For their case study of Native Hawaiian fashion designer Micah Kamohoaliʻi, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa research team earned top honors at the 2024 International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) conference. Their work explored the intersection of cultural values, sustainability and authenticity in fashion design.
Representing the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program, Professor Andy Reilly and graduate student Jordan Antonio received the Paper of Distinction award for the culture track at the 2024 conference of ITAA, held in Long Beach, California, in November.
Kamohoaliʻi started his fashion company in 2005. He has garnered attention in the fashion industry for years and has even shown his works on New York runways. Reilly and Antonio’s paper assessed how Kamohoaliʻi utilizes cultural values to guide his designing and manufacturing processes. The paper will be published in early 2025.
“Jordan and I are grateful to be recognized for this work,” said Reilly. “As this award is determined by my peers, it is high praise. We are in debt to Micah Kamohoaliʻi for lending his time and perspective on how to address some of the ills of the fashion industry, like waste and sustainability.”
ITAA is the premier organization for textile and fashion scholars and presents awards based on a rigorous selection process. This research was made possible through a Hatch Act grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.
