Aupuni Space presents Nake‘u Awai

July 17, 2021
7–10pm
at Kaimana Beach Hotel, 2nd Floor

Sold Out

Aupuni Space presents a re-presentation of Nake‘u Awai’s distinctive career as a fashion designer through our contemporary lens, featuring garments, objects, and ephemera from his annual fashion shows over the last 45 years.

Nake‘u Awai and his Kalihi shop have been an important, if not underappreciated, staple in the local community and aloha wear industry for decades. The richness of his printed textiles and the narratives embedded in his garments are recontextualized by a genderqueer, experimental, critical vision of what it means to don aloha wear in the 21st century. The show is an homage to Nake‘u’s sharp, exacting, ever-youthful eye, his playfulness and humor, and his willingness to push the envelope, creatively and stylistically.

We hope that an expanded audience can further an intergenerational appreciation for Nake‘u, and encourage play and experimentation in the ways we think about personal style on a daily basis.