Yumi Kim’s Happy Place
A fundamental Hawaiian instrument in the islands and around the world, the Hawaiian steel guitar is still going strong.
TEXT BY MIA ANZALONE
IMAGES BY JOHN HOOK
TRANSLATION BY AKIKO MORI CHING
With the debut of her first Hawai‘i location, owner Kim Phan is letting her new neighborhood of Waikīkī influence the brand’s next chapter.
When Kim Phan, owner of the ultra-feminine and floral clothing line Yumi Kim, found herself opening a storefront at Royal Hawaiian Center in mid-December, she couldn’t help to think that it was meant to be. A frequent visitor to the islands since she was 18, she recalls when her young family traveled to O‘ahu for a vacation and made a pit stop at the neighboring Dean and DeLuca, a go-to coffee run supplier when Phan owned a Yumi Kim store in Manhattan. “When I went to grab coffee one day [in Hawai‘i], I looked at the store space that was empty, and my husband looked at me and he goes, ‘You’re itching,’” Phan says. She took it as an otherworldly sign: “When things are meant for you, it just kind of falls into place organically,” she says.
A seasoned entrepreneur with an instinct for adaptability, she opened her first boutique Project 159 in Manhattan during the 2008 recession. Years later, during the pandemic, she opted to close the Lower East Side storefront to focus instead on its online presence. Now, Yumi Kim’s Waikīkī boutique at Royal Hawaiian Center is the only one of its kind, providing Phan’s global customers with the opportunity to vacation Yumi Kim-style. While Phan is a naturally bright and colorful person, the close proximity to the ocean, laid-back culture, and non-stop floral sightings make Hawai‘i a ripe source for inspiration for the brand.
A seasoned entrepreneur with an instinct for adaptability, she opened her first boutique Project 159 in Manhattan during the 2008 recession. Years later, during the pandemic, she opted to close the Lower East Side storefront to focus instead on its online presence. Now, Yumi Kim’s Waikīkī boutique at Royal Hawaiian Center is the only one of its kind, providing Phan’s global customers with the opportunity to vacation Yumi Kim-style. While Phan is a naturally bright and colorful person, the close proximity to the ocean, laid-back culture, and non-stop floral sightings make Hawai‘i a ripe source for inspiration for the brand.
“I think Hawai‘i influences me, the bodies, silhouettes, and designs that we were making before coming here,” Phan says. “It’s nice to just really be creative here because I’m not challenged in the way that I was when I was designing New York, like, ‘Okay, you’re selling florals in November?”
The year-round beach style is what Phan wants to encapsulate in her products in Hawai‘i, particularly the exclusive designs only found in her Waikīkī boutique. The entire store, from its hanging shell chandeliers (placed specifically for her seashell-loving children) to the woven chairs centralized in the middle of the space, is all part of her goal of creating an image of the Yumi Kim girl. Instead of designing solely chic evening wear dresses, or frilly day dresses, Phan is designing more rompers and breezier pieces, keeping in mind the island girl who is moving with ease, stopping at the beach whenever she can. It’s safe to say that Phan is already that girl: With a condo down the road and a new affinity for chocolate-covered kakimochi, Phan is slowly becoming a local—and ready to dress like one, too.
Yumi Kim is located in Building B, Level 1
