KAPA‘A — December 1 is on Thursday, but the KaiKini holiday pop-up opens Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its 934 Kipuni Way location, upstairs next to the Haole Girl Island Sweets kitchen in the Arzadon Industrial Park.
“KaiKini has always been open by appointment only,” said Kate Henze, owner of KaiKini since May. “Several of the KaiKini partners have teamed up to offer their products, including artwork, jewelry, hats and, of course, swimsuits, in-person through Christmas Eve. This is our KaiKini holiday pop-up where you can see the products in person and see our team work at creating swimsuits in the workshop.”
Tuesday morning, KaiKini’s Ashleen Omo worked through several postal boxes of face masks in preparation for shipment of the masks to the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“They can really use them over there,” Henze said. “I just got back from visiting my folks there, and we have some left over from the COVID pandemic. We can ship them over.”
Face masks also played a big role in getting to the eve of the KaiKini holiday pop-up.
“When the COVID shutdowns took place, I was making face masks for Taryn Rodighiero and KaiKini,” Kate said. “Then, I learned she wanted to sell KaiKini. That fit into my plans of creating resort wear that I was planning to unveil in 2024.”
The takeover also meant keeping the KaiKini team of Omo, lead seamstress Luvie Bechard and seamstress Noelani Rose intact. It also continues the mantra of women-owned businesses taking care of women.
Henze said the advantages of shopping in person allow shoppers an opportunity to see the wall where KaiKini has a selection of several hundred ready-to-go suits, as well as offerings from the KaiKini partners that are also ready to go.
“If shoppers find a model they fit in, they can just take it with them,” she said. “If they don’t find anything, we can fit them to a suit that we’ll custom-make, including fabric selection, for them to pick up at a later date. We do custom fitting either at the workshop or through Zoom meetings.”
The pop-up concept also fits into the KaiKini Khristmas Kountdown, where a special of the day is selected for each day starting Dec. 1 and counting down to Dec. 24.
“And, a portion of each suit sold in the shop is set aside for the KaiKini Kares program, where at the end of the year the proceeds are shared between four local nonprofits, including the Waipa Foundation, the YWCA of Kaua‘i, the Surfrider Foundation and Kaua‘i Hospice,” Kate said.
“These four organizations selected for this year share the same KaiKini mission of caring for the environment and women,” Kate said. “Now, as the year comes to an end, we need to find more groups to share with for 2023.”
w Info: kaikini.com
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
