Ten graduating students from Honolulu Community College’s took center stage on May 2, during the sold-out “Lōkahi” Senior Fashion Show.

Showcasing original collections, each designer offered a unique creative perspective, all unified by the event’s theme, “Lōkahi,” or unity. The show celebrated their growth and artistic vision developed throughout their time at the college’s fashion program.

The senior designers and their collections include:

• Halee Pedro, The Local Kids Closet
• Brooke Bennetts, The Blue Mind
• Caitlin LeCompte, Color Theory
• Tumuria O’Conner LeClay, Rise and Shine
• Casey Contorelli, Forever Young
• Yudai Iwamura, Above Us
• Danica Saoit, Radiant
• Angelica Aguinaldo, Angel’s Dream
• Maria Mora-Sanchez, Vereda Tropical
• Arwen Schultz, She’s Such A Doll

The collections received support from the crowd of fashion enthusiasts, industry insiders, family members and University of �鶹��ý faculty and staff, including UH President Wendy Hensel. Prior to the main show, attendees viewed a special pre-show featuring designs from underclassmen, underscoring the collaborative spirit of the Fashion Technology Program.

“Each collection is so special and pays tribute to the personalities of each of our students,” said Elsie Casamina-Fernandez, Honolulu CC fashion technology instructor. “It was really exciting to see the student’s hard work be showcased and for the great community support that they received.”

Honolulu CC’s Fashion Technology Program offers students technical training in areas such as garment construction, pattern making, textiles and design, preparing graduates to enter and innovate in the fashion industry.

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Column by Chancellor Lui Hokoana was published by on November 29, 2024.

If you’ve ever thought of upping your home sewing skills to try your hand at the fashion business, we can help.

Our Fashion Tech Lab is undergoing an extensive refurbishment, expected to be completed for the Fall 2025 semester. (It remains fully operational during the upgrade.) The lab is being updated with fresh paint, new lecture and cutting tables, new ironing stations, and a brand new inventory of domestic sewing and serger machines for both our regular Fashion Tech credit program and our non-credit, low-cost classes.

Classes on sewing Knits, and Fashion Illustration are on tap for Spring 2025. A wide range of non-credit classes are also being offered—from Surface Design in Pattern and Textile, Beginning Sewing for Adults, Embroidery and Mending, Crochet, Garment Alterations, and the very popular Intro to Swimwear and Swimwear II.

Even if you’re not inclined to get into the fashion business, taking a class or two could lead to an international adventure, as it did for three of our Fashion Tech students last month.

Brielle Pacli-Donato, Meghan Reny and Aliza Clarke along with UHMC Fashion Technology Instructor Maria Razzauti traveled to Japan to participate in the Blue Green Art Project. The project is sponsored by Yamaguchi Prefectural University, which has been a “sister university” with UHMC since 2017 and where fashion design is a focus. It was thrilling for our students to join with such global and iconic fashion partners as Marimekko of Finland.

Emeritus Professor Yumiko Mizutani, the former Fashion Program Director of YPU, organized the event, the main purpose of which was to showcase upcycled garments made from old kimonos she personally donated. “The students were enrolled in my Upcycling Garments class this past Spring,” explains Razzauti. “So, the timing was perfect for them to apply what they learned and also learn additional sewing skills needed to recycle the kimonos.”

The inspiration for each student’s design was personal and evocative of Maui. Meghan Reny’s “Hōkū Moon and Her Waters” was created to honor “the beauty of the moon and the waters of �鶹��ý, how the connection of moon, land and water breathes life into us, and how it is our kuleana to protect this deep relationship,” she explains.

She hand-sewed opal beads onto the lining of a recycled wedding dress to represent the luminescence of the full moon. The skirt, which is the beautiful old kimono fabric, represents the water.

