Joni Marcello, who's due to give birth in April, wears a silk charmeuse pant suit with ylang ylang print by Mamo Howell. The set sells for $131 at Mamo Howell's Ward Warehouse store.
Looking good, baby
Mamo Howell joins the trend
for maternity wear that flatters
long after delivery
The influence of Hollywood stars doesn't stop with red-carpet wear. After high-profile moms like Sarah Jessica Parker and Gwyneth Paltrow showed moms-to-be that they could still be fashionable at eight and nine months, the jig was up for purveyors of sack dresses.
Variety in maternity wear has been extended to Hawaiian wear as Mamo Howell has introduced her own maternity line, including such luxe evening-appropriate fabric as silk charmeuse, silk chiffon and georgette, perfect for the party season.
"Women looked at these stars and wanted what they wore during their pregnancies," said Howell. "They weren't wearing big, boxy, old-fashioned things."
The new focus fit right in with her preferences. "I like to see women dressed and not upholstered," she said.
Many of the new styles, with flounces and ruffles in step with street looks, wouldn't be automatically identified as maternity, conveniently masking normal bellies made rounder by the inevitable indulgences of holiday cookies and candies.
The new maternity wear could also leave moms and dads with a bigger budget for the nursery, as moms wouldn't be compelled to go clothes shopping right after delivery.
Orchids are pretty on pink in this pantsuit with fully lined georgette pants, $104.
Howell has always been quick to embrace new ways of raising awareness of her Hawaiian heritage, which hasn't always been easy. A kokio print marks the first time she chose to show a hibiscus, because she first wanted to open eyes to the beauty of more obscure plants.
"When I first entered this business, everyone was using bird of paradise, hibiscus, anthuriums, heliconia, all the showy flowers. It was the little ones that were never done," she said. "Nobody had ilima or pakalana.
"I had to fight with artists to get them done, because they all said, 'Oh, it's too small.' When they saw the ilima, they'd say, 'What is that? It looks like a skinny carrot or something.' It took a long time for people to get it."
She doesn't worry about running out of inspiration, recently committing the tiny Niihau shells to print. "No one used it because to them they look insignificant, just tiny little shells."
Sometimes, convincing store buyers of the beauty of these prints is difficult.
"Here, buyers are afraid because it's their heads on the block if it doesn't sell. It's not like New York (where Howell once modeled for Christian Dior), where they're very aggressive. They're looking for something different. Here, they're looking to see what everybody else is doing."
This belly-masking ruffled double georgette top and skirt features a lehua print in black and red on white, at $110.
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