Dressing the next generation

Mamo Howell gets some new blood

STORY SUMMARY »

AN INFLUX of urban street-wear retailers in recent years means it is now easier than ever to purchase clothes designed and distributed by Hawaii-based companies.

"What feels good is being able to create something that represents our background," said Tautua Howell-Reed, owner of Affiliated Art at Ward Warehouse. "Hopefully, the younger crowd will really recognize that, and they'll get used to coming into the shop, and this area, to buy new stuff."

With the addition of Affiliated, the area just mauka of Ala Moana Beach Park and Fisherman's Wharf can be considered Oahu's pre-eminent location for customers looking to buy local. DIG Lifestyles and In4mation are both within walking distance, with Kicks Hawaii just down the street.

A few blocks away, Bütigroove and Fitted Hawaii maintain a retail presence with shops just off Kapiolani Boulevard.

Howell-Reed is the grandson of longtime island fashion designer Mamo Howell, who agreed to subdivide her well-established location at Ward Warehouse to create a home for Affiliated.

Construction started last fall on a 500-square-foot space within Howell's store, which originally opened in 1988 when she moved the business out of her Kahala home. A soft opening took place in December.

"I was here (for the soft opening)," Howell said last week. "It's a whole different ballgame from what I'm used to seeing."

Unlike its competition, Affiliated sells just a single brand on its shelves. Howell-Reed got involved with promoting the Cerbae line while living on the mainland and hopes to replicate the success it has there with Hawaii customers who are just beginning to discover what he has to offer.

"We have 50 different designs for the painted shirts," he said. "In total we have about 80 different styles for sale in the shop."

Traditional silk-screened T-shirts retail for about $40, with hand-painted custom shirts priced around $100. Designs are painted on a woven, jerseylike material that is then sewn onto a T-shirt to create the finished product.

Affiliated also offers a complete line of denim jeans and shorts, and in-house art director Abraham Taylor produces custom-painted sneakers to complement all of the clothes. Local residents are also given a 15 percent kamaaina discount with a Hawaii state-issued ID.

"This stuff is for the local boys, the guys who wear 2X and above," said Howell-Reed. "They're not used to coming to a place like this. ... They're used to going to the swap meet or some big-and-tall store.

"I'm trying to get them to come in and see it's all love here."

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MAMO HOWELL has a new color scheme on her storefront.

For the first time in 20 years, she's sharing her Ward Warehouse space with another entrepreneur, her grandson. Half of the front entrance to her boutique is painted pink, the other off-white and emblazoned with the name of Tautua Howell-Reed's new business, Affiliated Art.

"It was (my idea), but I didn't think about it seriously until one day I came in, and wow, the carpet was gone," Howell said last week. "He just went right ahead and did all this on his own."

WHAT HOWELL refers to as "all this" is a drastic makeover of a 500-square-foot space within her store that took place last fall. Howell-Reed, with the help of a small cadre of friends, gutted the area and re-purposed it for a new customer base.

"I knew Mamo Lei's company was eventually going to revamp, bring in a new line and try some new things," he said. "I'm young and I'm already with that market, so I decided to come talk to her and see if we could come and build ... so people like us could come and continue to shop at Mamo."

The 25-year-old Saint Louis graduate returned to the islands last year after spending two years on the mainland gaining business experience. With a degree in hotel and restaurant management from Northern Arizona University, he moved to Los Angeles to be near Southern California's entertainment scene.

"I was doing different businesses up there, helping with events and making a name for myself amongst the Polynesian people and in Hollywood with my parents," he said. "Then I met Nathan Kohrs, (who) actually started Cerbae years ago, but it didn't blow up."

Cerbae's signature item is a custom-painted T-shirt featuring different urban themes. The shirts are carried in stores nationwide, with recording artists like Snoop Dogg, Ne-Yo, Twista and the Three 6 Mafia all supporting the brand.

Howell-Reed started to work with Kohrs on promoting the shirts, flying out to New York and Miami to hype the brand and stir up business. Within a 90-day period in 2005 and 2006, Cerbae went from producing approximately 300 shirts a month to upward of 15,000 shirts a month.

BUT HOME was calling, and Howell-Reed knew his grandmother needed his help.

After a successful career as a dancer and model, Howell returned to Hawaii in the 1980s and entered the world of fashion design when she saw how stagnant the local market was at the time. Working out of her home in Kahala, Howell started by producing handmade blankets and quilts before branching out into aloha wear.

"I went, 'Wow, Hawaii is still doing the same missionary muumuu with the liberty prints,'" she said. "There was nothing about our culture. ... It wasn't accepted at the time, and the stores had never seen it before.

"So, I finally opened up my own shop."

Howell later opened a factory on Queen Street to manufacture her designs. While her husband, Dixie Howell, helped with shipping orders, virtually all other aspects of the business fell on her shoulders.

Now in her 70s, Howell still enjoys the creative part of designing clothes for her customers, but it's the day-to-day operations that wear her down.

"I love working," she said, "but I don't like the figures and the accounting. I'm not very good at that."

Her grandson remembers watching Howell at work, all the way back to when she produced her first items in a spare bedroom. The oldest of five grandchildren, he even helped as a model when he was just 4.

"(The inspiration) was always there," Howell-Reed said. "I understood that Mamo Lei has this company and she's eventually looking to exit, and who else is going to take it over?"

Howell had picked her daughter Leigh Howell-Reed to succeed her, but it was Tautua Howell-Reed who returned to Hawaii first. When he approached her about getting more involved, Howell already knew it was important to embrace the younger generation in order to ensure the company's sustainability.

"It's about the clothes and it's about our culture," she said. "I want to go global.

"I think we've built a good brand already, one that's known for style and taste. But we're stuck in a place that we can't seem to get out of. I'm hoping he can help."

Howell says her goal is to fuse Affiliated Art's urban couture look with the island contemporary feel of her own designs. A revamped women's line of clothes is planned, with the aim of bringing the Mamo brand into the 21st century with the same flair that helped build her reputation in the islands.

"When the customer buys something and they love it, they'll stay loyal and keep coming back," Howell-Reed said. "Mamo Lei did it with her clothes ... (and) we have the same visions for the future.

"We live in a world where times are changing. I'm going to make sure we get out there and represent."