An Eye for Design
As Mililani’s Jay Nicolas Sario did last year, young Island designers Ivy Higa of Kona and Andy South of Waianae have gained international fans on Project Runwayunder the watchful eye of co-host Tim Gunn, who comes to Honolulu Oct. 16
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than I could’ve ever imagined and also scarier than I could’ve ever imagined in regard to blogs, because when you put your work out there, you’re really putting it out there to be judged,” he says.
Through Project Runway, South’s designs not only made it into living rooms across the country, but also to the prestigious runway of New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park.
“It was more than what I imagined it to be,” he recalls. “When I came out on the runway, I could not help but cry. I held it together on the show, and it’s weird because people who know me would think I would cry more often. But I think when I was in the competition, I was like, I’m not going to cry. I just put my emotions on the side and focused on the competition.
“Then kind of toward the end I realized how much this opportunity really means to me, and to show at Fashion Week is a dream come true for any young designer. The tears came and I’m not going to even try to stop it.”
South describes his clothes as Asian-inspired with a balance of hard and soft, yin and yang, and edgy. He continues to do custom orders, and is working on a collection that he hopes will be manufactured and produced. He recently opened a studio in Chinatown, but plans to move to New York.
“The opportunities are there,” he explains. “Everything is at your fingertips - production, resources, all your contacts - it would be really difficult and really expensive to do it from home on the level that I want to.”
For Ivy Higa, who was born in South Korea and raised in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, entering Project Runway was a way to get the capital and exposure she needed to get her fashion career going. A 1998 graduate of Konawaena High, Higa graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in art, and worked in the men’s furnishings department at Neiman Marcus in Ala Moana Center for three-and-a-half years before deciding to follow her passion and make the move to New York in 2006.
“My fashion idol has always been Donna Karan,” notes Higa, 30.
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“I really admired her and looked up to her, and being that she went to Parsons and knowing that was the best fashion school, I really wanted to follow in her footsteps and just took a shot at luck and enrolled myself and I got admitted into the school.”
A year-and-a-half later, Higa earned her fashion degree and started her own brand Ivy H. available at ivyhny.com. Higa describes her style as very minimalistic with an attention to detail, while paying attention to proportion and the use of luxurious fabrics.
“I’ve been sewing since I was 13, and I always loved fashion and had a fascination with the process of designing,” says Higa. “I worked at DKNY while going to Parsons and at a company called Lafayette 148 and then I got let go in 2009. So, I kind of took it as a sign and thought I really need to start my own line because I would make clothes for myself and every time I would wear them out, it really garnered a lot of attention.”
Last season’s fourth-runner up, Jay Nicolas Sario, was born in the Phillipines and lived in Hawaii before moving to San Francisco where he works as a visual merchandiser and lead stylist for Gap’s kids division. He describes his clothes as very sexy, strong and sophisticated; and is about halfway through creating his spring 2011 collection which consists of a lot of separates, including jackets and highly-detailed pants.
“I know there’s a demand out there, I just need to deliver it,” he says. “I want people to start wearing my clothes.”
Sario says he knew he wanted to work in fashion at age 9 when he started hand-stitching clothes for his sister’s Barbie dolls. But it wasn’t until he entered HCC that he realized his dream was going to come true.
“I’m thankful I was able to go to HCC, and for instructor Joy Nagaue and the rest of the instructors,” he says. “They knew that I was going to be somebody and they really supported me.”
On Project Runway, South and Higa both agree that they became close friends. South also met Sario and says he noticed they are all local at heart. “I think we all connected because we come from Hawaii and I think that’s something so special that no one understands unless you’re from here,” he says.
The upcoming event with Tim Gunn at Ala Moana Center is free and open to the public.
The fashion show takes place at CenterStage and starts at 1 p.m. followed by a Q & A. Also, with any qualifying purchase of $150 or more, guests will receive a copy of the graphic novel, Models Inc., complimentary gifts from Juicy Couture, Kate Spade New York and Lucky Brand Jeans and be professionally photographed with Tim Gunn on the runway. For more information, visit AlaMoanaCenter.com.
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