance of Antarctica, the coldest place on the planet, where mean summer temperatures run from minus 5 to minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit.

"My first indication was when I started seeing glaciers," James said. "I have every type of cold-weather coat in Boston so I refused to go shopping for sweaters."

That's how she spent a couple of weeks swaddled in the ship's wool blankets.

"I looked like Nanook of the North. It was hysterically funny and there was no sympathy for the woman who had brought all these shoes and all these gowns, but had failed to pack a coat."

For staying warm, she prefers cashmere and fur coats, and swears by silk socks as a base layer for your feet.

She also recommends knee-length, rather than floor-length, coats. "The minute snow hits a long coat, it's bad, bad, bad," she said.

The snow turns into wetness that seeps onto your inner layers and leaves you feeling like you're wearing ice.

Another difficulty of winter? Keeping track of shed clothes, says O'Neill.

"You're always losing pieces because you have to keep peeling off mitts and scarves and putting them on again all winter long."

Visit Nadine Kam's Fashion Tribe blog for a brief interview with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, in town recently for the grand opening celebration of the Auahi Street store.

Model of confidence

A childhood brain injury doesn't keep teenager Aliyah Taimatuia from her dream of modeling

 

By Nadine Kam
nkam@staradvertiser.com

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Like many adolescents who've suddenly discovered fashion, Aliyah Taimatuia recently announced to her mother that she wants to be a model when she grows up.

Aside from the usual concerns about height, weight and having a salable look, her mom knew she needed help and called on Mary Wilson.

Wilson is neither agent nor talent scout, but Aliyah's case manager. Aliyah was 2 years old when, in a warehouse accident in 2000, she fell four stories, leaving her with permanent brain injuries that required her to learn to walk, talk and eat again, all the basic functions of life. The accident left Aliyah, now 13, with hemiparesis, or weakness on the left side of her body. She's learned to work around it by using one hand to dress and groom herself.

Wilson, a registered nurse, has worked with Aliyah as a consultant for attorney Ian Mattoch's Continuing Commitment program. The program was established in 1998 after Mattoch worked with a client who suffered traumatic brain injury in an auto accident and he realized typical, immediate care wasn't enough.

In some cases, when injuries are catastrophic, the law firm commits its resources to extend legal services, nurse case management and advocacy. Just recently the program provided assistance to help oversee renovations of an ADA bathroom for Aliyah.

Since modeling is a new world for Wilson, her first step was to find a modeling agency willing to work with Aliyah's special needs.

"It's not typical work for a case manager, but I'm grateful to assist in fulfilling her dream and watching her grow as a young woman into adulthood," Wilson said.
At the Kathy Muller Agency, she found instructor Tania de Jesus, who was willing to work one-on-one in teaching Aliyah the basics of skin and hair care, poise and grace, lessons the girl has taken to heart.

Although Wilson has been working with Aliyah for a decade, she is surprised by how much the youngster has blossomed after taking just one round of classes.
"I didn't think it would be as good an outcome as it has been," Wilson said. "Aliyah was feeling frustrated at school. Kids were picking on her and making fun of her disabilities.

"Now her teachers are reporting that she's very confident now that she's a model and she feels more respected."

Many of Aliyah's peer problems started with the transition between elementary and middle school at Highlands Intermediate, when differences are cataloged and used by bullies as a source of torment. It didn't help that due to brain injuries that affected glandular functions, Aliyah also entered puberty early and had been undergoing hormone treatment since age 6 to slow the process.

Since gaining confidence from her modeling classes, Aliyah, who is good-natured and soft-spoken, has been able to speak out about her feelings to her tormentors, and said the same boys who teased her are now her friends.

Aliyah said that looking at magazines cemented her desire to model. She defines her style as preppie and said she enjoys going shopping with her mom and choosing her outfits together. She would love to model trendy, youthful clothing from companies like Jeans Warehouse, Baby Phat and Wet Seal, but draws the line at underwear.

She's cut soda from her diet, turning to water to avoid sugar, and while de Jesus has warned her against french fries, she hasn't been able to give them up yet. But when out for fast food, she'll opt for something like a grilled chicken whole-wheat pita instead of a burger.

Her next step in modeling school would be to participate in a regular group class with other girls, said Wilson, whose aim is to see Aliyah graduate from high school.

"We're looking at seeing her function as independently as possible. It's difficult, with brain injuries, to predict whether that's possible.

"That the injury happened at age 2, in some ways that's good," Wilson said. "Her brain has been rewired so everything's done on her right side."

