We are so excited to introduce our newest pattern, lei ʻauliʻi — a combination of tuberose, pakalana, and loke.
It started with a trip to a local lei shop during graduation season. Walking in, the selection was overwhelming in the best way — lei of every kind, made by different hands. Choosing took a while. We wanted something that felt just right for a dear friend. Her favorite flower is tuberose, and this combination immediately caught our eye — the tuberose for her, pakalana being a personal favorite, and that pop of color that loke brings. Twisted together, the dainty pakalana, the exquisite loke, and the clean lines of tuberose felt like a perfect fit for the name ʻauliʻi — dainty, neat, trim, exquisite, perfect.
None of these three flowers are actually native to Hawaiʻi. Tuberose traces its roots to Mexico, where the Aztecs cultivated it centuries ago, before it eventually made its way across the world and into our islands. Pakalana came over in the mid-1800s, carried here during a time of significant exchange between Asia and Hawaiʻi — originally from India, China, and Southeast Asia, it is known elsewhere as the Chinese violet. And roses, cultivated for thousands of years beginning in Asia, found their way here too. Lei makers have always had a beautiful way of embracing flowers from all over the world and making them their own.
Now lei ʻauliʻi lives on in our shop in greeting card form in our Lei Kui Twist collection — so that this combination and various others can be shared and celebrated long after the flowers fade.
We hope you love it as much as we do.