ハワイ旅行･ホテル･ショッピング･グルメ･求人

Anyone who saw the film “Samoan Wedding” (aka “Sione’s Wedding”), the New Zealand sleeper hit which drew SRO crowds at every screening at the Hawaii International Film Festival last year, or follows Polynesian fashion, or attended New Zealand Fashion Week in September, is already aware of MENA. And so is Summer Vaimaona, owner of popular Polynesian-fusion boutique Soleil, which opened in Kapahulu this past spring to rave reviews. Vaimaona has had customers bugging her to get the Samoa label in her store since she opened, so she and the owners of Apia-based MENA – four sisters, Agnes, Jackie, Gina and Charlene Loheni - are thrilled to finally bring their contemporary and dynamic Polynesian fashions to Hawaii.

“There has been a lot of interest from Hawaii,” said Jackie Loheni, who manages operations in Samoa. “So we’re very excited about taking this step. We are already in New Zealand and Rarotonga, and the line will soon also be available in Tahiti, so Hawaii made perfect sense in our Polynesia expansion.”

“The event at The O Lounge on December 2nd will really be unique in that we will be launching a Samoa fashion line for the first time in Hawaii, as well as screening a popular Polynesian film where the fashions of MENA are featured, and also presenting one of the top Polynesian R&B artists in Hawaii – Afatia Thompson, who won a Na Hoku Hanohano Award for best R&B/Hip-Hop Album this year for ‘5:45’ (Tihati Productions),” said Vaimaona, a ‘99 graduate of Kamehameha School.

Tickets are available at Soleil for $15 through December 1st at Soleil, or by calling and charging by phone at (808) 735-5360. Tickets will be $20 at the door on December 2nd, Organizers anticipate a sell-out, so those interested are urged to get their tickets now.

About MENA
For the four sisters who are the creative force behind MENA – Agnes, Jackie, Gina and Charlene Loheni – MENA is much more than a beautifully composed collection of women’s dresses, separates and men’s shirts. It’s an expression of the distinctiveness of the Samoan culture, the cultural value of family unity, and the unique regard with which women and their inherent beauty are held in Samoan tradition.

The Loheni sisters see MENA as a way to connect women throughout Pasifika in recognition and celebration of their common Polynesian heritage. MENA designs not only capture the essence of island life with their vibrant colors and Samoan design elements, but also express that island spirit with a contemporary, worldly pizzazz, drawing on the sister’s experiences living in Auckland (New Zealand) and London.

The MENA label, which started in Samoa in 2002, had its origins in the close relationship of the four sisters who, as teenagers, would design and make their own clothes under the tutelage of their seamstress mother Mena Loheni, for whom the line is named. Mena herself is a force in the business, sewing and training seamstresses in the small production facility housed in the ground floor of her home.

All MENA designs are hand-cut, hand-sewn and hand-painted, and each garment is unique.

MENA got a big boost in publicity when the line was featured in the hit film “Sione’s Wedding” (released in the USA as “Samoan Wedding”), the most popular film released in Pasifika last year. The MENA dresses worn by the character Princess, (played by New Zealand-based Samoan actress Maryjane McKibbin-Schwenke) as well as the MENA- designed wedding dress in the final scene, shimmered with an on-screen radiance, and the demand for MENA shot through the roof.