Even so, when stressed or nervous, Aliyah's muscles tighten, causing spasms that jerk her left arm upward, but Wilson said that de Jesus was able to show Aliyah how to overcome this reaction. What is modeling, after all, but smoke and mirrors and transformations that create something beautiful out of imperfect realities?

"Tania's not a therapist, but she instinctively knew how to show Aliyah how to pose, while pulling down her arm with her right hand, in a way that looks natural," Wilson said.

Wilson works with many other brain-injured clientele of different ages and abilities who all struggle with figuring out how to fit in to society.

"I have one young woman in her 30s whose biggest problem is feeling everyone's looking at her. She doesn't want to be in a program, but she needs to be in a program."

So, Wilson set her up with a job with the nonprofit Brain Injury Association of Hawaii that helps people with brain injuries. The work gives her a sense of belonging and contributing to the community, and staffers are able to oversee her well-being while treating her like a "normal" person.

Prior to that, the woman had complained to Wilson, "I feel my life isn't over. I'm not stupid, but people treat me like I'm stupid."

Wilson said, "The brain controls everything in the body. There are so many things that can be impacted by brain injuries, depending on the severity of the injury and the location of the injury, that each case is unique, and sometimes the effects aren't evident for years."

She added, "I'm so excited to see the progress (Aliyah's) made and how happy she was on the first day she started studying with Tania. Afterward she threw her arms around me and said, 'Thank you, Auntie Mary.' I don't get that too often."

Duo cultivates fashion at Pineapples boutique

Pineapples photos
A halter maxi dress with shell detail in a black-knit print, from Pineapples' Margarita line, is $95. Below, a twist-front summer dress from the Bali Batiks collection, with "Devine" print, $70.

By Nadine Kam
nkam@staradvertiser.com


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Geri Berger was working as an outreach counselor with homeless teens in Waikiki when motherhood called and she ended up taking a few years off to raise her own child.

Once she was ready to return to work, a meeting with 17-year clothing manufacturer and wholesaler Sandra Tierney, whose husband was a longtime friend of Berger's husband, turned both their lives around.


Tierney had already made the life-changing move from Florida to Hawaii about four years ago and was toying with the idea of making the leap to retail. In Berger, she found someone versed in contemporary fashion and she welcomed her input. 

Today, the former counselor is the chief designer and consultant for Tierney's Pineapples boutique in Haleiwa.

"It came up really casually," Berger said. "Next thing you know, she dragged me to the North Shore and showed me an opportunity to create a unique store."

Although the boutique carries a handful of mainland labels such as Hale Bob and Funky Planet, Tierney wanted to create her own lines to avoid the trap of looking like every other boutique in town. So Berger has her hands full coming up with designs for the store's four collections:

» Bali Batiks Resort wear, featuring dresses made with hand-dyed and batik designs.

» Margarita Resort Wear, using herringbone rayon fabric in a variety of prints for everyday, resort or work wear.

» Zen Knits, a contemporary line comprising casual dresses and separates in solids, prints and tie-dye. It also encompasses the Zen Party Collection of special occasion dresses, tops and outfits embellished with beadwork, brass and crystals.
» The Pineapples Collection, which comprises a Tie Dye Voile Collection and embroidered Cutwork Collection of dresses.

The boutique makes the rare attempt to make everyone happy by offering something for everyone at every price point. The resort-style clothing ranges in size from XXS to 3X, and most pieces fall in the sweet spot between $20 and $98. Despite the reasonable prices, there is quality in the fabric used.

"We were looking for quality, but at a good price," Berger said. "It's hard to find the median, and we wanted uniqueness as well. We live on an island and nobody wants to walk down the street and see the same dress on someone else."

BERGER'S background in health education didn't put the Mrs. Hawaii International 2004 on track to be a designer, but she said, "It comes from the heart. I've been shopping since I was a little girl. It's a passion and I try to translate what's going on in the fashion industry to something that will work with Hawaii's climate and culture.

"I wear a lot of it, so a lot of it reflects my taste. I wear a lot of pants and tops so I'm working on a denim line. It's something I'm excited about. But what's cool is that there really is something for everyone. Our Zen Knits line alone has more than 125 pieces in 25 color choices."

