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If there is one word to describe Rocket Ahuna, it would be resilient. The 23-year-old Kānaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiian, designer is experiencing a huge career highlight after Apple TV+’s Chief of War stars Luciane Buchanan and Mainei Kinimaka, as well as pro surfer Maluhia Kinimaka, showed up to the show's premiere in his designs inspired by the history of Hawai’i.
For Ahuna and the Pasifika community, it’s a significant moment. To have a new series in mainstream media that focuses on the history of Hawai’i with a majority Pasifika cast (not to mention all the characters speaking ōlelo Hawai'i throughout the series), and to have the two lead actors wearing designs by a Native Hawaiian designer, is almost unheard of. And it is precisely why Ahuna was so keen to work on it, all while quietly going through a battle with cancer.
“When I was 14, I had bone cancer in my brain stem,” he shares with Teen Vogue in July. “Last month, I did a panel discussion in New York. I didn't tell anyone, but right after that, I went to Duke University and had surgery, and I've been recovering since then. Thankfully, due to modern technology and how amazing my team of doctors is, I'm so thankful that they were able to do such a great job with a less invasive treatment to remove my tumor. Throughout all that, I was developing and working on the Chief of War.”
Ahuna decided not to tell anyone until closer to the premiere date. While most of the teams he worked with were shocked by the news and adamant about taking the workload off his plate, he says that designing these looks was the very reason that kept him going. “I kind of told them what was going on after, and I just wanted to be transparent, knowing about deadlines as things that got there. They were adamant about not doing it because they didn't want me to stress about it. But honestly, it was the complete opposite. It just allowed me to truly sit down and reflect on something that wasn't my health at times and allowed me to heal a lot faster.”
Growing up in Hawai’i, Ahuna takes much of his inspiration from the art of hula and the 'āina, or land, to incorporate into his designs. He began dancing hula at a young age, where he learned to create garments and leis for performances, which deepened his understanding of why hula is so important in Hawaiian culture, not just in movement, but also in their regalia, their ahu, and the items they choose to wear. “I want to use fashion as a storytelling aspect purely because I want to represent what my ancestors did so well. They preserved history through fashion and through hula dance and song, and at the end of the day, I feel like a fashion show is one big hula performance.”
After moving to New York to attend FIT, Ahuna eventually had to move back home to help care for his grandmother, who fell ill. Being back on the island after city life, he felt like a “bigger fish in a small pond.” With dreams of pursuing fashion still at the forefront, he carved out his own niche in Hawaiian fashion and debuted his inaugural fashion show last year, titled Lau Kī. Since that show, Ahuna has released more collections and, of course, made custom pieces for the stars of Chief of War, and can only go up from here.
To coincide with the release of Chief of War, we sat down with Ahuna to discuss his career journey, design inspiration, and how he incorporates sustainability into his designs.
Rocket Ahuna: Last year, I had my first fashion exhibition at Sig Zane on Oahu. They have a gallery space called Kauai, and I had my first collection that was only 10 looks called Lau Kī made with all my friends, but it was inspired by what got me into fashion, which was hula, and how I can translate the things that I appreciated and saw in hula, and that I wanted to elevate and bring it to fashion. After that, I went over to the Kaimana Beach Hotel, where they gave me an artist residency. I was able to put together a 24-piece collection at the Kaimana Beach Hotel. That collection was inspired by Hawai’i, what represents Hawai’i, and playing off the fact that the things that represent Hawai’i aren't very accurate. I wanted to play into that and also create something that was accurate.
I worked on another collection called Limahuli, at the Limahuli Gardens in Haena. Growing up on Kauai, I had such amazing kumu, or teachers, and my mom helped start our after-school program where we would do ʻāina-based learning, and we would grow up learning how to take care of the land and understanding how Kānaka and people of Hawai’i carry themselves throughout ʻāina. That really influenced a lot of my work. A lot of the dresses are inspired by silhouettes and stories inspired by that place directly. And just trying to translate those things in a very high-fashion way was my goal. Creating something that other people can appreciate that also has that intent and meaning. Now I'm kind of just going for it.
RA: Hula is a form of storytelling, and within that aspect, the way you dress is, too. The fashion that you wear is also a part of that storytelling aspect, and I think that fashion has the ability to really create and expand minds on understanding something and broadening so many things, from gender norms to history, and it's just how you represent yourself. The way that I want to use fashion as a storytelling aspect is purely because I want to represent what my ancestors did so well. They preserved history through fashion and through hula dance and song, and at the end of the day, I feel like a fashion show is one big hula performance.
RA: Something I love that people in Hawai’i do is always highlight the word ʻāina within sustainability, and I'm thankful to have grown up truly involved in ʻāina, and learning how to properly understand how sustainability works and how the Hawaiian people use it in their way of life. I want to not only be directly inspired by those aspects and translate them directly into fashion in some sort of storytelling to create a conversation about these things, but also, I truly do enjoy getting my hands dirty and being able to help these places physically, and spending time at Limahuli Gardens and with my auntie, and helping support things.
I'm so thankful that one of my t-shirts has also done so well. Limahuli Gardens directly inspired it, and I guess it won't be a secret after this, but I supply Limahuli with these shirts and cover all of the manufacturing costs. All of the donations go directly to the garden to help create programs for keiki (kids) to continue to flourish and be inspired.
One thing that I'm hoping to do and looking forward to doing in the future with my auntie is also volunteering at Limahuli to help kids who are inspired by ʻāina to translate them in different ways, whether it be through not only fashion, but through videography, photography, and creating more of an awareness of why these things are so needed.
Fashion is a very hard industry to really incorporate sustainability 100%. Of course, I always choose to use dead stock fabrics and create things in the best, most efficient way to cut down on materials. That's where I like to just take dead stock, plain contents, and dye them with Hawaiian natural dyes instead of using synthetic dyes. I enjoy just truly translating stories about ʻāina that help people really care about the land. I think that, in the end, the more we can create awareness of this place that is taking care of us, the more it will help further a sustainable future and encourage more sustainable practices.
RA: I'm excited to begin treatment in New York City and start developing something in New York that reminded me of all the things that I enjoyed about Hawai’i, and was directly finding things that I found nostalgic in New York City and translating that into fashion, and I can't wait to develop something there. A lot of the collections that I've developed have been at home on my own resources, and I'm excited to be somewhere where I'm less environmentally attached, but more technologically attached, I guess, and blending that aspect and coming in from a side where I have more physical resources, but less environmental resources and seeing how I'm challenged to incorporate the two. I'm really excited for my next collection. It'll be very small, but I want to create more intent and meaning with something small.
RA: Truly, just go for it. I truly feel like I wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't made so many crazy decisions to achieve things. And it wasn't until I really realized a lot of the time that [overthinking] is the thing that's holding me back the most. You can say so many things about the things you want to do or achieve, but it isn't until the action is there that anything will really happen, and I just encourage young designers and people to not feed into the thinking that there's one way to do anything and there's one way to make something or be.
There are so many ways of doing those things that the sky is the limit, truly, and anything that you want to do, if you want to be the most sustainable brand there is out there, then you can research, understand, and know the most about how these things all work. Of course, you can only do so much, but it's all about the energy you put into it, and blending all the things that you love into creating something is what's going to help you thrive and be doing these things longer. You got to love doing all of this.
