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Continue ShoppingAkalei Designs is Hawaii's only designer of handcrafted Kumihimo beaded Hawaiian Lei. With over 100 unique designs we were recently awarded “Best Beaded Lanyard” from The American Kumihimo Society (2023) for our complex braid structures. In addition our silk Hawaiian necklace is being showcased in a commercial for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Pop-Up Makēkē Market. And another positive compliment was three of our designs were selected in a juried art exhibit in Oahu by The Hawaiian Handweavers Hui. This public recognition reflects how our unique and high quality necklace lei are gaining attention. All our designs are handcrafted on Maui. We are unique in that we are able to 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’iHua (The Forbidden Island).
Red with Black Rope Hawaiian Haku Rose Petal Lei - 22"
If you love RED then you will absolutely love this desgin - and even better it is a perfect gift for Christmas, Valentine's Day or "Red Dress Day." This necklace was designed using large red rose petal glass beads segmented with plush reddish/pinkish small drop beads in the 10" focal section. The ends are finished with a glossy black seed beads and then it is finished using a black acrylic magnetic end cap. This forever lei has a sleek feel and drapes beautifully when worn, is easy to clean and will last for years to come.
This unique glass beaded necklace lei available exclusively at Akalei Designs, was inspired by the beautiful floral Haku (also known as Po’o) Lei traditionally worn around the head.
Akalei is Hawaiian for "bead reflections" which describes this unique necklace lei design style handcrafted only here on Maui. We reinterpret traditional Hawaiian Lei using a vast assortment of glass and natural beads, Japanese silk and synthetic fibers, and a wide variety of braiding techniques and inspirations from across the globe.
This beautiful handcrafted lei was made using hundreds of glass Japanese seed beads on multiple cords that are woven together on a wooden marudai stand (in a kongo gumi braid pattern). For kumihimo braiders (disk or marudai) we sell this unique pattern here and at Kumihimo Rhythms or Akalei Designs (Etsy site)
The necklace is created using an ancient Japanese braiding technique called Kumihimo, a Japanese word for “gathered threads". This art form goes back hundreds of years as braids were made for use in armor for Japanese samurai warriors. In modern times these braids are designed as belts (obijime) that are worn as a belt with a kimono.
It is my goal to provide you with a long lasting, beautiful piece of jewelry that you will enjoy wearing for years to come. I take great care in the construction of my pieces to ensure just that. Please note: colors may slightly differ from their appearance on your display, as it depends on your monitor settings.
Please send me a message with questions or comments.
Thanks for stopping by!
Aloha Aku.
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