From birthdays and graduations to weddings and momentous achievements, lei is a ubiquitous gift commemorating celebrations and life transitions. The gift Where you can take a lei making classes in Hawaiʻi.
Stacy Farias holds up a strand of precious pakalana, strung together with hundreds of delicate flowers, and the sweet scent perfumes the air. More flower lei are arrayed on the table in front of her: pale orange pua kenikeni, plumeria in rainbow shades, precious pakalana, ti twisted into handsome lei for men.
Sophia’s the place is named after her grandmother is emblazoned across the back of this lei stand at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, and Farias represents the proud third generation of a family that has been sewing and selling lei, first at Honolulu Harbor, since the middle of the last century.