 I'm Mellie James, host of Let's Mana Up. This show is meant to dive into stories of local product entrepreneurs and how they are growing their companies from right here in Hawaii. My guest today is Kanuailani Davis, founder of Poma Hina Designs, based on the island of Molokai. Welcome to the show, Kanuailani. Mahalo. I'm so happy to be here. Great. Well, let's start things off by sharing, you know, how did you get started with Poma Hina Designs? You know, it started off with educating our community, my hula group, my students, wanting for them and yearning for them to learn their culture, remembering the names, valuing and honoring the elements, and by doing that I was able to create designs to my graphic arts background and really allow them to feel the essence of these designs so that they could remember them. The idea for that was so it could be passed on from generation to generation. And that's basically how it started. So when did it get started? Like what was going on at the time for you? It was in 2000, 2009, it started then. We were at that point traveling to different parts of the world and aside from them trying to remember the names and honoring the elements, we needed others to do the same as well. And so I had my hulao, I taught them how to make bamboo stamps, ohe kapala, and natural dyes. And it started off with dyeing little drawstring bags with these images on it. And we would put gifts from Molokai, natural gifts, and then that's how we were able to give them away to our guests and the people that we met across in different parts of the world. So you really got started on Molokai? Yes. And everything was being made there. Is it still all being made there? Have you really cultivated this network of seamstresses and people able to help you make a lot of your clothing? It's actually evolved a lot. And so what it started off being myself and sometimes my daughters and maybe some of my students ended up being where it was just solely me getting the machines and printing and heat pressing and sewing, but the business started to grow. And so at that point I was able to contract local seamstresses on islands and even that and it consistently evolved. So then I ended up having to contract outside of the islands and it's still growing. But my main goal, I'm hoping in five to ten years is to have everything made on Molokai and creating a space where the economics fits within those economics of manufacturing. Not only for myself, but hopefully others on the whole. Yeah, no, that's really inspiration. I know with growth a lot of times you can keep it here and then you've got to go off island a little bit and then really try to bring it back and then continue to grow the industry. So I know we keep talking about what you're doing, but let's actually take a look at some of the amazing clothes. So what are we wearing today? So I think people are just going to get a sneak peek of some of the designs that's going to be on the stage in London, in London Pacific Fashion Week. The collection is called Elemental Subconscious and it's honoring the feminine qualities and the feminine elements of Hawaii. And so this is a hint of a piece that will be on the runway. This is Hawkea in representation of Puli'ahu considering that honoring Mauna Kea and all the things that are happening right now in Hawaii. And then I'm wearing Hina. And so the moon phases and not only the things that we can see, but the things that we cannot see through its essence. So these are just some of those things and I'll have Laka of the forest and I will also have Pele. Awesome. So I know you just mentioned London Fashion Week and that is one of the themes of the show today really talking about you're the first native Hawaiian designer to be invited to London Fashion Week. And can you share kind of how that happened? I know there's, are there four major fashion weeks? There are three or four? There's four. So you have New York, Paris, Milan and London. And not realizing what a prestigious and humbling experience this is going to be and what that stage means to fashion in general across the world. And so I'm really excited to be in London and representing Hawaii and really, really excited about closing the show. You're closing the show. Closing the show. Okay. So can you just share for the audience kind of what London Fashion Week is or like what are these four huge fashion weeks and like fashion mechas of the world? Oh my gosh. Yeah. So these are where all your huge designers, this is where they showcase to the world and to be invited is a big deal. It's not something that, at least in my experience, I'm not quite sure how it is for everybody else. You don't, I don't think you go in and sign up and say, hey, can I go to London Fashion Week? You have to be invited. I was invited and I was very, it's still mind boggling to understand how I was invited considering I'm on Molokai, right? And not on Oahu or Maui or one of the bigger islands. They must be searching the world very carefully. No, no, no. No, but yeah. So having to be invited is a big deal and I was invited last year to New York Fashion Week. But due to our people in Hawaii going through the flooding, going through the eruptions, it was more important for me to focus financially to help our people here in Hawaii. This year, very fortunate again that I got invited by another company to go to London and so I wanted to take this opportunity to do that. So what does that mean to fashion? It's the stepping stone to the many opportunities that are going to start coming in. Now you're being seen by the world and people from all over the world will come to New York, will go to London, will go to Milan and will go to Paris just to see what's new, just to see