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.