Maeva - Our new pareu design

Let's take a look at what we are getting ready to release. It's taken awhile (almost 6 months!!!). It wasn't exactly what we planned on doing. Actually we wanted to continue with our Tehani design but we had some supply problems. Last year, when we had planned on making a reorder of fabric, our manufacturer rep. here in Hawaii told us that they wouldn't be able to print our fabric any more. To say the least, this put a crimp on our plans. What were we going to do?

We have been printing our fabric in Japan because we preferred the quality, feel and the reputation. China was out of the question. We never considered it. Indonesia and Malaysia were suggested but we just didn't feel it was right. Where to print? My first choice was the US. But did you know that there just doesn't seem to be any large scale fabric manufacturers left in the country. It's very sad if you think about it.

So after being very disappointed by my finding, I remember being contacted several years ago by an Indian company, that's the country of India. I tried to contact them and lo and behold they were still there. It's a good sign as they are still in business after all these years. India, for those of you who don't know, is a leader in the textile industry. Their fabrics are known for their softness and exotic prints.


Well to make things simple, we've been progressing through the design and manufacturing process. We've got the design finalized and received strike offs. The first set of strike offs weren't exactly what we wanted so we sent for a second. We will be receiving those shortly. Typically, it is not uncommon to get 2 or 3 sets of strike offs to make sure the design and print is as it is supposed to be printed.

We're on the home stretch and we expect to receive the fabric within the next couple of months. Next steps are for receiving and passing through customs (hopefully without a hitch). We'll keep you posted.
The new fabric design is being printed on 100% cotton. Just like our other design - Tehani. We'll explain about the design on our next blog entry.

Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part IV

I wish everything about this project would go smoothly. But, you know, we live in an imperfect world. In meeting with the fabric manufacturer this past week, I was reminded that there are many interpretations to color. Tones and hues can be interpreted in a wide variety of colorful options. The Tehani pareo design is definitely Tahitian inspired but the colors are influenced by more modern conservative palettes. I asked for tonal variations of blue, green, yellow and orange. I also asked for a traditional Tahitian red and a black and white mock up. Leaving, I also mentioned some typically loud Tahitian colors might also be a possibility for the fifth color. What I got on the proofs was not exactly what I was looking for.

We're looking to do 5 colorways for our Tehani pareo design. The 100% cotton fabric broadcloth will be printed and manufactured in Japan. Delivery is hopefully going to be early December (cross your fingers).

The only color proof that I liked and what I thought all of you would like is the blue. The rest did not pass my first impression test. The green and orange proofs for some reason had a very noticeable yellow. I've asked that the yellow be changed to a tone of the dominant colors respectively. The background, or ground on each was nice but I'm not sure if they fit right and unfortunately we won't know until we get the new proofs. For some reason, on the yellow design, the artist decided to put in a dark brown for contrast. I just plain didn't like that choice. Obviously, I asked that to be removed and replaced with a tone of yellow.

A red colorway just didn't work for me either. Although creative, it just didn't create any interest. Changes to a more traditional Tahitian red design were requested. But I guess the most perplexing proof was the black and white. I figured that would be the easiest one of them all. We had discussed adding in a tone to give more contrast and we decided on a touch of blue. What we got back turned out to be overwhelmingly dark and... green? Where did the green come from? I asked for lightening up the background to help contrast the leaves. And the green has to go. We'll see if this one is going to make the final cut.

Overall we were 1 for 6. Not a great statistic but I'm optimistic and determined. After all, the deposit is already paid and a substantial investment in time and money can't be abandoned. Sounds familiar? It's like every other investment. But with planning, and familiarity with the design team and a good track record, we're going to get this out to the public.

It's not an option to leave this unfinished. We have dance groups, Heiva competitions and our own customers at Black Pearl Designs just waiting for our new print, not to mention new colors to choose from.

Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part III

Our Heiva Hibiscus Pareo design is a classic. It's so much a classic that we are making the Tehani Pareo a "sister" to our staple. Why is it a classic. Well, for one thing, it was created to give the look and feel of the traditional way of printing pareos in Tahiti. Basically, in the old days, pareos were printed one by one. A piece of fabric was laid out flat and a large screen was placed on top and ink was applied. For more complicated and multicolored pareos, more than one screen was used one after the other. It was a long and labor intensive process. However, the outcome was well worth it.

