Hawai’i fashion designer and Parker School alum, Manaola Yap ‘04, recently spoke with upper school students at his high school alma mater offering insights into his luxury lifestyle and clothing brand, MANAOLA. Yap spoke with students virtually on Wednesday, April 21.
Known for his culturally rooted approach to fashion, MANAOLA presents a Hawaiian luxury lifestyle brand for a global audience. His distinctive designs blend traditional geometric patterns based on Hawaiian Kapa artistry and ancestral knowledge with contemporary style redefining Hawaiian fashion.
During his 40-minute virtual presentation with students, Yap discussed his intentions, inspirations, and kuelana (responsibility) in creating a fashion label that is known and sold around the world. His largest influence in starting MANAOLA was his rich cultural upbringing in a family of hula and cultural practitioners in Kohala on Hawai’i Island. By creating the MANAOLA fashion label, Yap is able to integrate fulfilling the important kuelana he holds of passing Hawaiian knowledge and traditions down to the next generation while doing something he loves.
Yap, a self-taught designer, shared with students details and video from his New York Fashion Week debut in 2017 when he became the first Native Hawaiian designer to present Hawaiian culture and fashion during this internationally esteemed fashion event. The following year, Yap also became the first Native Hawaiian designer to present an exclusive collection for Saks Fifth Avenue.
When asked about his hopes for the future, Yap spoke about the important work he’s doing with his nonprofit, The Hale Kua Project, which is committed to native art education and entrepreneurship of aspiring artists. In closing, Yap shared with students the three things that impacted him the most during his time attending Parker School in the late 90s and early 2000s: my teachers’ unique approach to learning, a creative writing class by Mr. Kiyoshi Najita, and the school’s strong arts program.