We are coming off the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival filled with awe and gratitude.
Thirty two years in, it is still the state's largest celebration of Made in Hawaiʻi businesses. Four days, hundreds of artisans, craftsmen, food producers, designers and entrepreneurs, and a crowd that shows up ready to shop, browse and say hello.
This year brought something new. Kilo Summit, created by ocean photographer Zak Noyle and designer and creative director Kūhaʻo Zane, transformed a room on the third floor into a space brimming with culture and traded booths for collaborations. More than twenty pairings of Hawaiʻi brands, artists and makers, built around the idea that a community thrives when the established lift up the emerging.
Every detail was intentional, down to an ʻōhiʻa lehua from Hui Kū Maoli Ola, rooted in layers that trace Kakaʻako's history back to the wetlands that once fed it.
In their words: "Kilo Summit was born from a simple belief: that the people of Hawaiʻi carry something irreplaceable. Their craft is their voice, their culture, their gift."
You could feel it all weekend. Diver and author Kimi Werner with artist Hana McEvilly. Palikū Surf of Hilo with canoe makers Kamanu Composites. Bladesmith Neil Kamimura with chef Sheldon Simeon.
And Honolulu Pawnshop with Chinatown's beloved Sing Cheong Yuan bakery, on tees that read "Hot Girls Eat Manapua." Iconic.
The collab
We paired up with Samantha Hook, the Honolulu born leathersmith behind Tidal Theory and Hook & Hide. She works out of Chinatown, pairing traditional craftsmanship with a deep love of the ocean. As she puts it, her designs reflect "the powerful forces that shape its tides."
Together we made bracelets and necklaces using our signature Lei Pikake beads. The 14K gold and premium leather were the perfect complement, and the pairing of the two materials was a crowd favorite all weekend.
The standout was her Three-Tiered Pikake & Puakenikeni Forever Lei. Samantha cuts and molds every flower by hand from full grain vegetable tanned Italian leather, building each pikake from two flowers in one, formed around a sandalwood bead so it holds its shape, and rolling the puakenikeni petals into their signature form. She accents it with Kona Kampachi fish leather tanned here in Hawaiʻi by Hook & Hide, freshwater pearls and our gold Lei Pikake pieces, all strung on hand foraged and dyed silk ribbon by Kristin Baucom of Okbet Supply.
Mahalo
To Zak, Kūhaʻo and their whole team, thank you for the year of work behind a weekend that looked effortless. Building a space this intentional takes real dedication and it showed in every corner of the room.
To Samantha, we are grateful to have collaborated with your talent.
And to every maker we stood beside, and everyone who came through to shop, browse, talk story and say hello, mahalo nui.
