Akalei Designs is Hawaii's premier designer of handcrafted Kumihimo beaded glass Hawaiian Lei and the world's original Designer of Hawaiian Glass Beaded Forever Lei. Recently featured in Maui on HI Now (Dec 14, 2023) with POP-Up Mãkeke and Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. With hundreds of unique designs all our collections are handcrafted on Maui from beads we've sourced from around the globe. Akalei is unique in that we incorporate aspects of floral lei into modern "forever lei" using glass beads with designs normally only seen in the shell lei made famous on the island of Ni’ihau (The Forbidden Island).
New International Locations - due to popular demand we are now shipping to Brazil, Germany, France, Ireland and always to Australia, Canada, United Kingdom. Email to be included.
Shipping is always free to US and Canada for orders over $80. To International we need to charge $15 but will gladly work with you on discounts.
Hawaii is filled with inspiration from the beaches, landscapes, flowers and lei. After years of studying with some of the world's most talented Kumihimo braiding artists and teachers it was a perfect time to explore different bead shapes, colors and patterns specifically for men (Kane) but woman find these just as exciting. Most of these designs are longer in length to replicate the natural seed pods or Kukui Nut Hawaiian Lei, but are all made using glass beads.
Other concepts have grown from experimenting with bead shapes and colors. The fun of creating is endless as are the designs. Each necklace is woven using over hundreds or even thousands of beads and finished with a magnetic end clasp. Custom orders can be done normally within two weeks (in Maui or Hawaiian Islands). In this collection we are also using larger beads along with Magatama or Dragon Scale beads the largest bead available.