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For the Love of Lei

Meleana Estes perpetuates the spirit of aloha through her lei-making workshops.

✏️ EUNICA ESCALANTE

📸 AJ FEDUCIA & KAINOA REPONTE

オアフを拠点とするレイメーカーのメレアナ・エステスは、祖母でハワイのレイメイキングのアイコンであるアメリア・アナ・カオプア・ベイリーが彼女に針と花を持たせた5歳からレイ作りをしている。そして今日では彼女が、インターナショナル マーケットプレイスのバニヤン・コートにおいて定期的に、レイメイキングのスピリットをハワイの宝ものと共に人々に伝えている。

O‘ahu-based leimaker Meleana Estes has been weaving lei since her tūtū, Amelia Ana Kaopua Bailey, lei-making icon in Hawai‘i, placed a needle and flower in her hand at the age of 5. Today, Estes perpetuates the spirit of leimaking, sharing the knowledge of this island treasure regularly in the Banyan Courtyard at International Market Place.O‘ahu-based leimaker Meleana Estes has been weaving lei since her tūtū, Amelia Ana Kaopua Bailey, lei-making icon in Hawai‘i, placed a needle and flower in her hand at the age of 5. Today, Estes perpetuates the spirit of leimaking, sharing the knowledge of this island treasure regularly in the Banyan Courtyard at International Market Place.

 

Estes grew up splitting time between her family’s fruit farm on Kaua‘i and her tūtū’s home in O‘ahu’s Mānoa Valley. She never left the Honolulu International Airport without at least three puakenikeni lei, all handmade by her tūtū, adorning her neck. In the seventh grade, she permanently moved to O‘ahu to attend Punahou Schools, leaving the farm’s communal comforts for her tūtū’s sprawling colonial revival home, where Estes currently lives.

 

She recalls how she would sit and watch as her tūtū wove and strung flowers together. For each birthday, sports game, recital or graduation, her tūtū handmade dozens of lei to be generously given away, instilling within Estes the value of showing one’s love through lei. “It developed this kuleana (responsibility) within me,” she says. “No matter the occasion, there was a lei for everyone.”

Growing up surrounded by her tūtū’s colorful creations was not lost on Estes. In 2004, she launched a handbag line inspired by vintage, floral fabrics. Later, she moved to New York to study fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, calling on the laidback aesthetic of the Hawai‘i girl as inspiration. In 2012, upon her tūtū’s passing, Estes felt the call to continue her legacy. With a renewed love for lei-making, she began making lei po‘o, or head lei, for friends’ birthdays. Then, like her tūtū used to do, she began holding workshops to share the artform with others.

 

For Estes, lei transcends trend. In the spirit of her tūtū, each lei is carefully crafted. Everything about each lei—from the colors and type of the flowers to the stringing technique—is chosen with the wearer in mind. “The lei is this symbol of aloha in Hawai‘i,” Estes says. “Giving and receiving a lei, it’s how we show our love for one another.”

MELEANA'S PICKS

Meleana shares her favorite finds for omiyage, gifts from Hawai‘i for loved ones back home.

1

“I believe that no one can never have enough beach bags, and I love Sand People’s Aloha Sail bags in particular.”

2

Slow Tide Fitness Towels, found at The Greenroom Gallery Hawaii, are good for a yoga session, a beach dip, or just a quick dry.

3

“I would recommend building your own surfboard sign at Island Art and Sole. Cute stencils allow for customizing the perfect omiyage to remind loved ones of your time in Hawai‘i.

4

I love Jordan Higa’s original prints, found at the Greenroom Gallery Hawaii, because of their cute illustrations of local life.