what's out there. And I have to believe that the reason why I was chosen or invited was not only because of the fashion or the design, but my closeness to our people, our culture and I think that's what people are looking for, that depth, that I mean that space where this can intermingle self and fashion and so yeah it's a stepping stone to hopefully really great things in the future and I've seen it happen and we've seen it happen with many other designers. Yeah so I mean I'd love to talk about what's going to happen after London Fashion Week. I have so many questions for you now but I'm going to cut off for a second and look at some images so the audience can see some of your gorgeous clothing and fashion. So we've got, what do we have here? Okay so as you can see it's the same design that Mellie is wearing right now, healthcare from the Polyahulain and this is a take on that lightness, that airiness of that chiffon and that flutter that you see when the snow graces the tops of Mauna Kea and the fluidity and how that moves. So and I have Le, feather Le, Le Hulu which will be graced upon the heads of each feminine element, main model as they walk down the stage so really bringing in not only the contemporary aspects of it but some of our more recent traditions of Le Hulu making. Beautiful. Okay next image. There's you. Oh that's yeah, so these are some of the new pieces that came out this year. The coral was the color of the year and it embraced coral blues and pinks and greens and so I always like to say that it's an expression of our reefs and climate change which is the theme of this year's London Fashion Week, Pacific Fashion Week. And so yeah I'm here on Molokai you know we don't have big buildings and we don't have beautiful parks but we have beautiful mountains and sceneries and things that we hold very close and dear to us so in this image I'm wearing our new one piece off the shoulder top and our our clutch and heels so we'll see more heels and boot and a lot of new pieces on the runway. Next image. And you know who've been following Poma Hina designs we do have swimwear and these are just some of the pieces that I have from the Kanaloa Hina collection and also leggings and leisure wear. I put that leggings with the swimsuit because they dry fast, they're versatile and we love taking them in the ocean and taking them in the mountains aside from just working out. Good for paddling too. Perfect for paddling. Your leg doesn't rub against the side of the skin. So what's gonna happen after Fashion Week like what is this you know what do you do differently at the show why are you closing and I know you know it's a big deal so what are some of the inspirations you have to just really make a big bang at the show. You know I feel like I honestly feel Poma Hina has a bigger purpose than fashion. This is allowing the voices of Molokai, this is allowing the voices of Hawaii be heard and also the way we are looked at in the entire world. And really taking away the stigma of you know grass skirts and flower lays and plastic lays and you know big flower you know aloha wear and so to really redefine who we are as a people to the world in our depth and our culture through heritage and through genealogy and honestly I hope that this opens doors to expanding Poma Hina evolving in a way that it can grow both in the fashion industry but also in a way that we can have these conversations more often. That's really important I think you touched on that earlier how did they find you and what was different and so much of your voice is through social media I'm always so impressed every day where I don't know how you do it but it is so warm and so from the heart and really kind of touches something multiple times a day and I'm just like where does this come from like how did you where does this come from. Me it's all me it's it's not in that type of way but more of well first off on Molokai many I'm recognizing that in itself is there's not many people understand the resources on our island you know we're ten we're ten miles wide we're 32 miles long we don't have malls we don't have franchises you know nothing over three stories we don't even have street lights so as a person from Molokai we've always been resourceful and so social media and e-commerce has been my go-to I can't create spaces that people we can bring people to the island but I can create spaces that we can leave the island virtually and so social media hasn't been played a big part in that and I believe that's how the London Pacific Fashion Week through Anna and even Oxford fashion who invited me to New York fashion week that's how they found me and aside from just the fashion that I put up every day I do try to do and I always tell people that's me going through some things or seeing things in a different light and then just being able to share that and the most awesome part about that is those who come back they're like thank you I'm going through that that got me through my day and I'm like no thank you because that got me through my day and this is all you know and it's just really helping each other out building together yeah it's nobody superior to anybody and nobody's better than anybody it's just like you know to keep that as real as possible is creates a very vulnerable space but it also creates a great space to grow both personally and through I think you know that is something that has been growing over the past few years that authenticity and just being able to be more open and everything's not just all good all the time and when you can allow people to come in a little bit it just makes that more of a stronger brand and the more of a stronger connection to you but I really like what you're talking about with