Photos by Kristin Kato
Earlier this year, at an event sponsored by Pacific Edge Magazine, we met Anne Namba – fashion designer extraordinaire, and were so excited to learn that she loved our sweet treats. Shortly after, we were invited to participate in the unveiling of her newest collection! Her theme for the show was Anything But Basic, Black & White, Tattoo, and Tempting Textures. Before the event, we visited her design studio where she shared with us some of her amazing Kimonos, fabrics and many of her exquisitely crafted pieces. As I was walking around her studio, I was immediately inspired to create a cake design based of one of the Kimono fabric dresses she was showing for the fashion show. I was immediately drawn to a beautiful red fabric dress that had these bright eye-catching gold and silver embroidered flowers and a very detailed crane flying amongst the flowers! The red satin fabric was speckled with lots of gold flecks. I was so thrilled to find an original Anne Namba dress that I would have the honor of designing a cake off of!
We created a 3-tier cake with a base of red fondant and flecks of gold. Inspired by the cherry blossoms and cranes on Anne’s designs we created handmade sugar cherry blossoms and a crane, then hand-painted them with gold leaf.
We embossed each flower with texture and finished it with edible 24K gold leaf!
For our display, we set-up our cake, along with our Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing and Strawberry Cream Cake Shooters for guests to sample. Everyone there was treated to a fashion show, showcasing Anne’s newest designs, and an opportunity to shop the new collection.
During high school, one of my jobs was working at Bakery Manoa, in the Manoa Marketplace. It was also 3 doors down from Anne’s shop, and I can vividly remember walking by her window displays and seeing all her amazing dresses and designs. It’s so neat to come full circle, 15 years later, and being able to work with her on the launch of her new collection. It was definitely a night to remember! Thank you Anne, and we are so grateful for the wonderful opportunity to work with you.