“I honor the sacredness of Haleakalā and the enduring bond between the land, the sun, and the Hawaiian people,” says Aliza Clarke. She used striped red kimono fabric to represent “the layers of lava that shaped its ridges and valleys, a testament to geological forces over millions of years.” The bright yellow top of her garment “symbolizes Ka Lā (the sun), a source of light and renewal. Watching the sunrise at Haleakalā fosters a deep respect for the land and a connection to ancestors.”

Sugarcane provided the inspiration for Brielle Pacli-Donato’s “Wai Ko.”

“The white and peach upcycled furisode reflects Maui’s official pink color. The purple michiyuki and blue textured organza symbolize the water from irrigation furrows created by workers, with pieces of the michiyuki also flowing along the dress’s side,” she explains. “At the bottom, green organza was shapely cut and sewn to imitate the sugarcane.”

This trip was about so much more than fashion.

“Japan had always been a country I wanted to visit,” says Pacli-Donato. “There were so many amazing memories. From our first experience doing the kimono tea ceremony, attending an indigo dyeing workshop, long walks through the different cities of Tokyo, visiting the Bunka College as well as Yamaguchi University and more.”

For Instructor Maria Razzauti it was a nostalgic journey. “Seven years ago, as a UHMC student, I had the opportunity to participate in a similar event with YPU,” she says. “I still can remember the excitement of being selected to represent the college, so I know first-hand what that’s like for the students. To travel to a beautiful country like Japan to exhibit one’s work as a student is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a full-circle moment for me to help make this happen. A truly inspiring pivotal moment to be forever cherished.”

For information about the Fashion Technology credit program, visit . For information about non-credit Fashion Tech classes, contact Charlene cquanp@hawaii.edu For complete information about UH Maui College, visit .

From lacey wedding attire to a motorcycle inspired line, fashion technology students showcased their work with flair in May through the annual student designer fashion show video presentation. Fashion Technology program faculty, Elsie Casamina-Fernandez and Reise Kochi, along with the Fashion Society Club, held four screenings over two days on Honolulu CC’s campus.

The video featured collections from seven senior fashion designers: Naleo Faurot, Megumi Kanai, Carol Nguyen, Blossom Ramones, Brianna Roepke, Liliani Stanco and Ashley Tashiro.

All of the designers presented, along with a model wearing their creations, at well-attended screenings, which included a silent auction, swag bags and beautiful lighting and decorations.

“Each collection is so special and pays tribute to the personalities of each of our students,” said Casamina-Fernandez, a Honolulu CC fashion technology instructor. “It was really exciting to see the student’s hard work be showcased and for the great community support that they received.”

This year’s theme was “Captured,” alluding to video’s ability to focus in on details that may be missed during a live fashion show.

Get more information about the .

Chancellor Karen Lee wants to blur the lines between academia and industry, such that both employers and students feel welcome on campus and confident that workforce needs for well-paying jobs are being met.

“I would really like that synergy to continue and to thrive,” Lee said. “I would love to invite all employers to join our industry boards. Our advisory boards are essential to our faculty doing a good job in teaching our students for the future.”

Lee became the chancellor of Honolulu CC in December, after serving in an interim role for three years. She presided over the 100th anniversary of the University of �鶹��ý’s oldest community college in 2020.

She began her career at UH in 2001 at UH ����ԴDz� as the undergraduate coordinator at the Shidler College of Business. Lee also served as executive director of �鶹��ý P–20 Partnerships for Education, and UH associate vice president for student affairs and executive assistant to the president.

Enrollment at Honolulu CC is up 3.8% this spring, compared to last spring. According to Lee, Honolulu CC is a place with strong student support and strong teaching in diverse programs that range from trades and construction, cybersecurity, fashion technology, aeronautical maintenance and the liberal arts, to name a few.

“Success looks like a place where a student can dream and realize their dreams, and a place where faculty feel like they’re contributing to those dreams,” Lee said. “We encourage all students—young and old, male and female, out of high school, in high school—to come to Honolulu Community College.”

founder Alexis Akiona is working to engage �鶹��ý’s younger generation through aloha wear with her own modern twist on classic Native Hawaiian designs. She’s giving back to her alma mater with a scholarship at to help dozens of other students create careers in fashion.

