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SALT LAKE CITY — Set against the backdrop of a massive tapa cloth, over a 120 models strutted down a Fairpark runway Saturday night.
They sported towering headdresses made of feathers and shells, Pacific prints and motifs in modern silhouettes, corsets paired with tapa and fala skirts and a collection made entirely of vintage tablecloths.
The sold-out Utah Pacific Fashion Show was a first of its kind, with 100% of the show being Pacific Islander produced. It featured a mix of 18 emerging and established designers from Utah, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand and more.
Utah Pacific Fashion co-founder Benjamin Powell said the event grew organically out of a desire to better showcase Pacific Islander creatives in Utah, especially for those who are a few generations removed from the islands.
“We do have such a huge (Pacific Islander) population here,” Powell said. “Culturally, I feel like there was a bit of disconnect, and I felt that we needed to do something that was very culturally aware for the generations that we have now. We also felt that it was important for them to know that the creative world that we come from is a sustainable career world, that we can make an impact and we really are people of art in our culture.”
Regan Pilimai, whose grandparents are from Samoa and Hawaii, has designed toward her Polynesian roots as she’s taken steps to reconnect with her heritage. She is the owner of Ku’ulei Shop, which features repurposed, vintage and secondhand fashion. Her current collection takes vintage tablecloths and repurposes them into traditional Hawaiian and Samoan silhouettes.
She said she wishes there was an event like the Pacific Fashion Show when she moved to Utah from Southern California as a teen.
“When I moved here in high school, the community that I was in didn’t have a lot of Pacific Islanders or a lot of brown people. I think it would have meant a lot to me to have an event like this to feel connected again,” she said. “Because I think that when we’re here in Utah, we can feel very disconnected from our roots and our heritage. It provides that connectedness and it also provides a good outlet for creativity and for other people, whether they’re Pacific Island or not, to be inspired by that.”
For the international designers, the show was also a chance to break into the Utah and U.S. markets.
Agnes Loheni runs the fashion brand MENA along with her mom and three sisters. The brand — which became a household name in Samoa after its founding in 2002 — is named after Loheni’s mother who began making dresses at 13 to provide income for her family. Loheni said although the brand does have online customers in the U.S., the country hasn’t previously been a big market for them.
“This was an opportunity to come and actually see more about the market over here — and it’s been very promising,” she said. “We’ve actually had sold to a couple of wholesalers. So, we’ll look to strengthen those relationships and, in time, maybe there’s an opportunity to actually lock down a brick-and-mortar store. This has been a great week so far.”
Fijian designer Epeli Tuibeqa, whose brand is KuiViti, said the event was unique because of the wide range of big-name Pacific Island designers. His collection focuses on “where the land meets the sea,” which taps into his work to liimit climate change.
“So here in the U.S., I’m also like saying that, ‘Hey, we’re out here in the Pacific. Be careful of what you do, because we’re the ones suffering the most in terms of climate change,” Tuibeqa said. “Because we come from small islands, individually we can’t make a lot of noise. But together, it’s a sold-out event because we’re working together as Pacific Islanders.”
Powell isn’t sure what the future will bring Utah Pacific fashion, but he hopes the show will be a launching pad.
“Do we do just another fashion show? Or do we incorporate wellness, incorporate beauty or incorporate things that can maybe do more of a development on a professional and personal level?” he said. “So there’s a lot of aspects that we’re looking at.”