Professor Andy Reilly and Graduate Student Jordan Antonio received the “Paper of Distinction Award” for the Cultural track at the 2024 conference of the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA).  ITAA is the premier organization for textile and fashion scholars and presents awards based on a rigorous selection process.  Reilly and Antonio’s paper was a case study of Native Hawaiian fashion designer Micah Kamohoaliʻi and how he utilizes cultural values to guide his designing and manufacturing processes.  This work highlights issues of agency, sustainability, and authenticity.  The paper will be published in early 2025.  Reilly and Antonio acknowledge this research was made possible via a HATCH grant from the US Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.  

By Andy Reilly​

Mini totes bags are one of the trendy items lately. FDM student club, Stole Society, led by Masisa Kim (SS president) and five dedicated FDM student officers, had the 1st-semester event – making own mini totes—on September 30th, 2024. Over 22 participants from various majors had a rich learning experience at the Miller Design Lab. They learned how to use a machine and add lace trims and other embellishments, creating cute and fancy mini totes. This hands-on experience has surely enriched their skills and will motivate them for future events. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you who generously donated fabrics and trims to FDM. We truly appreciate your support. Please check out @stolesociety for upcoming events and Stole workshops. 

By Minako McCarthy​

Andy Reilly, profession in FDM, gave a gallery talk at the Honolulu Museum of Art on June 8 as part of the Fashion Aloha exitigion gallery talks.  His talk, "Identity and Aloha Shirts" was the result of research he did on aesthetic preferences of aloha shirts by Hawaiian, Local, and haole men.  Dr. Reilly found that while Hawaiian and Local men select shirts that reflect the Hawaiian Islands accurately to identify themselves as not-tourists but as residents, haole men upon moving to Hawai`i go through a process of learning about shirts and change their aesthetic preferences to demonstrate they are the good haole.  During the talk, model Makana Gomes modeled different shirts as he talked about them.  Dr. Reilly will be giving this talk at an upcoming symposium in NYC in November.  

By Andy Reilly​