Her gift of $50,000 over five years to Honolulu CC will provide 20 scholarships each year for fashion and cosmetology students, with a preference for Native Hawaiian students.

Akiona said she was inspired to give back to Honolulu CC by the help she had received as a student, in particular a scholarship established by Native Hawaiian aloha wear brand that allowed her to quit a part-time job and focus all her efforts on her studies. Receiving a scholarship made her feel like someone believed in her.

“That’s what I wanted to do for other future designers, whether they’re doing aloha wear or not,” she said. “Because that’s really my mission, to inspire the younger generation to embrace aloha wear and to inspire them to chase their dreams.”

Honolulu CC Chancellor Karen Lee said Akiona is a role model for students.

“She honed her craft and skills through our program, founded a successful local aloha wear company, and is giving back to the college as a partner and as a scholarship donor,” Lee said. “We are honored to have an alumna like Alexis.”

Big Island roots

Fashion runs in Akiona’s family. Her mother, Lola Miller, owns , an aloha wear company in Hilo, where Akiona grew up.

After graduating from Waiākea High School, Akiona moved to Oʻahu and enrolled at to become a radiology technician. While at Kapiʻolani CC, she started working for a local streetwear company designing T-shirts and hats and started building a following.

She had found her passion, and at age 22 launched her modern aloha wear and resort wear brand LexBreezy �鶹��ý at the 2016 Merrie Monarch Arts & Crafts Fair during the week of the famed hula festival.

Next level

After experiencing some early success, Akiona realized she needed foundational skills to take her creative vision, and business, to the next level. She enrolled in the Fashion Technology program at Honolulu CC, where she learned everything from designing to manufacturing clothing. She graduated from the program in May 2019.

“I kind of did things a little backwards—I started my company and then went back to school,” she said. “But in the end, for me it was so important to do that.”

At Honolulu CC, she learned the nuts and bolts of the fashion industry.

“I went in there not knowing how to sew, not knowing how to make patterns; all I knew was what I wanted to wear,” she said. “Now I can go into a factory and I know what they’re talking about. I know what a seam is. I know what all my fractions are, I know the language of manufacturing.”

Akiona, 29, is also a mom of two small sons, Lawaiʻa and Kiaʻi, with her husband James Akiona. She was pregnant with her younger son when she opened her LexBreezy �鶹��ý boutique in Kailua in June 2021.

Accelerating growth

In May 2022, LexBreezy �鶹��ý was among seven �鶹��ý companies selected from 138 applicants to participate in the , a local accelerator for �鶹��ý-based businesses looking to grow to the next level, and in November took part in the Mana Up Showcase with a large display of her designs on the main floor of Bloomingdale’s in Ala Moana Center.

Today her company has 13 employees spread among a shop in Kailua, production, fulfillment for online orders from the and a wholesale division. Her LexBreezy children’s line was recently picked up by Nordstrom and her designs are sold in the stores in Waikīkī and online.

“When I joined Mana Up it was more about giving your time and giving back,” Akiona said. “That’s what I feel like success is, just being able to give.”

All eyes were on a runway that would rival the catwalks of Milan, London, Paris and New York at ’s Marine Education and Training Center April 27. Sixteen graduating student designers dazzled more than 500 in attendance at the annual fashion show, with models sporting looks ranging from rave wear, business, children, Lolita fashion, Hawaiian and, of course, show stoppers.

Called “The Collective,” this masterfully produced show allowed students to showcase their talents and personalities by producing their own lines featuring up to seven different looks. After graduating with an associate degree in fashion technology on May 10, the student designers will be continuing their education, finding jobs in the industry or creating their own businesses.