The boutique also carries a large selection of accessories and jewelry, from inexpensive capiz shell earrings starting at $8 to silver-and-stone jewelry from Nepal and other stone jewelry that costs a few hundred dollars.
There are also bath and body products, small decorative kitchen and household goods, and gift items.
—————
Pineapples Boutique is at 66-200 Kamehameha Highway. Call 637-8477 or visit www.pineapplesboutique.com; get info on the latest deals at the boutique's Facebook page. Pineapples is offering a Black Friday promotion on Nov. 26 of 20 percent off everything except sale items, which are already 50 percent off.
 

Check out more of Style Editor Nadine Kam's shopping finds in a special Surf's Up! North Shore 2010 report at www.honolulupulse.com, where you'll also find dining recommendations and a complete rundown of Vans Triple Crown of Surfing events.

If the shirt fits..

Nadine Kam photo

From left, Riley Gallagher, Rick Ralston, Emily Umezawa and Shawn Zarko pose for photographer Dennis Oda in shirts from Rix Island Wear.

Crazy Shirts founder Rick Ralston looks for success again with his latest venture
 
By Nadine Kam 
nkam@staradvertiser.com

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Some people are just serial entrepreneurs, so when Crazy Shirts founder Rick Ralston retired a decade ago, one had to wonder how long that might last and what his next venture might be.

The entrepreneur says now that, "I'd just been enjoying life in the slow lane. It was always stressful before and I was enjoying how pleasant it is to do frivolous things.

"But I missed the excitement of business, the challenges, the stimulation of being creative, the feeling of being part of a team; I was missing all that."

Now, at 69, he's back with another clothing boutique, Rix Island Wear, which opened two weeks ago at Ward Warehouse. The small shop features contemporary men's aloha shirts, based on what Ralston was searching for in the marketplace.
"I shopped here and there but I found it hard to find really good shirts."

With an active, outdoorsy lifestyle, he didn't care for rayons or polyester blend fabrics, and said, "silk is nice for evenings but I don't want to take the time to take it to the dry cleaners. I don't like to waste money either."

So shirts at Rix, designed by Marcie Norton, are made of 100 percent cotton, meant to be comfortable while being able to dress up or down for multiple occasions.

"Marcie and I work closely together and we have a similar understanding of where we want to go," Ralston said. "We're not going to do typical seasonal lines. We want to keep it fresh, with new stuff coming in all the time."

If all goes well, he anticipates this will be the first of many Rix stores to come.
Although Ralston's success story began in the 1960s, with his one-man custom airbrush T-shirt operation in Waikiki, hanging out on the near-empty sidewalk where the Marriott Waikiki now stands, he feels success is not guaranteed because of his name.

Back then, he had no expectation of success. "I'm starting small again on a shoestring budget. The difference is I've got some help this time, but we have very little overhead. I work out of my home, and so does Marcie," he said.

As a result, a Rix aloha shirt is priced at a relatively low $49.50, and logo T-shirts are $15.

THE IDEA to open Rix Island Wear is not new. Ralston had been thinking about it immediately upon retirement, but he never acted on it while watching the oscillations of the economy and marketplace.

He says he started strategizing six months ago due to several factors. "The nest egg, the 401K are not what they used to be, and I'm getting older. I wanted to start something while I have the energy to do it," he said.

Still to come are cargo shorts, and attached to each will be a Rix bottle opener, reflecting one of Ralston's quirky obsessions.

"It's just a fun, silly thing," he said. "Whenever I go to a party, no one ever seems to have a bottle opener. I've seen people open them on a bumper, putting two bottle caps together, using chopsticks, banging them on a counter, or with their teeth. This way, they'll never be without an opener."

Ralston doesn't know if his new endeavor will ever grow as big as Crazy Shirts. For one thing, there's a lot more competition for clothing dollars today.

"The way that took off always amazed me, so if I do it again, I'd be amazed again."

Blast from past recalls origins of Crazy Shirts

Courtesy photo

Herbert Awaya and Rick Ralston hold up a sweatshirt that Ralston airbrushed nearly 50 years ago for Awaya. 

By Nadine Kam

nkam@staradvertiser.com

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For nearly 50 years, Herbert Awaya held on to an old sweatshirt, the one piece of clothing that reminded him of his youth.

"People look at me today and would never say, 'You look like a surfer.'"

But surf he did, at Canoes and Queen's Surf in Waikiki, and emerging from the water at a time when there were no high-rises on Kalakaua Avenue, he would look across the boulevard at the handful of artists airbrushing shirts for tourists.

One day, he stopped to have a sweatshirt custom-painted for himself, and on Nov. 2, he hand delivered the shirt, signed "Ricky 1962," to its creator, Crazy Shirts founder Rick Ralston.

