Nakeu Awai

Often touted as the Grandfather of Hawaiʻi fashion, Nakeʻu was the first Hawaiian designer to locally create prints using native and indigenous flora as inspiration (what’s come to be known as “Hawaiian print”).

He also produced the first muʻumuʻu (a loose gown) and holokū (a loose, seamed dress with a yoke and train) to be sold commercially at Carol and Mary, an iconic women’s fashion store at the time, and the Liberty House department store, making Hawaiian fashion accessible to the masses.