First Look: Trendy Fashions From Korea at New Children’s Boutique, Oh! Kidz
In the midst of Ke‘eaumoku Street’s myriad barbecue eateries and ramen spots might be the last place you’d expect to find chic children’s fashions. But sure enough, tucked just around the corner from Like Like Drive Inn, the darling new children’s boutique Oh! Kidz has set up shop.
Photos: David Croxford
Originally from Korea, owner Min Wee fell for her local-boy husband five years back while visiting the Islands, and made a permanent move once they were married. She opened Oh! Kidz this May, after sending their daughter off to her first year of preschool. The shop’s design showcases Wee’s creativity, outfitted with racks made of rope-wrapped PVC pipe and white wood cabinets with a beach cottage feel, designed by Wee and built by her husband.
Filling the racks are clothing and accessories for newborns and keiki through age 7. All of the shop’s brands hail from Korea. Among Wee’s favorites are Bba Bba, whose bright, geometric-print onesies feature handy detachable bibs, M. Land (cheerfully patterned backpacks), Bennett, which offers matching mom-and-daughter chambray dresses, and JS, whose cleverly designed nursing dresses zip apart at the seams of their empire waistlines.
Wee’s 3-year-old daughter, Sadie, is a fan of the shop’s bloomer-style shorts. “These are her favorite,” Wee says, pulling out a cobalt-blue, striped pair complete with yellow elastic waistline. “She’s a bit of a tomboy.” Not a problem, since many of the store’s pants are unisex: Think slouchy sweatpant-style joggers, soft, denim roll-hem styles and breezy cotton pieces printed with bunnies and birds.
Most delightful are the shop’s prices, which start at $2.99 for adorable hair accessories (cat-ear headbands and hair clips in the shape of mini party hats) and max out at just under $50 for its most expensive item, an elaborately embroidered blouse. “I wanted to be able to offer well-designed items at good prices,” says Wee. Oh! Kidz’s great graphic tees, topped with tiny star patterns, rain drops and camo prints average a cool $15.
Oh! Kidz, 745 Ke‘eaumoku St., #106A, 948-9099. Open Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Tuesday and Thursday between 2 and 3 p.m.