His timing could not have been better, as Ralston prepared to launch his newest clothing venture, Rix Island Wear, which opened its doors two weeks ago in the middle of Ward Warehouse.

"I told him I was sorry it wasn't in better shape, but he thought it was in great condition, considering it's 48 years old," said Awaya. "I actually didn't wear it too often because it had my name spray painted in front in orange.

"Awhile back, I saw a story about Crazy Shirts and how Rick Ralston got his start, and I started to wonder if he was the one who did my shirt, but I didn't want to bother him. He might think, 'Here's this kook.'"

But eventually, Awaya said, his wife pestered him to get rid of things he didn't need.

"Only half of me could get into it anyway," he said, so he tracked Ralston down through the Internet, and to his surprise, Ralston wanted to see the shirt and recognized his "Quasimodo" design right away, featuring a surfer with his head down and one arm straight out.

"That was my first year in Hawaii," said Ralston, who got his start selling shirts to tourists in 1960 on Catalina Island. There, he met a girl from Hawaii who invited him to come over and check out Oahu.

"I thought, it's a resort island, too, why not give it a try?"

Ralston said he wasn't a surfer when he arrived, but, hard to believe today, tourism was seasonal in the 1960s, and after Labor Day, business plunged. "You could shoot a cannon down Kalakaua and not hit anybody," he said.

That gave him time to learn to surf and ply his trade downtown, where military personnel were also fans of his humorous, surf and hotrod designs.

"I didn't need much. If I had a bag of rice I was all set," Ralston said. "I'd paint one shirt one day, two the next, and the business started taking off. It evolved into screen-printing, which allowed mass production."

Although there's a promotional poster on Rix's wall from a 1964 concert featuring Jan & Dean, the Rivingtons, Peter & Gordon, the Kingsmen and seven other acts, with tickets advertised at $2 and $3, Ralston said he didn't go to the concert. "I don't think I had $2," he said.

The first Crazy Shirts store was a temporary one in International Market Place during the summer of 1963, intended to shut down at the end of the tourism season. Today, we'd call it a pop-up store. The rest is history.

The sweatshirt he painted for Awaya had been a source of good memories over the years, although he doesn't know what made him buy that shirt.

"I was 21 years old. I didn't have too much money for clothes," Awaya said. "I was more concerned about eating. In those days, we didn't care about clothes. We were happy if we had a clean T-shirt and rubber slippers. As long as the T-shirt didn't have a hole in it, you were doing pretty good."

He's worn many a Crazy Shirt over the years, although these days, he's careful to avoid those with funny sayings.

"I don't want people thinking, 'Look at that old man. He's lost his mind.'"

Andy South: The project continues

'Runway' contestant Andy South is taking a deep breath and considering a range of options in design

Photo by Nadine Kam 

By Nadine Kam
nkam@staradvertiser.com

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In Andy South's Chinatown studio, several mannequins stand undressed or in states of partial nudity, modeling fragments of a sleeve, a skirt, a yoke.

There's a time warp as swatches from his spring 2011 collection, presented in September, still hang on his inspiration wall, and shoe pads from New York Fashion Week litter his work table.

A lone red suitcase sits on the floor, unopened for the week since the 23-year-old designer's return from Maui, where he worked on the set of a photo shoot with renowned fashion and celebrity photographer David LaChapelle.

Before that there had been a quick trip to New York to meet with "Project Runway" co-host Heidi Klum about the three outfits he created on the show that were added to her sportswear line.

His schedule also included numerous appearances at opening festivities for the Waikiki Edition hotel, Morimoto Waikiki, Hawaii International Film Festival and the Eurocinema Festival awards gala, where he was interviewed on the red carpet by E!'s Debbie Matenopoulos.

South wanted to tidy up his studio for our photographer but couldn't muster the energy, starting only when the shoot started.

"People think it's glamorous," he said about fashion designing, "but it's not. Here I am, picking up trash."

The designer has no regrets about "Project Runway," in which he made it to the top three in the Lifetime television competition, losing to Gretchen Jones in Thursday's finale.

"I'm so happy for Gretchen," South said Thursday night at a viewing party in his honor. "I've gotten so close to the other contestants and feel like all of us were deserving, and all of us did our best.

"The prize could only go to one person, but we'll all get there on our own terms. It doesn't have to be through 'Project Runway.'"

He's barely had a moment to consider his next move, when every week seems to bring new offers and a change of plans.

