100% Heavy organic linen | Pockets | Side slits | ʻĀina-friendly dye methods | Designed in Hawaiʻi | Made in the USA Sewn from an all over print design, each piece is unique in its art placement, which will vary from what you see in the photos. Low Back Dress Umauma Kikala Loʻihi Moana Motifs Chest Hips Back length XS 36" 40" 47" S 38" 42" 48" M 40" 44" 49" L 42" 46" 50" XL 44" 48" 51" 2XL 46" 50" 52" Model is wearing size small dress. Moana Motifs He ʻohana hoʻokahi kākou, nā lāhui like ʻole hoʻi o Moananuiākea. Ma ka holo ʻana o nā kūpuna ma ua moana ākea nei i ka ʻimi aku i nā ʻāina hou, lawe pū akula lākou i ka wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera). Ma Hawaiʻi nei, hoʻolilo ʻia i kapa. He siapo ko Sāmoa, he ngatu ko Tonga a he masi ko Fiji. He mau “lauana” kekahi i lawe pū ʻia me lākou, e laʻa hoʻi ka mea o ka lole nei. He lauana kahiko kēia i ʻike ʻia ma Iāpana, ma Indonesia, a ma kekahi mau ʻāina hou aku paha. ʻAʻole paha ʻike ʻia ma ke kapa Hawaiʻi kahiko e koe nei i kēia au, akā he hapa iki wale nō ia o kā nā kūpuna o ke au i hala. Aia nō naʻe kēia lauana ma ke kapa o ia mau pae moku i hōʻike ʻia aʻela. Ma Sāmoa, ua pili nei lauana i ka manu e lele ana. Ma Tonga, he pilina kona i ka pua heilala, ʻo ia hoʻi ka pua laha ʻole a kiʻekiʻe loa o ia ʻāina, i kui ʻia hoʻi i mau kāhoa (lei) keu a ka nani maiau, a he hoʻohana ʻia ma ka lāʻau lapaʻau kekahi. Ma Fiji, i kekahi manawa, he mau laina pololei a poepoe ʻole ko kēia lauana, e like me ke ʻano kahiko o ka hoʻonoʻenoʻe ʻana. Ulu ka pua heilala ma ia mau pae ʻāina a pau. ʻO kekahi mea like o ua mau ʻāina lā, ʻo ia hoʻi ke kahi lauana ʻana me ke kupesi/ʻupeti, a pēlā ke kahi ʻia ʻana o ka lauana nei ma ke kapa a lākou ala. E like me nā lauana kahiko ʻē aʻe, no ka wā kōliʻuliʻu ia, no loko mai o ka pilina o nā kūpuna i ka ʻāina. He mau manaʻo nō kona, a ke kau ʻia ma nā kapa a me nā hana noʻeau o kēia au, hoʻomāhuahua ʻia aʻe kona moʻolelo. He nani nā lauana a me nā hana kahiko e hōʻike mai ana i ka mole like o ko kākou moʻokūʻauhau. In Moananuiākea, our ancestral ocean pathways flow forth from a shared source, thus we all carry the art of making and adorning barkcloth, which is both a practical, everyday item and an elevated manifestation of our love for one another and the natural world. Our ancestors carried the wauke plant (Broussonetia papyrifera, or paper mulberry) on their canoes wherever they voyaged. They also carried common motifs for adorning cloth, yet in each place they are applied in unique ways. The design featured here is found in lands as distant as Indonesia and Japan. While it’s not typically seen on Hawaiian kapa, it’s often applied to the traditional cloth of our cousins: siapo of Sāmoa, ngatu of Tonga, and masi of Fiji. It can be used in whole or in part, offering various visual rhythms. In Sāmoa, one interpretation of this pattern is birds in flight (often the tern). In Tonga, it is sometimes recognized as the precious and fragrant heilala blossom, which is strung into exquisite kāhoa (lei) and also used in medicine. In Fiji, it may appear both with rounded edges or straight lines, recalling geometric styles of the deep past. The heilala is known in Latin as Garcinia sessilis and is indigenous to all three of these island groups, which also share the practice of transferring designs to cloth through the use of carved boards, relief panels or handmade stencils. This motif is one of several universal patterns that come from the natural world and speak to our shared ancestral roots. They carry stories from the past and take on new meanings as we activate and experience them in works today.