Rebounding from last year’s small-scale outdoor event with COVID-19 restrictions, “SuperSonic” arrives with a resounding boom!  This year’s 57th UHM fashion show boasts nine senior and twelve junior design students showcasing their creations on April 30, 2023 at the Hawaii Convention Center (tentatively). 

Each senior will present their unique collections consisting of 5-6 inspired looks, including the garment, make-up and runway music. Twelve junior designers contribute to their own group interpretation of the MET GALA 2023 theme, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.” 

The Fashion Show Production class plans and organizes the entire event from budgeting to staging and anticipate 300 or more guests to attend. The students associate the word “supersonic” with the supernatural impact that is left behind. They explain that the term reflects the great efforts of this year’s senior class and the show will “create a lasting impact on not just the audience, but for the designers as well, as many of them will pave their way into the fashion world after graduation.” Details can be found on the FDM and Fashion Show Instagram accounts: @fdm_uhm and @uhmfashionshow. –Minako McCarthy & Jacqueline Tani

 Dr. Ju-Young Kang and Dr. Shu Hwa Lin of the FDM program won the Paper of Distinction award for the culture track at the 2022 annual ITAA conference for their paper entitled “3D Virtual Technology in Costume Museum Exhibition: Qing Dynasty.” This project aimed to create a digital costume museum platform that incorporated 3D virtual technology. This project was based on the authentic costumes at the UH historic costume museum. Our UH historic costume museum is one of Hawaii's largest historical and ethnographic costumes and textile collections. We will continue to develop a 3D platform for diverse collections of the UH costume museum. To learn more UHM Costume Collection, watch a video. This is Dr. Kang's third Paper of Distinction award since she’s been at the CTAHR/UH—she previously won this award in 2014 and 2017 (consumer behavior track) at the ITAA conference. Also, this is Dr. Lin’s second Paper. of Distinction award —she previously won this award in 2020 (sustainability/social responsibility track) at ITAA. Congratulations!

FDM 437 Small Business Start-up class recently opened their new retail brands, Hidden Essentials and Artists Collective, which features handmade products created by the FDM students and selected merchandise sourced from local/national vendors.

Hidden Essentials is an online boutique run by 10 fashion design and merchandising students at UH Mānoa. This includes our e-commerce team: Michelle Kinumatsu, Makali'i Saunders, and Hoku Serna; our marketing team: Kanako Yoshitsugu, Melanie Simmons, and Jisoo Kim; our merchandising team: Cailin Kaneshiro, Jada Rogers, and Danielle Gersonde; and our team leader, Sabrina Weaver. The Artists Collective is a joint shop created by Olivia Maguire, Jordan Casteen, Crystal Lam, Enzo Silvestro, Riana Kawamura, Megan Medrano, Blaise Sugita and Dominique Au....[For the full article, click "Read more"]

Welcome to our inaugural issue. We view this as a means to stay connected with our stakeholders and share our program achievements and highlights. 

Students and faculty were very excited to be back and filled with energy, as we began the fall semester in person after two years of online and hybrid learning. Fall also marked the revival of the FDM Advisory Board, composed of community stakeholders, whose function is to act as a sounding board and provide advice on program direction. Many members participated in our 5-year review. Actually, this time the review became a 7-year review due to delays caused by the pandemic. In the review process we reflect on our mission and outcomes and include feedback from our stakeholders. An external review team composed of faculty from other universities visited the campus in October to assess the College, and were overwhelmingly supportive of the program and provided excellent feedback.... [For the full article, click "Read more"]

Fashion Design & Merchandising’s costume display put the “muse” in museum. Professors Ju-Young Kang and Shu Hwa Lin from the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences highlighted a “hidden treasure” – as described by the Hawai’i State Legislature – and won this year’s Paper of Distinction award for the culture track. Their award-winning paper was titled, “3D Virtual Technology in Costume Museum Exhibition: Qing Dynasty.”