The only thing certain is that he's glad his work on the TV competition series is over. "I'm not closing off that part of my life, but now I can focus on the future," said South, even though the future is uncertain.

"That's my life now. Everything's up in the air. A lot of things are in talks. It's exciting but it's also scary."

IT'S BEEN A whirlwind six-month journey for the designer, which began with auditioning for the series in May, being whisked to compete for six weeks in June and July, completing his finale collection in August, presenting at New York Fashion Week Sept. 9 and, finally, playing a waiting game until the rest of the world learned of Jones' win.

He still seems to be a bit shell-shocked, wistfully recalling the relative quiet of his life before "Project Runway," when he was working part time for another designer, Mahchid Mottale, for Baik Baik, and imagining he might still be doing the same thing if not for that fateful audition, his second attempt toward reaching a national audience.

Most immediately, he's started collaborating with Hawaii hairstylist and designer Richie Miao to create a spring 2011 women's line for Miao's Lovelessizm brand, which focuses on menswear.

"I think it'll be a good thing for both of us," South said. "Because of the show, people are looking at me and what I'm doing, and women who have been looking at Lovelessizm and wanting to get that same look for themselves will be able to find it. Our styles are very similar."

The brand is also gaining popularity in Asia, potentially delivering a sizable new audience for South, who's also thinking ahead to his fall 2011 collection in collaboration with Swarovski, to be unveiled next spring.

Fashion is about mixing and matching and having multiple options to suit any circumstance, and it makes sense for the designer to remain open to as many as possible.

It's a lot for the sensitive, at times fragile designer to cope with, although he's left the show stronger than ever, due in part to criticism from the judges, but also viewers who hold nothing back in picking apart everything from his designs to his ever-changing hairstyles.

"Everyone has an opinion of what they see on TV, but nobody knows what context they're judging on. They don't know what we've been through.

"I think the show had two parts: one part talent and the other part was the game, being able to tangle with the judges and give them what they wanted."

Although the designer has become much more outspoken since appearing on the series, he said, "I don't think I'm fully New York. I'm really an introvert."

Although he would be happy to be left alone with his imagination to create in silence, he said: "The show gave me a little bit of insight into what my life could be in the public eye. Part of me wants to go back to the old Andy, where I could work quietly and no one knew much about me, but there's a little voice that can now be heard and be used to inspire."

That includes a vow to continue to speak to students and encourage them to pursue their dreams, no matter how impossible that might seem when toiling in this isolated part of the world.

IN SPITE OF the friction among designers TV viewers saw on the show, the group bonded in shared circumstance, and South said he remains in touch with many of them, including fellow Hawaii contestant Ivy Higa, Michael Drummond, Christopher Collins, Mondo Guerra and Gretchen Jones. The night before this interview, he'd spoken with Michael Costello as well.

"It feels nice to hear what they're doing because we're all at home but going through the same things," South said.

"I feel like the whole world is pushing me to do things now, now, now," he said. "I'm young. I feel like things happen when you're ready. My goal is to be able to do things on my own terms and on my time."

Just a few weeks ago on Oct. 11, during Andy South Day at his alma mater, Honolulu Community College, he informed an audience of students, teachers and fans that he would be moving to New York.

But a stay with Higa at her New York apartment at the time he met with Klum gave him a dose reality.

"(Higa) took me to where her clothes are produced, but she makes the samples herself out of her apartment, on home sewing machines. She's doing it, so it's possible, but I feel like I have more options here," he said.

In Hawaii he's already built the infrastructure for success, including establishing his studio and relationships with models, photographers and vendors.

He's living in Honolulu to be close to his studio, but his options include at times retreating to the peace and quiet of his family home in Waianae.

In the episode featuring Tim Gunn's visit to Waianae, the two talked about the grounding influence of the countryside, and South says, "I'm grateful I can go and still be in the country and kind of revive myself."

He said his conversation with LaChapelle — who's worked for publications as diverse as Rolling Stone, Vibe and French and Italian Vogue, photographing models and stars including Madonna and Lady Gaga — also influenced his decision to stay home.

"He's good friends with so many designers. He's been through it all and chooses to live in Hana, in the wilderness. He told me not to rush and not to be afraid to be alone and listen to myself.

"He's met with major designers after their shows in Milan and Paris and said they just look tired and are not even happy because they don't have time to enjoy what they'd done.

"I don't want to be a slave to the business. All I need is to be able to do what I love and survive on that. At the end of the day, it's about keeping the passion alive."