ABOUT US

Alohiwai 

Ethically made clothing collection - featuring feminine flattering silhouettes designed for lovers of Hawai'i.   

Our Story 

We are a small clothing business consisting of Designer & Director: Yari Rose Tuakalau, Business Manager: John Mohekonokono Tuakalau and Collaborating Artist: Nancy Wood (Mother of Yari).

Alohiwai came to life in 2013, when a major shift happened in my life. I went from a career in early childhood development, surfing everyday and dancing to saying goodbye to the things I love. This was due to a knee injury that needed surgery and years of healing. With this new injury I had to be so gentle with myself. I spent these days healing, living in a cabin on my moms land down in Waa Waa on the east side of the Big Island. One day my mom offered me some sun dye and a stretchy piece of fabric. Years prior I learned the Tahitian sun dye method from uncle Bozo in Waianae Hawaii and loved the process. I started working with the colors in the jungle sun and picked Ulu leaves, native Hawaiian ferns (palapalai), coco leaves to print. The art made me feel alive again after losing the ability to do the other things that I loved and defined myself by. Once again I felt excited and creative for life. I would cut patterns from the dyed material and my mother would sew them. It was always a dream of mine to design clothes and textile prints but I thought that I had to go to college for a Fashion degree and that wasn't the path that I took coming out of high school. 

When I put my first clothing item on Instagram and it sold right away a fire was lit and Alohiwai was born. Around this time I met Kono my husband and business partner. He was excited for Alohiwai and wanted to help the business grow. Eventually the demand was higher then what we could produce. With rainy seasons it was hard to keep up the inventory. I had designed some prints with my mom and had many more brewing up in my head, so we set off to Bali Indonesia with creative dreams and three thousand dollars to make it happen. 

We connected with a Balinese family whom we have a built a great relationship with over the years and still work with today and now call family. Our workers are paid well and bargain (Bali style) for the best price for their family. It was fascinating and inspiring to see our prints come alive and watch our brand grow. We learned that each color used in a print has it's own screen and the more colors in the print the more expensive it is to print. What sets Alohiwai apart from other businesses in Hawaii is the color and the detail in our prints. All of our prints are hand drawn and screen printed. 

Our vision goal is to become a more Sustainable clothing company by incorporating plant based none toxic dye and using more organic and ECO fabrics. This means that we will have to move out of Bali and closer to the source. It is our dream to create positive change and help shoppers become more aware of the importance of where their money goes and the impact they have on supporting family run businesses rather then sweat shops. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our Brand by becoming as sustainable as possible.

As parents we want to lead a lifestyle and business that not only takes but is conscious about giving back to the planet. 

We are a company that is ever evolving towards a more ECO Brand. With the children of the future in mind.

Thank you for being apart of our dream!