technology and so that is really leveling the playing field for a lot of our local Hawaii companies where you've got e-commerce you've got social media you have all these channels that we never had before and you're right we can't suddenly do a shop in the middle of Moloka people aren't you know can't fly over as difficult as it is but can you share a little bit more on how you've leveraged technology I know you've done a lot of these really neat kind of Facebook events and some of those ways you've been able to get the word on really produce sales yeah it all started off with Facebook obviously and Facebook lives and at one point I wanted to be like the QVC of Hawaii and then I wanted to be you know the Oprah of Hawaii like I just wanted to like be able to get out and that was the most you know I would be in in friends stores in the middle of Kanaka Kaitao and I'm like can I use your place as a background and you know we'll draw people in for your store and then I get to be on this and have a nice background and really collaborating really working with everybody and not feeling like I had to do everything by myself and so the the tech part was really difficult because we were very limited in our services on Moloka as well as even Wi-Fi is in some places very hard to get but you make do and you find those spots and then you just you know send great mana and energy into these spots so that you can keep doing the things that you do but I feel like the e-commerce lives and all that it really works yeah I mean clearly it worked you know they've gotten a huge following how many followers do you have on your Instagram I think I have over almost yeah and just all the imagery is so incredible yeah oh yeah we're gonna take a break now okay thanks Kunoilani okay Poma Hina designs will be back in a little bit okay hello thanks to our think tech underwriters and grand tours the atherton family foundation Carol Mon Lee and the friends of thick tech the center for microbial oceanography research and education collateral analytics the cook foundation Dwayne Karisu the Hawaii community foundation the Hawaii council of associations of apartment owners Hawaii energy the Hawaii energy policy forum Hawaiian electric company integrated security technologies Galen Ho of BAE systems Kamehameha schools MW group the Shidler family foundation the Sydney Stern Memorial Trust Volo foundation Eureko J. Sugimura thanks so much to you all I'm Mellie James with let's mana up and we're back here with Kunoilani Davis from Poma Hina designs welcome back hello I think I'd love to just jump into some more of your gorgeous design so well we'll go back we'll go to the image with the with the kids okay yeah what's going on here so our models on Molokai are limited so we're calling out all models who want to come this is actually my youngest daughter and just showcasing swimwear for kids as well as leggings for kids as well so showing again just the versatility of these pieces and you know gorgeous for everybody yeah okay oh this is recent this was in the New Zealand Embassy in Washington DC with a a cultural center they did a Hawaii fashion walk and wow who was invited to that myself as the main fashion on the runway as well as Native Americans are a Native American speaker Wesley May and a Māori speaker really yeah yeah yeah right from DC now to London for London fashion week yeah it's really getting Hawaii out to the world it is and I think more people are drawn to to culture in this in this way in this fashion so to speak and people are wanting to know the stories and wanting to know especially with women native women why yeah the why and and how and you know what's the drive oh this is another Molokai Kāne man this is Bula Kamakana and I actually met him did you yeah he drove me around the island yes I remember that so Bula is he's so gracious to take photos we have a lot of shirts I will reveal that in this year's collection we will have long sleeve aloha shirts it's been something that the men have been asking for for a very long time so that will be revealed you get to see the new designs on the long sleeves but I feel like for women we just have so many things we get to pick from so the guys are always like they have nothing more designs because all they could pick from are like a lot of shirts right yeah it's funny how they asked for certain certain pieces and not even realizing men are just as picky as women and you know can you do this and can you put this here and can you think about this and it's like okay taking those things into consideration it may not happen overnight or within that year but it definitely stays with me as I grow yeah and you do a little bit of custom stuff too once in a while I do for like paddling teams and stuff like that so bigger orders yeah we like to put honoring the teams and putting their names on their club names on their their leggings or whatever pieces they want and trying to customize it to their colors their their theme and really having people be able to have a variety of things to choose from but personalize it so I know you have some collaborations here you wanted to talk about I'm really excited so in London we will have some lao hala pieces some woven pieces and my good friend P. E. Alii Hawaii he made I asked him if he could make a CAE which is for these belts that will grace the tops and the waistlines of some of my models as well as I'm chokers chokers for people to use on their necks obviously so yeah so I'm really excited to bring him up there with me in this form and when I get back from London we will be doing a Pacific Hawaii fashion show at a Kapiolani hotel on September 27th and we will be doing MAMO wearable art show in Maui in October and Oahu at the