Thumbing through Life, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar and any clothes and fashion magazines available, she was captured by images of premieres and seasonal collections from New York and Europe. Her love of clothes were inspired by her mother, Rose "Maka" Crabbe whose simple taste of style and elegant simplicity included custom designing and good sewing skills for herself and her two daughters. Maka's
resourcefulness as a mother of seven was challenging, but never compromised when it came to looking and dressing well, even on a budget. Puamana learned by watching her mother as she made simple dresses with little extra touches her mother would add using an old Singer machine. Whether it was a ruffled neckline that looked like a flower lei or the lining that gave the dress more body, those little things were an influence on Puamana's designing and continue in her designing journey as a fashion designer based in Hawai'i. As a teenager, Puamana took her own designing skills seriously as she would re-design, cut and sew hand me down dresses from relatives, sew her own wardrobe each summer before school started, experimented with bags, hats and accessories, swim wear for her brothers, sister and cousins, and eventually dresses for her mother. By the time Puamana graduated from high school, she got a job working for Allen Akina in mind-1970 as a receptionist in his design studio in Downtown Honolulu. She was exposed to the life of a fashion designer artist and got a bird's eye view what it took to be a designer. Allen's artistic talent translated onto garments for those who loved Hawaiian apparel where evident in his clientele. When asked by Allen one day what she would do after she graduated from college, she replied, "Become a fashion designer also!" By 1981, Puamana graduated from the University of Hawai'i in Fashion Design and soon opened a small design studio on Pi'ikoi Street, near Ala Moana Center, and moved several times before finally settling into a "real" design studio in a Hair Salon called "Local Touch." After her second fashion show (1984) collection of Hawaiian quilt motif designs on sack dresses, mu'umu'us and men's Aloha shirts, Puamana became known for custom designed apparel for weddings, hula halau competitions and entertainers. After the birth of her daughter, Ka'ili in 1988, Puamana was ready to go at it alone with her design studio in The Plumeria Square. By 1999, as Ka'ili reached middle school age, Puamana's desire to be a full time mother was met with trepidation and creative burnout and she "semi-retired" to motherhood, fulfilled her fashion designing fix towards stage costuming, became an in house costume designer for Tau Dance Theater, got an MBA (2007), debuted as an actor a Kumu Kahua Theater (Pele Ma, 2007), taught Hawaiian studies in Hawai'i's Public Schools and found a new career as an early education teacher in 2009. After the college graduation of Ka'ili in May 2010, Puamana decided to return to fashion design after attending a MAMo (Maoli Arts Month) Wearable Art Show that same moth. With a renewed energy to return to fashion designing, preparation for re-entry into Hawai'i's fashion industry had its challenges. Starting from scratch again meant designing new patterns, finding seamstresses that understood her designs, satisfactory sewing skills that met her standards, scheduling times and deadlines. With all those challenges, she designed her collection around simplicity in cut, fabrics from her pareo and vintage collection, and sheers that reflected the colors of the mountains and ocean. She continues to do her own sewing (for now), and premiered her first collection, "Mai Uka A Ke Kai", 'From the Uplands to the Sea' at Hawai'i Theatre. Her personal collection of vintage pareos, textiles and fabrics from LA reflects things she loves; Hawai'i's lifestyle, a freedom of comfort, and the influence of dance and acting onstage. As she reflects on her journey up till now, her love and passion for designing has come full circle as she now designs what inspires her in everyday life and people. If she could have one wish: it would be a permanent studio where she didn't have to clean up all the time!
