Couture designer puts on isle face

Michael Kaye, inspired by the Hawaii of his youth returns for Fashion Week

A walk down Kalakaua Avenue or Ala Moana Center's mall level reveals many of the same luxury boutiques that line Manhattan's posh 5th and Madison avenues. But 20 years ago, no one would have claimed Honolulu to be a stylish destination, except a kid from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for whom Hawaii represented an exotic, glittering fashion mecca.

Today, couture designer Michael Kaye dresses the rich and/or famous who call New York, Palm Beach, London and Paris home, and he owes his career, in part, to the inspiration Hawaii provided him from the impressionable age of 8, when he began spending every summer in the islands, into early adulthood, with his father and stepmother.

Kaye will be returning the favor when he presents a showcase of Hawaii-inspired dresses and gowns during the FACE of Honolulu Fashion Show taking place in the open-air "runway" of Nuuanu Avenue Saturday, as the free grand finale to Hawaii's first Fashion Week.

"I learned about American fashion from Hawaii, at Liberty House, Carol & Mary and McInerny, but I haven't been back for 22 years, until last September. That trip just brought it all back," he said by phone from his atelier in New York.

He always knew he wanted to be involved in fashion, shunning the Canadian pastime of watching hockey every Saturday night in favor of holing up in his room and sketching gowns. In high school, he created outfits for himself and his friends, and in formal sewing classes would "make taffeta Lacroix-style ball gowns while the girls around me were making very home ec-y aprons."

He may never have left Canada if not for a guest instructor visiting from Ithaca, N.Y., who encouraged him to study in New York. He was able to make it to the Fashion Institute of Technology, but found "an extra layer of difficulty" in trying to stay in the United States. As much as we have in common with our Northern neighbors, he was still a foreigner.

"It's tough to get a green card, especially when fashion designers are a dime a dozen. You really have to prove that you're special, above and beyond everyone else," he said.

Kaye was able to prove his skills while working for Arnold Scaasi, Albert Nipon and Jones New York. He also started his own line and built enough of a couture clientele to go solo seven years ago.

"In this business, people don't want an unknown, but it's the final product that speaks for itself," Kaye said. "I take an American approach to modern couture that's different from European couture. My clients are the same people who wear Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent couture, not ready-to-wear.

"They are highly scrutinized women who are sticklers for detail and quality. They're always at parties and they have to go in something new. They don't recycle gowns."

He often attends the same parties as his clients, and at one socialite's home ended up on the dance floor next to Paris Hilton, who hit him several times while flailing about.

"At first you go, 'Oh my god, it's Paris Hilton,' but you have to remember they're just people," he said. "I don't make myself self-important just because I semi rub elbows with this crowd."

Kaye put together his Hawaii collection in little more than a month and says we can expect to see bold color and printed chiffon bearing imagery of island botanicals.

"It's very Hawaiian, but not like your grandmother's muumuu. You'll see."