Hi, I found some hawaiian dresses in my mothers things. She has a couple of dresses (probably 1950's or 1960's) by Kuonakakai. The labels I've found online are pink w/pineapples and palm trees. Hers is in black with no pineapples or palm trees. It says: Kuonakakai authentic Hawaiian originals... 100% Rayon Made In Japan RN17372 Can someone please explain the difference. Thank you, lisa
Hi Lisa, Welcome to the forums - clothing designers and manufacturers often change the design of their labels over time: it's likely that the labels in your mother's dresses are from a different time than the ones you've found online. With Hawaiian styles the most collectable ones are the older ones - and at a guess, your mother's clothes are not from this time. Another possible reason is a different product line: eg, a designer might have one style for one type of clothing, and another for a different type. If you post pics of the labels (including any others in the garments, eg, fabric, size, care) and of the dresses, we can confirm this and help with dating them too.
We have two Kuonakakai labels in the Label Resource. Both are colorful. As Nicole suggeted, if you are able to take a photo of both the dress and the label, and post them, we may be able to help you date both.