When one door closes

Hawaii textile designer Colleen Kimura, known for her bold, vibrant and unusual prints that celebrate the natural beauty of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, will be closing Tutuvi Sitoa, her Mo’ili’ili store, next week after 5 years at this location.

The property that houses Tutuvi Sitoa on South King Street between Puck’s Alley and 7-Eleven, has been sold. Instead of relocating, Kimura decided to close her store, continue her design work and offer it through other stores including Shop Pacifica at the Bishop Museum. Online purchases of lavalava and other selected items can be made through her website, tutuvi.com.

A strong connection to Mo’ili’ili

Kimura has fond memories of Mo’ili’ili, which has been an integral part of her professional life.  After studying art, craft, basic textile design and screen printing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, she opened her own studio and store - Kimura’s - in Mo’ili’ili. She has participated in the planning and staging of “Discover Mo’ili’ili,” a community festival, for nine years, and contributed to the research of the comprehensive history book, “Mo’ili’ili - The Life of a Community.”

After operating her Mo’ili’ili studio for seven years, the adventurous Kimura took a different path that ultimately enhanced her textile design career.  She spent two years as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Fiji, helping islanders there learn to become self–sufficient by developing various cottage industries. During her time in Fiji and other journeys throughout the Pacific, Kimura’s appreciation for the natural environment grew stronger and her keen observation skills were refined.

“The Pacific Islands have always been my fascination and source of inspiration - the plants, sea life, and culture,” Kimura said. “My intent has always been to have my prints describe places or tell a story like the northwest Hawaiian Islands sanctuary or King Kamehameha I uniting the Islands.”

“There’s a story behind every design: a torch ginger blossom passing from bud to withered stage, the preparation of lauhala for weaving, how to knot kukui leaves into a lei, the movement of jellyfish, or the way a coconut tree pushes out a stalk of its flowers,” Kimura added.

Kimura said her collection of dresses, tops, skirts, aloha shirts and lavalava are designed to showcase her prints, whose designs have gradually evolved over the years.  Her boundless, creative energy continues to see things in new ways and find different avenues of expression.

Another door opens – with a gift of food

From March 14 to 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the last three days of business, Tutuvi Sitoa will donate 35 percent of store sales to Hawai’i Meals on Wheels, which also got its start in Mo’ili’ili in 1979. The fledging nonprofit began with two small routes in Mo’ili’ili and Makiki, serving six clients with six volunteers. By 2012, Hawai’i Meals on Wheels delivered more than 83,000 hot meals to homebound individuals with nearly 400 volunteers island wide.