Making Jewelry Worthy of Ali'i

Recently fashion designers from Hawaii are starting to be noticed for the excellence of their craft in clothing and jewelry. One such designer Manaola (www.manaolahawaii.com) has inspired me to blend an ancient pattern I learned from Adrienne Gaskell in 2020 called "Off-Balance Kongo Gumi" which is a rather unusual braid that blends 12 cords into a spring like braid. When it comes off the marudai (Japanese braiding stand) it is a zigzag shape, but when combined with a second braid these two make a beautiful necklace that is similar to the one worn by the man and showcased in the Manaola 2020 website. Here are a two creations below the inspiration worn by the man in his ad that helped in my newest design combination.