Halekulani Okinawa

Several years after our first encounter with the Halekulani hotel in Honolulu, the brand's second hotel opened on national-park land in Onna Village, Okinawa. With interiors evocative of Honolulu and nature found nowhere else, it is a place that captivates every visitor in an instant.

The Halekulani Okinawa uniform pursues the authentic. Keeping that essence intact, we considered comfort suited to Okinawa's distinctive climate, and what form a uniform should take to melt into the spaces of Halekulani Okinawa.

For the signature jacket, we chose seersucker — a rare fabric for hotel uniforms. Its ridged surface keeps the fabric off the skin and lets air pass through, achieving a balance of a proper, polished look with a light, easy feel. The pattern, too, deliberately leaves room rather than hugging the body, so that air flows naturally and ease of movement and coolness follow.

Our starting premise is never simply to deliver a beautiful, handsome design or industry-appropriate functionality. It is to ask what it means to wear a uniform — to carry a brand — and to pursue a form that makes even the wearer's movements beautiful.

Completed after roughly ten months of development, the uniform has earned words we treasure: that wearing it to work at Halekulani is itself a source of pride.

Not adding Okinawan touches, but protecting what makes Halekulani Halekulani. A uniform is not mere clothing; it is the brand's time and values, worn. As the years accumulate in this place, it will settle in naturally and remain a beloved piece for a long time to come.