Fashion Annex at Ala Moana Center Celebrates Hawai‘i’s Fashion Industry

(Sponsored) Check out the colorful exhibition on view through August 25.

Take a trip down memory lane through the Fashion Annex exclusively at Ala Moana Center, which celebrates Hawai‘i’s unique fashion industry history. Aloha Made: A Snapshot of Hawai‘i Fashion was unveiled on July 1, and you can stop by to check it out until August 25.

This free and colorful exhibition shows how the humble aloha shirt became Hawai‘i’s most iconic garment, from its predecessor, the palaka shirt, to the early Japanese prints of the 1930s, and how this garment is not only locally, but globally embraced. Even top-tier celebrities have sported the look.

After gaining popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, the aloha shirt fueled a thriving manufacturing industry in Hawai‘i. At the time of statehood in 1959, fashion design and manufacturing was the third largest industry, following sugar and pineapple cultivation.

The tradition of aloha wear remains strong, and the Fashion Annex also features some of today’s innovators in the industry.

This Fashion Annex was curated by vintage collector and fashion expert Dale Hope, who has spent most of his life working with aloha shirts, and Deborah Mascia, the creator and co-owner of local brand Mu‘umu‘u Heaven. From grandparents to keiki, there is something everyone can enjoy at the exhibit.

The Fashion Annex is located on Mall Level 2, Mauka Wing at Ala Moana Center and is open daily from noon to 5 p.m. Aloha Made: A Snapshot of Hawai‘i Fashion is on view through August 25.