Maui fashion brand Pulelehua Maui headed to New York Fashion Week


PC: Pulelehua Maui.

A 10-person team with Maui-based fashion brand Pulelehua Maui will head to New York Fashion Week on Thursday.

Owner, Gemma Alvior, is collecting 30 searches for The Model Experience event, happening on September 11, 2022 in Brooklyn, NY.

According to Alvior, other Hawaiʻi brands have been featured in New York Fashion Week events, but this is the first time a Maui brand has been invited and the first time a Hawaiʻi brand is doing the Brooklyn event.

The fashion show takes place at 3:30 PM ET (9:30 AM HST) and features approximately 60 designers. Tickets can be purchased to watch virtually, but friends can also watch the Pulelehua portion of the event live on Facebook and Instagram.

Pulelehua Maui began in 2016 with inspiration from the fashions featured at the annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo, Hawai’i. Alvior was there as a member of Hālau Kekuaokalā’ala’iliahi.

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“I always wanted to be a designer when I was young. I went to Long Beach State, which has a very good College of Art, and there’s also a design school in Long Beach, but I was too scared to do it because I couldn’t cut straight and I couldn’t draw. ,” said Alvior, who later embraced her ability to visualize and manifest the designs she desired.

After finding a seamstress, she then found a company on Oʻahu that could print designs. At first she made pattern and material choices and used designs they already had; but in 2018 she started using her own patterns and selling her products at swap meets and local craft fairs.

“Lehua was the first design because of Monarch Merrie. I wanted to honor the year I competed,” said Alvior. By then, the ʻŌhiʻa Rapid Death had doubled its impact in two years, spreading to 30,000 acres on the island of Hawaiʻi.

My dressmaker couldn’t handle it. We continued to sell,” said Alvior. In addition to the swap meet, she would also sell her clothing at fundraising events and craft fairs. “She told me that if I want to continue, I will have to contract. I never wanted to move – I wanted to keep it in Hawaiʻi and Maui.

One of her designer friends advised that, ‘people will buy your stuff because it’s your design – no matter who makes it. It is what you put into it. With her tailoring dying and more orders to fill, Alvior decided to do just that.

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In 2020, amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvior took a leave of absence from her job as a guest service agent at Hawaiian Airlines, which allowed her to focus on her clothing brand.

“I found an amazing graphic designer who understands my vision of how I want my designs to look,” said Alvior. The collaboration led to designs that include the lehua bird, kalo, orchid, laʻi and iwa.

On Mother’s Day, Pulelehua Maui launched the iwa, la’i and orchid designs as part of the Kuleana Collection, which represent durability, protection and honor. “The reasons for that are, during COVID, my third oldest sister died, and the next year, my nephew… With everything that’s happened in my family, I wanted to bring iwa because you just have to be resilient to how life goes and you have to keep going,” said Alvior.

The laʻi, or ti, leaf was chosen for its protective properties; and the orchid was chosen to honor Alvior’s mother, who is battling Stage 4 cancer.

Alvior was born in the Philippines, raised in Northern California and moved to Maui in 1999. She started hula dancing at the age of 10 and continues to do so today. “Hula has always been a part of me. I’ve always loved hula, the language, and I take it with me… I’m so honored to be able to support and embrace the culture and share designs that have meaning,” said Alvior.

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Alvior’s daughter, Faith, also started her own swimwear line called Kulunakinis, which is featured in Pulelehua Maui pop-ups and online. The Baldwin High School senior launched the brand during the pandemic with designs that include protea, puakenikeni and gardenia.

Upon arrival on the East Coast, the New York-based nonprofit group Hālāwai, which is committed to supporting people of common interest in Hawai’i and the Pacific, will assist with transportation and instruction for the Maui contingent. The group has chosen iconic locations for the Pulelehua photo sessions and has planned a concert for musicians Hoaka Music, which will accompany the Maui group.

Hoaka Music, which includes Kalani Miles and Kason Gomes, will share their music live during a free event at The Bryant Park Hotel from 6-8pm on Saturday, September 10, 2022.

Their music will also be featured as part of the fashion show, along with an oli to Maui, composed by Luana Kawaʻa and shared by Leinaʻala Medeiros.

The Brooklyn event’s mission is to create opportunities for models and talent. It was founded in 2012 and past participants have gone on to model for Vogue, HBO Max, Guess and more.

Model Experience will offer a total of 25 female and 4 male models whose goal is to be signed by a modeling agency. Two of the women featured on the Pulelehua runway are from Valley Isle–Miss Maui USA 2021-2022, Kawena Kanhai and Malie Meanor.

For the remaining designs, Alvior shared her vision with the group, many of whom have never been to Maui or Hawaiʻi. “I sent them a long email about who I am and what the designs mean. It’s not just a flower you’re going to wear… I want to make sure they understand what they’re wearing,” she said.

Pulelehua Maui was also invited to LA Fashion Week in October, but has yet to commit to the event, given the limited time frame for preparation.

For the holiday season, Pulelehua Maui will host a pop-up store in the old Forever 21 store at the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, in which Alvior will launch three new designs. The activity lasts from December 15-20, 2022.

The Pulelehua Apparel LLC website is temporarily in “off” mode while Alvior focuses on the NY fashion show, but will be back up and running soon with new runway designs coming to the online store.



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