Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 1, 1 January 1995 — Loan fund recipient dreams up muʻumuʻu company [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Loan fund recipient dreams up muʻumuʻu company

by Patrick Johnston Mu'umu'u have eome a long way since prudish missionaries decreed that Hawaiian women were showing too mueh flesh for salvation. These days fashionable -designs don't hide the woman, they beautify her, and are made for just about any oeeasion short of lying on the beach. Loan fund recipient Maile Amorin, a Kaua'i-based mu'umu'u designer, realizes this; her company, Maile Visions, is at the cutting edge of mu'umu'u fashion and her creations are in hot demand across the state. Maile Vision designs are just that: Amorin's visions. This mother of four made her first mu'umu'u holokū based on a dream she had about mermaids. The holokū, with a long train like a mermaid's tail, won first prize at a holokū contest on Kaua'i in 1987. Her mu'umu'u designs have since won her two other contests. Entering contests, however, is not why Amorin is in business. Dresses based on her designs are sold to an assortment of different retailers across the state including Liberty House and JC Penney. Her favorite design, she says, is one that features the pua kenikeni. "I have a strong attachment to this f!ower. It goes back to my culture." These days, Amorin doesn't base many of her designs on dreams. lnstead she sits herself down and visualizes them. Her meditative approach to design has produced an assortment of colorful and attractive dresses in a variety of different styles. She has designed "air-condi-tioned" mu'umu'u that eome with laee shoulders, shorter hems for women who like to wear them to work, and long elegant gowns that women ean wear to holokū balls. "I always try to bring in new ones. People like it when they eome in to a store and see something different." Throughout her life Amorin has seesawed between "practical" and artistic professions. She started off as an entertainer on the Mainland. After a number of years

dancing and singing on the stage in New Jersey, she returned to Hawai'i and pursued a career as a poliee officer. Later she worked as a hotel security director in Po'ipū. Four years ago the hotel laid her off and she turned to

designing mu'umu'u as a career. Amorin says, "I didn' t do anything for myself until I started designing." With a lot of natural talent and a number of drafting lessons under her belt she set out to start a business. Working with OHA contractor Kathleen Cook of Cook and Associates she spent over three years developing a business plan. With support from her

nusoana sne was anie to continue designing and filling orders while waiting for the loan from the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund to eome through. With the loan now in plaee and her business plans moving forward Amorin hopes to continue what she has been doing best - designing flattering dresses for the contemporary woman for both

business and formal occasions. She wants to keep on selling to both big and small retailers but would not object to taking individual orders. "I don't mind women calling me to make the dress of

their dreams," she says. Maile Visions ean be reached in Kekaha, Kaua'i at 337-1610. For information about the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund eall 594-1888.

Maiie Amorin shows off some of her favorite mu'umu'u designs at her shop in Kekaha, Kaua'i. Photos by Patrick Johnston