Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 6, 1 Iune 2019 — Kini Zamora recreates an iconie ali'i gown [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kini Zamora recreates an iconie ali'i gown

By Kawena Lei Carvalho-Mattos When we envision how our ali'i looked, words like regal, powerful, stoic, and beautiful are often used to describe their appearance. For Native Hawaiian fashion designer Kini Zamora, that vision became a hands-on reality in his Hālawa design studio. In a partnership with the 'Iolani Palaee, Zamora is creating a modern interpretation of an ieonie pieee of Hawaiian history, Queen Kapi 'olani's coronation gown. Now, after months of researching, sketching, planning and sewing by hand, the recreation of the Quccn's gown is now coming together to look like the original masterpiece. "The reason why we started with Queen Kapi'olani's coronation gown is we wanted to go with something that is a little more lavish and see something more opulent." said Zamora, often known for his experience as an alumni of Project Runway. "For me that is something that I kind of represent, a dramatic type of designer here in Hawai'i. So it was very exciting to start with [the coronation gown]." The gown was originally worn by the Queen Kapi'olani on February 12, 1883 at the coronation ceremony, where both King Kalākaua

and Kapi'olani were crowned. The dress was designed by AmeHean

designer Charles Ferneaux, who was renowned

at the time for being a talented artist skilled in both

design and painting. In addition to creating the lux-

Above, ū portrait of Queen Kapi'olani, at 'lolani Palaee in her regal dress by Charles Furneaux. - lmage: Wikimedia.org. At right, the recreation of the Queen's A

gown by designer, Kini Zamora. Photo: Priends of 'lolani Palaee V.

urious coronation gown, Ferneaux also painted a portrait of the Queen wearing the finished pieee, whieh now hangs in 'Iolani Palaee. "It's projects like these that create eonneetions with the past and bring the monarchy-era to life today," said Pomai Toledo, Director of Development and Communications at 'Iolani Palaee. "We hope this inspires our community to support our efforts to preserve, protect, and perpetuate the stories 'Iolani Palaee." When Zamora first started the recreation project, all he had was the Ferneaux painting and a black and white haute couture image to use for reference. Because a photo or paintine ean be interpreted many ways, extensive

md specific additional research was needed to learn more about the functional details of the dress. Zamora looked to nupepa entries where introductions were recorded of monarchy entering a room. The articles included details that one would typically see at a modern day red carpet entrance, including a descrin-

tion of what was worn. Zamora also referenced what was worn in England for Kini Zamora. -

Photo: Courtesv

the coronation of the royal family.

There is a lot of European and Victorian inHuenee throughout the dress, but there is a heavy Hawaiian inHuenee through out the embroidery work in

r the gown," shared Zamora, when describing the meaning ound in the pieee. "I think Queen

Kapi'olam really wanted that to be part of what she wore while getting crowned. She wanted it to be about the people." Armed with his traditional training from Honolulu Community College's fashion program and the New York Fashion Institute, Zamora's final interpretation of the gown was made of two distinct pieces; a floor length silk white dress with a fitted bodice and a long red velvet eape with a train, lined with white and black ermine fur. Both pieces were adomed with an abundance of palapalai fern leaves, embroidered in gold thread, representing the Queen's connection to the Kingdom of Hawai'i and its people. For the fern detailing, Zamora worked with a graphic design artist to recreate the exact fems from the black and white photo and recreate eaeh leaf digitally on laee. Paying homage to the meaning of the palapalai ferns on the original pieee, Zamora asked volunteers from the community and the Friends of 'Iolani Palaee to be a part of the pieee by helping to hand-stitch the golden palapalai embroidery detailing onto the eape and gown. While in its final stages of completion, a preview of the full coronation gown was recently put on display at Bloomingdales in the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Juxstaposed against the modern day fashion sold in the department store, the reintrepretation of Queen Kapi'olani's coronation gown stood out as a beautiful and timeless pieee of people to enjoy. "We have been very fortunate to work with Kini on this project," said Toledo. "He is such a talented and gifted designer who has paid homage to Queen Kapi'olani with his interpretation of her coronation gown. We want people to not only gain an appreciation for

:his workmanship, but to also understand how our ali'i were fashion-forward by incorporating Hawaiian culture into the fashions of the day." Zamora is now working on the l finishing touches on the gown and a I showing of the completed garment at 'Iolani Palaee is hoped to be seen the future. ■

1 Vk'"1 W

i it - SkE Tbe artist at work. - Photo: Kawena Lei Carvalho-Mattos