PUHI — Barbara Green discovered the staircase at the Gaylord’s restaurant at Kilohana, Sunday during the Mu‘umu‘u Brunch Soiree.
“I didn’t realize Kilohana had that stairway leading to the dining room,” Green, the fashion designer at Definitely Baba, and a special speaker on holoku during the event celebrating Mu‘umu‘u Month. “I had to get a photo on the staircase because it works for the train on the holoku.”
The staircase also worked for professional photographer Belinda Montoro Miller who did photos for the guests to the sold-out event held in the newly-constructed lanai for Gaylord’s at the Kilohana Estate.
“The lighting just works,” Miller said. “I used the stairway for a lot of the photos.”
These conversations only served to illustrate the versatility of the mu‘umu‘u in fashion and work.
“There are stories in all mu‘umu‘u,” said Shannon Hiramoto, originator of January being Mu‘umu‘u Month, six years ago. “Wearing mu‘umu‘u just triggers the stories to come out. This way of getting people together is just one of the reasons why I became interested in mu‘umu‘u and raising awareness of this fashion that fits anyone.”
Hiramoto had a variety of mu‘umu‘u that guests could bid on with the proceeds benefiting the Kauai Historical Society, a benefactor of the mu‘umu‘u movement from its beginnings, six years ago.
“I told the ladies to use the hallway to and from the buffet as the catwalk,” Hiramoto said. “The stairs are at the end of the hall.”
During the soiree that was accompanied by a handful of hand-created memento by Hiramoto, guests were treated to the silent auction featuring a number of mu‘umu‘u, the photos by Montoro, floral crafting by Ivory Lloyd of The Lei Collective, and following the gathering that had a lot of time for mingling and talking mu‘umu‘u stories, a special mu‘umu‘u themed class at the Clayworks at Kilohana was also sold out.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
