Before the wildfires, Lahaina resident Courtney Lazo's grandmother had a weekly tradition of making plumeria lei.
“She was just telling stories about how they would pick the flowers, and then every Thursday, they would go down to Front Street and sit on the lawn of the Baldwin Home and sew lei,” Lazo said.
Lazo said her grandmother and friends would sell the lei as a fundraiser for the Lahainaluna High School scholarship program.
“It was one of her fondest memories, like when I had asked her, 'Being that you lost some of your friends in the fire,' and having that conversation with her, where she brought up that she knows she probably won't be able to see Lahaina fully rebuilt,” explained Lazo.
Lazo has found a way to keep those memories alive through her clothing company, called Henōhea.
The brand is named after her youngest son. She found out she was pregnant the same month the wildfires burned her fifth-generation Lahaina home, where she grew up. It was also after Lazo and her husband had experienced unexplained infertility for more than a decade.
“It's short for Henōheamakahiokalehu, which translates to 'the beauty that comes from the ashes,'” she said of her son's name.
As Lazo struggled to navigate fire recovery and postpartum depression while living out of temporary FEMA housing, she began to draw as therapy.
“I started thinking about the memories of Lahaina, and the first piece that I started to draw was a flower in my grandma's garden,” she said.
As her idea for a clothing business took shape, that drawing and honoring her grandmother became foundational.
“How can I preserve these memories for her in a meaningful way? And that became my first part of my first collection, and my first launch of Henōhea back in November of last year,” Lazo said.
Lazo sells her clothing online and at local markets and pop-ups. Her business, with the help of her whole family, is projected to hit six figures in its first year.
She said they recently moved back to Lahaina and are in the process of rebuilding. The business has helped take the edge off that financial burden.
She was especially grateful for a successful trip to the annual Ho’omau Market on O’ahu in July.
“We were able to buy $9,000 with the concrete to fill the retaining wall so that we could go into the next process of rebuilding,” she said.
Lazo ensures a portion of Henōhea's profits also goes towards Help Maui Rise, which donates directly to fire survivor families. In addition to running the business and raising her three sons — ages 16, 15, and 16 months, Lazo is part of Lahaina Strong's leadership.
Her newest collection, called Hali’a Aloha, was released online this week. It features the colorful lei her grandmother used to sew — a collaboration with Lazo's cousin, artist Kapili Naehu-Ramos.
Henōhea features comfortable designs for women, men and children, highlighting patterns and colors inspired by Hawaiian culture and Lahaina itself.
All her clothing is made from natural fibers, something that's especially important to her, as testing surrounding her experience with infertility led to discovering her body had high levels of formaldehyde. She attributes it to wearing a lot of polyester fiber workout clothing, as the chemical is often used in the textile industry, particularly in synthetic materials. So ensuring her clothing is made from natural materials and by high-quality manufacturers is important to Lazo, despite having to pay a little extra for that quality.
Lazo said along with fabric content, it's the stories behind the designs that make her brand special.
“I hope that people feel that through the stories and when they wear the pieces that they can then share, you know, the stories also,” she said. “For this collection, it's like me just dropping the rock in the water, but I don't know how many ripples are going to come off of it, and where these are going to land in the world. And the stories and the people who are going to tell the stories on our behalf to keep the memory of our kūpuna from our hometown alive.”
Lazo's grandmother is now 83, living with family out of state.
“For this generation that may not get to see Lahaina fully rebuilt, I want them to know that we're going to try and keep the story living on, through us,” she said.
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