Fashion Designer Rumi Robertson Gives Back

Hawaii-based FIDM Grad Rumi Robertson helps other survivors of domestic violence heal while working on her self-titled collection.

The fashion designer, who moved to Oahu in 1996, was recently profiled in Hawaii Business Magazine for her work helping other survivors of abuse. She supports the organization, Parents and Children Together (PACT), that helped her after suffering psychological abuse from her ex-husband. Rumi eventually became a counselor and then a full-time supervisor of the adult women's unit. She even got involved in local politics advocating for stricter laws around domestic violence. 

"My roots really are in design. I miss it and still have a lot of really good ideas - so then I got serious," she told the magazine. “There came a point when I realized, ‘It’s now or never!’ I don’t know if I would have been able to do what I’m doing now without getting the help that I did.” When she first moved to Hawaii, there was no fashion scene to speak of, Rumi says, so she worked as a pattern maker at surf brand Local Motion and for some of the "aloha-wear makers" based on the islands. 

In 2013, she launched her own label, and recently released the 24-piece collection Hamakua, a collaboration with local artist Laurie Sumiye. Next month, she'll debut a runway show at the Hawaii State Art Museum, featuring a capsule collection inspired, but not made from, paper. Designing a smaller line allows Rumi time to work as a shelter advocate at PACT agency, Ohia Domestic Violence Shelter.

She added: “I think it’s important to encourage people who are struggling to see that beyond struggling, there’s every possibility available to them. There’s nothing stopping any of us from pursuing whatever we can dream.”

Visit rumimurakami.com for more information. 

Categories:  Fashion Design