From televised runway shows to the creation of trend-setting aloha wear, Honolulu CC’s is known for cultivating top island designers such as Danene Lunn of Manuhealiʻi, Kini Zamora, Ari South and Jay Nicolas Sario.

As the spring semester comes to an end, fashion design programs at two campuses are celebrating with fashion shows highlighting collections by student designers.

The annual events featuring students from and students at are highly anticipated by industry professionals.

En Route at UH ����ԴDz�

UH ����ԴDz�’s 52nd annual fashion show En Route showcases the creations of three seniors, four juniors and one specialty designer.

Event details

• April 29 at UH ����ԴDz�’s Campus Center Ballroom
• Doors open at 5 p.m., and the show starts at 6:30 p.m.

There will be food and drinks provided to VIP ticket holders, a silent auction and a pop-up store selling exclusive En Route tote bags and T-shirts.

Tickets may be purchased online at the .

For more information, .

Bon Voyage at Honolulu CC

Bon Voyage showcases Honolulu CC designs by senior fashion technology students united to create beauty and design construction.

Event details

• May 6 at Aloha Tower Pier 11 (1 Aloha Tower Drive)
• Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the show begins 7:30 p.m.

Reservation will be on a first-come, first-served basis. General admission tickets can be purchased for $35 by mail or during school hours on the Honolulu CC campus, building 27, room 203/209. Heavy pupus will be served for ticket holders only.

For more information, contact Joy Nagaue at (808) 845-9203.

students gained world-class design experience through a workshop held in Japan in October. UH Maui College Instructor Cheryl Maeda, Lecturer Dava Leynes and students Ria Razzauti and Anna Kahalekulu participated in the week-long Super Global Fashion Workshop hosted by the (YPU) in Nagato City.

Participants also visited the Shozanpaku Denim Factory and attended a special dinner hosted by Akie Abe, wife of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“I had a wonderful, amazing, fun and memorable experience in Japan,” said Razzauti. “Everyone at YPU, Yamaguchi City and the First Lady were so gracious, generous and accommodating.”

The workshop, held October 24–29, was the brainchild of Yamaguchi Prefectural University Professor Yumiko Mizutani, to create and inspire commercial, cultural and tourism exchange. The fashion workshop was the latest exchange program among the universities, which brought students from Maui, Finland and Japan to attend sessions on design principles, indigo dyeing and paper making.

“Participating in the Super Global Fashion Workshop in Japan was an honor and a tremendous opportunity for our fashion technology students and teachers to gain exposure and experience,“ said Maeda. “Japan is influential in the world of fashion and our students were fortunate to showcase their designs and work with students from Japan and Finland.”

UH Maui College and YPU formalized an exchange agreement in early 2017, which led to a nursing faculty exchange and an intercultural exchange program with 12 YPU students who visited Maui last September, accompanied by Mizutani.

For more information on the UH Maui College or the Super Global Fashion Workshop, email program coordinator Cheryl Maeda. For general information on international opportunities, contact the UH Maui College International Office via email or call Stephanie Ohigashi at (808) 984-3398.

—By Kit Furukawa

The Honolulu Community College presented their annual fashion show on April 29 at the College’s Marine Education and Training Center at Sand Island. This year’s theme was KALEIDOSCOPE representing 12 student designers uniting to create beauty and design construction in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors.

Many Honolulu students and staff volunteered their time to create a spectacular show that included the construction of the runway ramp by the students as well as hair and make-up for the models by students in the program.

The show featured a prelude of fashions by junior designers prior to the senior showcase. Special guests this year included Gov. David Ige, First Lady Dawn Ige, and Honolulu CC alumni and Project Runway stars, Ari South and Kini Zamora.

Founded in 1929, the Fashion Technology program has evolved into an innovative technologically advanced program launching numerous fashion design careers and garnering national attention. Program lead, Professor Joy Ann Nagaue was recognized in 2014 with the prestigious Governor’s Award for Fashion at HONOLULU Fashion Week.

—By Billie Lueder

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