Alumni News

New York Fashion Week is the epicenter for America’s new trends in clothing styles and materials. At the upcoming event in February 2022, the illustrious pantheon of collections will include Ola Hou Designs by Sharayah Chun-Lai. “I am humbled and honored to be the First Native Hawaiian wahine to accept an invitation from Runway 7 to showcase Ola Hou Design’s uniquely modern Hawaiian vision at Sony Hall and represent Hawai‘i,” says the 2016 graduate of the Fashion Design and Merchandising program of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Ola hou” translates to “new life,” Sharayah explains, and Ola Hou Designs reflects her deep cultural roots and formative educational experiences at Kamehameha Schools and CTAHR. Since her childhood days on the Big Island, she “always aspired to share my love of fashion and Hawaiian culture with the world.” And now she’ll get her chance!

Under the New York spotlight, Ola Hou Designs “will bring Aloha to the world, as each design tells a story to see, wear and represent,” she says. “Each print represents a deeper meaning than what meets the eye. They are representations of my family, friends, culture, life, and love, intertwined together to create artistic and transformative experiences.”

Sharayah adds, “This is an opportunity to showcase not only my designs, but more importantly, the stories behind the designs, which have always revolved around family, friends, people, and my upbringing in Hawaiian culture and values.”

Read the UH News story.

When a graduate student named Andy Reilly first heard about the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) in 1997, he admits he “really didn't know about or understand the purpose of professional organizations.” Still, his professor recommended he join, so he did. “However, after my first meeting – in Lyon, France, no less – I was hooked and found a supportive community for my academic interests,” says Andy, now a professor in the Fashion Design and Merchandising Program of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences. A quarter-century later, he will represent CTAHR as the new president of the ITAA – the first male to lead the international organization since its founding in 1979! Andy will serve as president-elect in 2022, move into the president position in 2023, and serve as counselor in 2024.

“I am very happy to have this opportunity to serve,” Andy says. “The position will bring visibility to UH and our fashion program. CTAHR has a history of strong leaders in ITAA and I am one person glad to continue that tradition.” 

And what exactly are his plans as president?

“ITAA is currently undergoing a strategic review and developing a plan,” Andy says. “This plan will help guide the organization – and one of my roles will be to help oversee the implementation of the plan. I hope that by the end of my term, the organization will be duly prepared to face the issues that affect clothing and textiles scholars, educators, and practitioners.”

ITAA was founded in 1979 as the Association of College Professors of Textiles and Clothing, changing its name in 1991 to the International Textile and Apparel Association to better reflect its global perspective. ITAA strives to advance excellence in education, scholarship, innovation, and their global applications. It is the premier organization for textile and apparel scholarship.

Serving 359,159 meals to the homeless in a single year requires a literal ton(s) of ingredients. To supplement the meals with fresh, locally grown produce, the Institute for Human Services maintains a rooftop garden on top of its Dillingham Blvd. location, carefully tended to by GoFarm Hawaiʻi graduate Lubei Cavin. At her invite, eight agents from O’ahu County Extension had an opportunity to return to IHS’s rooftop garden to see how all the magic happens. Aquaponically grown lettuce, basil, kalo, and sweet potatoes were just some of the many commodities growing.

Lubei led an aquaculture production “class” for her visitors, and shared her focus on the humanity side of agriculture and how the garden provides food to keep people fed and nourished. Extension also had an opportunity to see how the veggies are processed in the kitchen, then packed and served to IHS guests across Oʻahu.

“The field trip was eye opening,” says Jari Sugano. “It reminded us how important it is to put food into the hands of those who need it the most.”

Following the visit, Extension and volunteers made a special effort to help IHS supplement its holiday spread. They harvested and donated mandarins and citrus from Extension agent Jensen Uyeda field trial at the Poamoho Research Station.

“As this holiday season approaches, please be mindful of those in need and support organizations like IHS who strive to end homelessness in Hawaiʻi,” says Jari. “In 2020, IHS housed 2,619 clients and sheltered 2,145 people – besides serving all those meals. So please consider making donations of food, clothing, home goods, toiletries, monetary gifts, gift cards, etc.”

View a video of Extension’s visit.

Extension’s Amjad Ahmad basked in the virtual limelight as the featured speaker in “Locally Grown,” a video series by the American Association of Retired Persons, Hawaiʻi chapter, and Windward Community College. Each week during the cooking webinar series, which ran for six weeks, Amjad gave a presentation and answered questions about growing conditions, the best time to harvest, the best season and environment to grow the crops during, and other related questions. The virtual events also covered cooking demonstrations of locally grown crop (sweet potato, breadfruit, papaya, taro, lemongrass, and kabocha pumpkin) lead by a chef from Windward’s culinary program.

In all, the webinars engaged 1,329 people over the six-week period.

“Amjad did a great job representing CTAHR at the request of AARP!” says Jari Sugano. “His talks helped to heighten awareness of locally grown foods that are easy to grow – and nutritious.”

With topics ranging from trail preservation to mongoose control to possible establishment of the beloved manu o kū native tern on Windward O‘ahu, the 2021 senior undergraduate cohort in the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management will present their capstone projects. Join them next Wednesday, Dec. 8, starting at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom. “It’s exciting to see our undergraduate seniors integrate the interdisciplinary skills learned in the NREM program to support local managers!” says Melissa Price. “In their capstone projects, they compare how different actions might achieve ecological, social, and economic goals for a particular problem, identifying an optimal pathway forward for decision makers. Looking over the past five years, we can see how these capstone projects have resulted in real-world impacts!”

For questions, contact Melissa at pricemel@hawaii.edu.