Weaving a career

Dan Weaver focuses on purity of design

Dan Weaver has set big goals for himself, so when he stages his fall fashion show tomorrow night at The Loft, it won't be a matter of show and sell.

Dan Weaver - Fall 2008 » Fashion show: 8 to 10 p.m. tomorrow » Place: The Loft, 115 Hotel St. (formerly Wo Fat) » Tickets: $7 standing; $15 seated (includes gift bag and T-shirt), available at dw.bigcartel.com » Fashion show: 8 to 10 p.m. tomorrow » Place: The Loft, 115 Hotel St. (formerly Wo Fat) » Tickets: $7 standing; $15 seated (includes gift bag and T-shirt), available at dw.bigcartel.com

That doesn't square with the business of fashion, but unlike the D.I.Y. movement's entrepreneurial designers, Weaver doesn't want to juggle business, marketing and design chores, which he's learned detracts from the creative spirit.

Weaver, who won a Most Promising Designer award at the inaugural FACE of Honolulu fashion event in 2006, immediately started his Cut N Sewn line of T-shirts, and has tried since to meet others' expectations and "conform to their timetables" in terms of staging collaborative fashion shows around town. But the result was rushed collections and a setback in promoting his own vision, which he's convinced can only be realized by working for a large design house with the finances and marketing acumen to get it right.

One of the most ambitious designers to come out of the University of Hawaii Apparel, Product Design and Merchandising Program in recent memory, Weaver applied to appear on "Project Runway" during Season 4, which introduced Christian Siriano. Weaver wasn't chosen, but he said he received good feedback from the judges and was asked to apply again after building up a more extensive portfolio. The experience gave him direction.

"I had to find my own design process and I think I've done that," he said. "After this, I'm ready to go forward with Spring 2009, but I'm mainly doing these collections for my portfolio, to present myself the way I want to be presented."

His fall collection comprises about 25 pieces in gold, with plush black, white and red buffalo check fleece and gingham, delivering a city-chic meets frontier-Americana aesthetic. For women, it's a dream collection of classic pieces designed to be mixed, matched and layered in many ways. The collection works piecemeal or in its entirety, and can be dressed up or down to be sedate to dramatic.

It's been a long journey for Weaver, considering he had no strong ambition to be a clothing designer when he entered the UH program.

"I wanted to start a T-shirt company. In the beginning I hated sewing, but my teachers must have seen something in me because they kept telling me not to quit."

Although Weaver's fall collection is bound to win local fans, he has no plans to put it into production or shop it to retailers.

"I don't want to be in a position where I must sell pieces or run a store. I don't want to dwell on that. Creative growth is a very serious thing to me. I feel I will be a marketable designer and I feel that I'm doing what I have to do at this moment.

"I'm 24. I don't have that much more time."