Hawaii Convention Center in in November and then I will be showcasing another good friend of mine in her artwork and her husband they do hui lao holes which is the hair picks and wooden pieces that will be jewelry for the models let's take a look at one of your fashion shows from the past okay get some video on that yeah that this is MAMO wearable art show and was this last year this was actually a two years ago this was one of the things that I tried to put on the runway first and foremost is more traditional wear the model the women pieces really honoring our culture first and foremost before we get into more contemporary and modern pieces and then I know we kind of jump into the next areas of the fashion show I kind of more trending things that are a little bit more modern yeah you went from there yeah yeah interesting enough when I was invited by London Pacific fashion week they actually kind of asked them I'm like okay are you looking for more artsy more couture more you know what kind of pieces are you looking for I was so happy to hear that they said we just want you for you and just come with what you have some of the pieces that excite them are the leggings the leisure wear the leggings the sports wear even our shoes and so I guess that's something that's not seen all over not yet through fashion yeah well I'd love to hear more of the Mo'olelo and the stories behind and the prints with some of the other images that we have just to kind of share what you were talking about earlier about the why and why it's so important to you to connect through these designs yeah oh this is a very interesting this is done again here at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington DC with our new pieces we have again the coral greens the pinks and the blues this one is the pola poli honoring the forest and they you know one of the biggest things is elements doesn't necessarily have to be rain winds and clouds you know they are we are also connected to particular plants and even stones in our land and the pola poli was featured here with the new new colors and at the end of the show I I do support Mauna Kea and keeping our sacred places sacred and so it was really nice to be able to stand next to our models and Mauna again pola poli so you can see the same design just being put in so many different pieces of clothing and that's one thing I really pride in through Poma Hina designs is you can get any design on any type of accessory or clothing that I have and this is another new piece it's a hoodie dress and so comfortable and I did it for our young you know when the kids go to school and their teachers say wear an aloha dress and they're like we don't want to wear a muumu and I'm like who says that's aloha dress like an aloha wear like you can wear these kinds of things too it's how you express yourself I believe how you stand how you share that breath with somebody else that's aloha yeah so many of your patterns you guys you were mentioning can be on any piece that you've designed what have been some of like the biggest challenges that you've had you know not only are you doing business in Hawaii you're doing business on the island of Molokai I know you went through Mauna Ups cohort too so you know what kinds of challenges have you have you encountered and how have you kind of overcome them yeah actually to be honest technology is the big thing right if my machine breaks down I have nobody to come and service them that's like you gotta like you've got to be resourceful innovative you gotta know where to go and figure things out on your own so that's probably the biggest challenge aside from that is the networking and meeting people for that growth so I'm really appreciative of Mauna Ups and being part of the cohort too because through Mauna Ups I was able to learn about more about taxes learn about importing learn about exporting you know being able to meet people who are in the in the industry whether they through whether it's through PR or through manufacturing or through different stores and outlets yeah Mauna Ups has really created a space for me to grow in that manner and to meet other people and something that I could never do from Molokai and to reach out you know hey look at me it's not like that it's I feel weird doing it so it was great to have these classes and to be put in this space we love having you yeah so I know we're about to wrap up and you got London Fashion Week coming when is that how can our local community support you so London Fashion Week is September 13th we we will be showcased at 8 8 p.m. in London which I believe is 12 hours ahead so I think it's 8 a.m. here in Hawaii KHON2 Live has the exclusive on that so I hope that people tune in and watch that and at the end of the show we will be singing Kuhua Ahio and I'm really hoping that we all from wherever we're at I hope you guys join me in singing Kuhua Ahio and for more information we will keep updating our Instagram which is Poma Hina Designs as well as our Facebook Poma Hina Designs amazing well I'm just so proud of you and just I can't wait to see what happens with Poma Hina Designs after London Fashion Week I know you said you know people come there from all over the world to see what's what's happening next and really seeing how Hawaii really is at the center point for so much of fashion these days just just really excited for you and and excited to see what's going to happen next so be sure to check you out at Poma Hina Designs and what does Poma Hina mean? Poma Hina is the the moon that shines so brightly it's the one thing that everybody in the world can see even in darkness there's that little bit of light. Well thanks Kanolani with Poma Hina Designs for joining us today mahalo meli