Even before the silk screen method, there was the wood cut method. This was done with a carved wood cut or a series of wood cuts. Ink was applied and transferred to the fabric in a variety of ways. As each was done by hand, the varying pressure that was applied created slightly different prints. Each pareo was unique.

The new Tehani pareo design mimics these organic and artistic methods of manual printing. It pays homage to the old traditional ways but also updates the look with some smooth lines and a modern tiare flower. The detail and precision of the tiare flower would not have been possible using the old methods. So without further delay, we are giving a sneak peak of round 3 of the Tehani pareo design. The design features the tiare flower and a stylized traditional Tahitian tattoo treatment of the tiare leaves and lauae leaves. We should note that this is not the final draft and that we are working on a couple refinements before we send it off to the printer.

Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part II

Decisions, decisions, decisions. If you only knew how many places fabric is manufactured. For our new Tehani pareo design we have several options to choose from. We decided to work with a company we used to print the Heiva Hibiscus pareos. It was a fairly easy decision as we work with the company all the time. There are competitors with comparable prices but it always helps to work with the same company for consistency. Building those relationships of trust is a key factor. From there you can also build a credit history with the company and work on terms that will benefit in the long run.

We have decided to use the 100% cotton broadcloth. This is a change from our Heiva Hibiscus fabric. It's lighter and drapes more freely. It has a feel between the high end rayon and our heavy duty cotton sheeting. Once we decided on the fabric, we had the option to pick where it would be printed. The fabric company has textile plants in Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Japan and specializes in Hawaiian and Polynesian prints. We were given samples of the cotton broadcloth from each of the plants and interestingly enough there were subtle differences in the feel of each. China seemed to be ever so slightly lighter in weight which might account for the lower price. Indonesia had prints that were a more softer feel. Malaysia seems to use more ink but that could be just the fabric sample we received. Which leaves Japan with a more nicer sheen on the end product.

So which one did we choose? We chose Japan. Although not quite as soft as Indonesia, it definitely competes. Quality is great and an added bonus is that we don't have to print as much yardage per color. The usual minimum is 1000 yards per color. The Japanese however only require 600 yards per color. This translates into more colors that we are able to offer. Another factor we considered is the chance of piracy. The other countries are notorious for piracy. Although we've never had that problem and the company we work with has strict control, you never know if it could happen. It seems less likely to happen in Japan.

All these factors played into our decision and we think it is in our best interest and our customers best interest to proceed with our fabric production in Japan. We'd love to print in the USA but costs seem prohibitive. Although, we admit we haven't researched it thoroughly. So if there is a competitive American fabric textile company out there, we'd love to explore the option.

Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part I

It's been a long time coming but we are well under way on our newest pareo. Our Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is so popular and timeless that we just had to see if we could add to it or better yet, complement it. Almost 4 years ago we took the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo and brought it to the public. It was in a single shop and has (and still is) been used as a uniform for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now, new colors have been introduced and old standards have been brought back and revitalized. The success and your urging has brought us to this current development.

I've been drawing and making notes, tearing out pages in magazines and taking photos of designs and inspirations for this new pareo. We, at Black Pearl Designs, are tentatively calling it the Tehani Tiare Pareo, but we might shorten that to just Tehani Pareo. We'd love input on this. Feel free to let us know your feelings on it. Tehani translates to - the sweet-smelling caress of flowers. And obviously we are featuring the tiare flower in this design.

The design is a "sister" to the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo. That's the way we described it to our design team. It has many of the same feelings and textures but is different in that instead of the hibiscus it features a truly Tahitian icon, the tiare. Once we finalize the design we'll work on colors. We have 5 colorways that we are working on but again, we are open to suggestions and requests.

One other element that will be different from the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is the fabric. The Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is printed on 100% cotton sheeting. The cotton sheeting is a high-quality, heavy cotton and even heavier on some colors because of the amount of ink that is used to color. For instance, the tropic blue is much heavier than the hibiscus white as the white background is already there to start with. The Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is printed using 5 colors. The new Tehani Pareo is also using 5 colors as well. It will be printed on 100% cotton broadcloth with a 40/40 thread count (133 x 72). The broadcloth is softer, gives a little and drapes better. It's not as heavy duty as the cotton sheeting but for making pareos, it works wonders. It retains color nicely and has a subtle sheen that we think will complement the design nicely.