Honolulu Market hosts recently returned local designer.
New Zealand-born Anna Atkinson was back at the Honolulu Night Market with fresh ideas, new design styles and - of course - two-piece linen sets
The Honolulu night market was well in full swing by its opening time at six pm on Saturday, June 25th, with locals catching up on the past two years of festivities in the space of a few hours.
As the night grew darker the market became alive, through a haze of enticing local food smells, strings of fairy lights and a crowd packed like sardines sat the store Milo. Dimly lit with customers milling around gently touching books, and clothes and chatting quietly - Milo seemed like an oasis.
With the scent of fresh flowers from sister-store Paiko wafted gently around amongst aromatic candles from popular perfumery Lake and Skye, it was understandable that some were milling around taking in the artfully arranged products.
Standing amongst the crowd was New Zealand (Aotearoa) born designer Anna Atkinson, who has been working on her small sustainable clothing label Anna Jean Kos - commonly abbreviated to AJK.
After being gifted a sewing machine during her time on Oahu, Atkinson quickly discovered a passion for creating clothes and was soon designing, creating and selling her ethical clothing at markets and to friends.
Atkinson’s brand quickly gained popularity and the notice of nearby local artists as her products focus on using sustainably sourced materials, and production was solely her. Gradually, this attention led to local partnerships with stores in Kakkako.
At the Honolulu Night Market, AJK partnered with Milo. One side of the store had a multicoloured selection solely of AJK designs; coordinated so one side featured swimwear and linen sets in blue, green and turquoise hues while the other popped with dusty pink, paisleys accented with yellow and florals.
Atkinson described the clothing, “what’s here is more of a sample sale, older style materials with new cuts,” she commented lightly pulling out items and putting them back. The two-piece sets - similar to a Deiji 03 set, were almost sold out only an hour after the market had opened.
During the onset of the pandemic, Atkinson moved from Oahu to New Zealand and used the time to design new styles and work towards aspects of her brand. Atkinson designed her signature high-waisted self-described, “80’s style,” bikini during this time period.
This period of hard work has brought her back to Oahu, ready to release new designs, and products and enhance the ethical nature of the brand. While currently, the stock is unavailable online, purchases can be made locally at Milo.