Kemahani Fashion 1001 Dillingham Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96817

"Put an order in never got an email text or call back look it up it says open no 1 picks up the phone when you call. No Can"

"In December 2019, my granddaughter was going to be baptized on Oahu. Our son said, “Mom, don’t wear the same clothes you always wear”. I laughed. So when we arrived from Hilo the day before the event, our other son suggested, with much excitement, that we stop at a store who specializes in Polynesian clothing for infants, toddlers, youth, men, and women. Being part Samoan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Japanese, Irish, Corsican, etc., I have always enjoyed wearing clothing relating to one of my ethnic backgrounds. So of course, this peaked my interest. I thought, “Another Polynesian store. What could be so special about it?” When my son parked the car in front of the store, I said, “This is it?” Nestled in what I consider a mini “industrial block” off of Dillingham Boulevard, across from the Honolulu Community College, is a store called Kemahani. When we (five of us) walked in, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of pre-sewn assortment of Samoan puletasi (a traditional two-piece dress with a skirt and a top worn by Samoan, Tongan, and Fijian girls and usually worn to cultural events, church, or a formal event) and colorful Polynesian tribal shirts for men and youth of all sizes. While the downstairs area is small and includes the “sewing factory” of three (or was it two?) sewing machines and staff, the personality and care of the store owner, Daphne Fuimaono, distracts you from the “over abundance look” on the store racks. Impatient! I’m a “pull-off-the-rack-and- buy it” type of person, but when it comes to a puletasi, the cut, style, and the look is very important to me; therefore, I had to try it on for sizing. Yes. It looked big on me - BUT - what impressed me was the “eyeball it” look by Daphne. She said, “Take it in here, take it in there”, gave it to the seamstress, who immediately re-sized my puletasi to my exact measurement! Impressive! Daphne takes pride in her product. Her attention to detail is awesome! Her attention to my need was evident. My husband is very picky about his clothes and what he wears. Imagine our surprise when he quickly embraced the old “jac-type” shirt in a nice Polynesian style! It was tapered as if it was made just for him. He was ecstatic! Daphne mentioned the cutting of material is done upstairs (time did not allow us to look). Nothing is sent to Japan or China. Prices vary and may be considered “pricey” by some but if you want a quality product (material, sewing, design), the Kemahani “Made in Hawaii” label is for us."