How One Honolulu-Based Artist Gets Dressed to Work in Paradise

“You know I’m having a trying day if I’m wearing a banging outfit, because sometimes you just need to be uplifted just a little bit,” Ara Laylo says. The artist and creative director is keenly aware of the subtle emotions a set of clothes can impart: She teaches a course on design theory at the University of Hawaii, helping students understand how meaning is formed. It’s heady stuff, dissecting “ways of seeing,” but Laylo’s academic expertise translates well to her other job of overseeing 12 magazines—and seven TV channels—as creative director of NMG Network, which produces content both independently and for hotels across the islands.

But at this very moment, as Laylo explains on the phone from Oahu, she’s busy finishing a project for the Honolulu Biennial, Hawaii’s biggest showcase for contemporary art. Her piece is an hour-long video collage that will play behind jalousie windows at the festival’s central space, depicting work and play in a way that’s centered on the Aloha State. “There’s a lot of videos of waterfalls and my young coworkers in traffic. . .there’s conversations in there with respected elders. There’s conversations about making a recipe and cooking,” Laylo says. Plus, of course, “I have a lot of Bowie in there; I really can’t help it. Fluidity and asexuality are apparently important to me.”

Laylo is a master of collage, as otherwise evidenced by her surprising Instagram Stories, which she started curating to purposefully “throw off the algorithm.” Tuesday’s selection included an illustration of a man’s head shooting off into space, a pencil pouch made of a taxidermy squirrel, and McDonald’s fries photoshopped to look like they’d been covered in Swarovski crystals. The intent may have been to randomize, but her distinct taste nevertheless results in a provocative collection of digital curios.

When she gets dressed, Laylo is just as set on disrupting the norm—specifically, the obvious island uniform of T-shirts and shorts. “I have a little bit of disdain towards activewear,” she says. For airy shirts with personality, she turns to Japanese brands 45R and Kapital. “[In Hawaii] there’s a lot of Japanese influence as far as the aesthetic. I like to lean towards less of the pop and more towards amazing indigo and denim and unique embroidery.” She relies on Gucci Jordaan loafers when she travels, but most often shops locally, turning to her friends at Barrio Vintage to keep her stocked with crushed velvet gowns and tailored ’50s frocks.

Even as she goes about her 9-to-5, Laylo doesn’t take the idyllic nature of her city for granted. “The planet comes here, but I like that we’re still disconnected from what’s happening on the mainland,” she says. “It’s paradise. I do the same things you do, but I get to jump in the Pacific Ocean whenever I want to.”

Here, a day in the life with Ara Laylo (midnight swim sadly not pictured).

Laylo at home in Chinatown, where she lives with her 3-year-old daughter. “It’s like the hub of the arts in Honolulu. There’s a lot of cute shops, restaurants, the Hawaii State Art Museum is just a five-minute walk away. Lots of art galleries are popping up, like Aupuni.” Laylo’s skirt is vintage Christian Lacroix, and the shirt is a Kapital silk Aloha shirt. Her bed is made by Floyd.

Laylo works at the NMG offices on Hotel Street. The blue jacket is from Toast; the pink jumpsuit is Rachel Comey. Laylo gets her hair cut and colored by Jonah Face at HMB Salon (the man behind skateboarder Evan Mock’s pink buzz cut).

Buying a mooncake at Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery on Maunakea Street. “I’m wearing a really unique handwoven pāpale. That hat, that’s one of my prized things.” Laylo’s friend Roberta Oaks, who owns an eponymous clothing brand in Honolulu, hosted a gathering called Switch and Bitch, where Laylo bartered for it. “I love doing that, cleaning closets and trading.” The vintage dress and glasses are from Barrio; the tote bag is from Hilo, Hawaii.

“When you fall in love, it doesn’t matter how much something is, you will figure it out. That’s what shopping is like for me. That’s why I shop so much at Barrio, because a lot of the pieces [Bradley, the owner] picks, he does have a connection with everything. He’ll remember most of the pieces that go through the shop. He’s handpicking the majority of them. He’ll be like, ‘This dress looks like this person,’ and he’ll text them.” Laylo is wearing all Barrio-bought vintage.

At Fête, Laylo’s go-to for dinner. “My favorite thing to order is their cioppino soup and quinoa cake.” She recently held a dinner party for her boyfriend’s birthday in the restaurant’s upstairs space. Laylo’s gold top is from Opening Ceremony, and the snake tattoo is by artist Nic Eldridge, who visited from Portland and worked out of Steven Lam’s studio.