Kapa Mag’s first visit to Kaua‘i was highlighted by a mini fashion show on June 23 at Kukui Grove Center.
“When Kapa Mag contacted us to provide a summer break workshop for young aspiring models and students with an interest in fashion, and bring out some of our local designers, we said ‘Let’s make this happen,’ said Melissa McFerrin Warrack of Kukui Grove Center.
“Fashion events that connect Kaua‘i youth with fashion industry professionals and designers is such a perfect fit for Kukui Grove,” she said. “This is a first step. We look forward to more fashion and youth events coming up, especially as we head into back to school.”
Hi‘ilei Berg, a student at Kawaikini New Century Public Charter School and the current Miss Hawai‘i Junior Elementary America title holder, has a line of clothing she designed and sewed.
She was a student at the Kapa Mag Kaua‘i Summer Intensive Workshop that included eight hours of acting (presentation) and eight hours of modeling (presence) that unfolded in an extra space adjacent to Jamba Juice.
“This is very convenient,” said Devi Berg, who is Hi‘ilei’s mother. She added Hi‘ilei was scheduled to compete this week in The Elementary America Pageant. “This is all extra coaching in preparation for the national stage,” she said.
Ali Huxel, the founder and executive director of Kapa Mag-More than A Magazine, said Kapa Mag is a nonprofit dedicated to the Hawaiian community through fashion and education.
“Our educational program includes talent training and coaching, and two Department of Education programs we have developed for our Hawai‘i keiki — both supporting our keiki’s healthy futures, quality value sets and living with confidence in who we are,” Huxel said in her letter of interest to Kukui Grove.
“For more than 20 years, Kapa Mag has been working with talent throughout the islands of Hawai‘i. We are passionate about the Hawai‘i community, and originally created this nonprofit to support local talent being targeted and discarded by mainland entities promising stardom.
“Now, more than ever, we feel our mission is relevant, as the youth are becoming more and more involved in social media, which when used inefficiently adds to our keiki becoming less and less involved in positive, self-enhancing practices.”
Kayla Perez, who is going to be a senior at Kapa‘a High School in August, is one of the students who took the workshop.
“I’m shy,” Perez said. “You could not get me up on stage; no way. Look at me now. I can do all this, get on stage, speak about the sponsors, and more. I just do it.”
Kapa Mag was launched in 2016 and incorporated during the pandemic as a bridge for Hawai‘i children pursuing performing arts to have an opportunity to showcase skills they’ve learned and ultimately want to pursue.
The purpose of the team’s trip to Kaua‘i that came following workshops on Maui and Hawai‘i Island was to improve accessibility to keiki who will benefit from the Kapa Mag mission of uplifting and developing young talent through educational training, media production and performing arts opportunities.
Since its inception, Kapa Mag has worked with more than 100 talented youths around the state, and highlights them in the production of marketing materials for merchants in need of talent, media or business support. Kapa Mag currently approaches its training through the foundation of safety and ethics, especially as all move into an unpredictable digital world.
