Founding a Luxury Fashion Brand Rooted in Elegance and Ethics
As the founder of TSAM World, a women’s luxury clothing brand inspired by enduring family values and a passion for design, I led every aspect of the brand’s creation. From designing the logo, color palette, and website to creating every piece in all of the collections, I established a cohesive identity that reflects the brand's dedication to elegance and ethical practices. I also spearheaded the production of product branding elements, including woven labels, hangtags, and suit hangers, while ensuring the use of sustainable materials. Additionally, I executed all email marketing and social media campaign strategies, driving engagement and building the brand’s presence. TSAM World was my inaugural entrepreneurial venture, blending creativity, craftsmanship, and responsibility.
Adapt Collection
The Adapt Collection embodies resilience and flexibility, drawing inspiration from my journey transitioning into a new industry. After years of adapting to client challenges in the agency world, I applied the same mindset to overcome the obstacles of developing and launching my first collection. Each piece reflects the creativity and determination it takes to navigate the unknown, making "Adapt" the perfect name for this debut collection.
Resort Collection: A Lush Tribute to Home and Heritage
The Resort Collection draws inspiration from the vibrant beauty of Hawaii and my hometown of Mo‘ili‘ili, where I grew up surrounded by fragrant flowers, lush greenery, and citrusy oranges in my grandparents’ yard. Each piece reflects the essence of island life, crafted with sustainable linen fabrics, recycled wood dust buttons, and deadstock materials. This collection is a celebration of heritage, nature, and conscious design.
Happy Hour Collection: From Desk to Drinks in Style
The Happy Hour Collection was designed to effortlessly take you from office hours to happy hour and beyond. Crafted with a blend of sustainable and deadstock fabrics, these versatile pieces reflect both style and responsibility. The collection’s hues—Pink Lady, Sangria, Cosmopolitan, Mai Tai, and Manhattan—are inspired by classic cocktails, making it a chic nod to life’s celebratory moments. Perfect for every occasion, it’s a toast to timeless fashion with a sustainable twist.
Makapu’u Tides
The Makapuʻu Tides collection is inspired by the beaches of Oʻahu, specifically Makapuʻu Beach—a place woven into my childhood through family gatherings and quiet moments with my dad. The pieces capture the meeting point of ocean and sand: deep cobalt gradients that soften into misty whites, evoking the tide as it fades across the shoreline.
What makes this collection unlike any of my previous three is the textile itself. I hand-painted watercolor studies at my dining table, layering washes of indigo and ultramarine, before digitizing and manipulating the artwork into a gradient print. The result is a fabric that feels fluid, contemporary, and alive with the same rhythm as the Pacific.
Structured tailoring balances against flowing silhouettes: boxy shirting, shorts and blazers with a sharp edge, contrasted by the ease of a full-length dress. Each piece is designed to hold the strength of form while still carrying the softness of water.
Behind the Print
Watercolor studies on my dining table. The starting point for the custom gradient print. Each wash of blue was layered and experimented with to capture the rhythm of ocean tide meeting the shoreline.
This collection marks an important pivot point in my journey. At the time, I had already decided to step away from designing TSAM World after four years. Burnout had taken its toll, and I knew my passion wasn’t in producing full clothing lines anymore. Because of this, I never arranged a professional photoshoot of the final samples.
Instead, I experimented with AI rendering through Nano Banana, using my physical fabric samples as the base. The AI platform allowed me to visualize how these garments would look styled on models in studio and natural environments—something that would have been impossible at that moment in time.
The images shown here are not traditional photography but AI-generated composites that bring the collection to life. This experiment became both an artistic exploration and a documentation tool: blending human craft (hand-painted textiles, pattern drafting, sample making) with emerging technology to imagine the final presentation.
Creative Direction: Bringing the Brand to Life
As the Creative Director for each collection shoot, I worked closely with a Los Angeles-based team of professionals, including a fashion photographer, hair and makeup artist, and stylist, to execute the brand’s vision. I collaborated with the photographer and modeling agencies to select the perfect models, ensuring each shoot embodied the essence of the collection. Additionally, I partnered with a videographer to produce engaging content for social media and the web, creating a cohesive visual narrative that elevated the brand’s presence.
