20 Years of Friendship | ALOHA Collection
Meet Tiare Hawaii
Tiare Hawaii is a women’s clothing line that started in 2009 by our friend Jane Hoskins on the North Shore of Oahu. Her dresses, skirts, rompers, and maxis have become synonymous with tropical vacations and exotic getaways. Each piece is handmade with love in Bali. Tiare Hawaii has become known for their tie dying process which achieves unique, one-of-a-kind pieces like the pareos you see in our collaboration.
Our collaboration has been over 20 years in the making. Let’s go back to the beginning to where it all started, two decades ago, on the North Shore of Oahu.
20 Years of Friendship
Jane:
“I met Rachael (co-founder of ALOHA Collection) at a BBQ on the North Shore of Oahu when I was 20. I was moving into a beach house that her brother was moving out of. We clicked and were fast friends. At the time Rachael was a flight attendant and I was a student at UH. I was studying biology but also had a passion for textiles and design and took fashion design classes on the side.
After spending many years working in a boutique that imported furniture and home goods from Bali, I began assisting the owner on buying trips to Bali and Thailand and became inspired to create a small clothing collection.
One problem--I was broke! I saved up a little money and then Rachael helped me out with "buddy passes" when she was a flight attendant for United. That allowed me to travel back and forth to Bali for almost free! I would stay at a hotel in Bali for $15 a night (or less haha) as I tried to get the ball rolling with Tiare Hawaii.
It took time to find a manufacturer that was the right fit, and to understand the ins and outs of production, but it was all so much fun. Rachael and I would travel to Bali with just a few hundred dollars in our bank accounts but we were living the best life. We were broke but managed to fly First Class and sip champagne with her United perks. We always toasted to the “good life” because we couldn’t believe our luck. We gained so much inspiration from our travels around the world. Inspiration was everywhere and it all felt like a big adventure.
I slowly got the ball rolling with Tiare Hawaii and ordered my first production in 2009. Hawaii embraced us, and it felt so good to have so much local love and support for the brand. From our Hawaii base, we expanded to Japan and then to the mainland. It's been so much fun to experience growth and expansion over the years while staying true to our humble roots.”
“Rachael, Heather, and I still toast to the good life.”
“Rachael and I have been on so many adventures together in Hawaii, California, Australia, Bali, Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong, and the list goes on. I have always admired her spontaneous, carefree spirit and her love for life. When we get together it's such a fun buzzing energy and it always feels like anything in the world is possible.”
“Years later, I was fortunate enough to meet Heather on a trip to visit Rachael in California. I instantly loved Heather and have loved getting to know her better over the last several years. I feel that she is one of my very most loyal, solid, welcoming friends and she is so full of Aloha. I now consider her to be a best friend! I know Rachael and Heather will tell you that I inspired them to start ALOHA Collection, but Rachael and Heather continue to inspire me.”
“Tiare Hawaii uses a unique combination of tie-dyeing our garments by hand and then using special techniques to achieve the specific tie-dye wash that we are looking for. That could entail tie-dyeing the garment and then sprinkling sea salt over the fabric to absorb bits of color to create the smokey effect that you see in our collaboration sarongs. The garments and sarongs are dyed one by one so each piece is unique and special.”