Student entrepreneurs with a passion for fashion benefitted from a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa team-up.
The Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) in UH Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business partnered with the Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) Program in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR) in fall 2024 and spring 2025 to launch a special edition of its Entrepreneurship Live speaker series—dedicated to fashion.
The series was created to inspire haumāna (students) to launch their own fashion ventures while highlighting the thriving and diverse fashion sector in Hawaiʻi. This collaboration served as a bridge between the creative and business communities, showing haumāna the many pathways into fashion entrepreneurship and how to carve out their own space.
“The overwhelming student engagement, including from diverse backgrounds, underscore the value of this sector-specific collaborative initiative,” said Sandra Fujiyama, executive director at PACE. “We see this as a valuable model for the future and are excited to explore developing more sector-specific series like this.”
Series lineup
- Rocket Ahuna, founder of namesake brand ROCKET AHUNA, opened the series by sharing how he built a beloved lifestyle brand that celebrates Hawaiian culture and tradition. See photos.
- Kini Zamora (Honolulu Community College alum) gave a behind-the-scenes look at his experience on Project Runway and how he used that momentum to grow a design house rooted in Hawaiʻi, where storytelling and local pride fuel each collection. See photos.
- Matt Bruening (FDM and CTAHR alum) and Rumi Murakami gave insight into the grind of building a brand from the ground up, managing creative direction and navigating fashion in an island state with global aspirations. See photos.
- Kris Goto, a visual artist known for her whimsical characters and murals across Honolulu, shared her journey from manga dreams to street art fame, offering a fresh lens on her entrepreneurial journey as an artist. See photos.
- Lyn Sakutori (always a.line), a FDM and CTAHR alumna, and Camille Heung (Aloha Cut + Cloth), in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corporation, talked about the production and manufacturing side of fashion—giving students a rare peek into the tech and logistics behind the seams. See photos.
- Closing the series was Kūhaʻo Zane of Sig Zane Designs, who spoke in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Leadership Forum. Zane brought the audience into his world of cultural stewardship, design legacy and the responsibility that comes with carrying a family brand into the future. See photos.
Visit PACE’s YouTube channel to watch the events.
“I think it was great that FDM and PACE collaborated on these events,” said Johnell Ladera, a fashion design and merchandising student. “I found them very intimate and informative. It also gave me a greater appreciation of the work that goes into becoming renowned as an entrepreneur.”
Mark Oandasan, PACE marketing and program coordinator and CTAHR alum, driven by his passion for the intersection of fashion and entrepreneurship, spearheaded this collaborative effort with FDM Instructor Marie Abigail Cristi. Throughout the course of the series, more than 150 attendees from diverse backgrounds came to learn, connect and walk away with actionable insights and real stories from industry insiders. Haumāna with backgrounds in computer science, business, botany, art, engineering and anthropology from UH Mānoa, UH West Oʻahu, Kapiʻolani CC and Honolulu CC also attended.
This collaborative effort was made possible, in part, through the generous support of Tony Bernheim, sponsor of PACE’s Entrepreneurship Live events in honor of Saul Reinfeld, Catherine Lynham and Alan Wong.
