{"id":223389,"date":"2025-10-09T13:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T23:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=223389"},"modified":"2025-10-13T10:32:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T20:32:29","slug":"alumna-lava-inspired-dress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/09\/alumna-lava-inspired-dress\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief of War<\/em> star styles UH<\/abbr> alumna\u2019s hand-painted dress"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"actress
Actress Te Ao o Hinepehinga styling an original dress inspired by natural decay and regrowth. The reds and oranges were hand painted by Kalia Ferri.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Actress Te Ao o Hinepehinga, who plays Kupuohi on the Apple TV+ series Chief of War<\/em>, was styled by recent graduate Kalia Ferri of the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa Fashion Design and Merchandising<\/a> (FDM<\/abbr>) program. Ferri\u2019s original, hand-painted dress was featured in an exclusive shoot for A Book Of<\/em> magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"student\"
CTAHR<\/abbr> graduate Kalia Ferri.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The opportunity came through one of Ferri\u2019s mentors, UH<\/abbr> alumnus Matt Bruening. He invited Ferri to assist with three days of styling and press shoots for the Chief of War<\/em> premiere event. On the final day, she secured a placement for her own design—a dress featuring a painted orange and red cut-out, drawing on the theme of natural decay and regrowth from shelf mushrooms.<\/p>\n

The garment matched the photo shoot\u2019s lava-inspired look, making it a perfect fit for the show\u2019s visuals. Her dress debuted in the senior individual collection from FDM\u2019s fashion exhibition in spring 2025.<\/p>\n

Ferri credited experiences such as the fashion exhibition, her College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> education and internship experience with providing a well-rounded skillset.<\/p>\n

“I learned a lot from my fashion professor Minako McCarthy, who taught my design classes and encouraged my painting. And I thank my other teachers in courses for sewing, fashion forecasting, trend analysis and the business side of fashion,” Ferri said.<\/p>\n

Her fashion journey will continue in the global fashion capital, New York City. With an impressive first placement in a major photoshoot, Ferri is one to watch as she heads to the Big Apple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actress Te Ao o Hinepehinga, who plays Kupuohi on Apple TV+ series Chief of War<\/em>, was styled by recent graduate Kalia Ferri.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":223397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,679,212,476,423,9],"class_list":["post-223389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-fashion","tag-fashion-design-and-merchandising","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t