“My upbringing, my culture — being born and raised on O‘ahu — influences everything I do creatively,” shares Taylor Okata, when asked what inspires him. As creative director and artist behind self-care brand Hawthorne and Hawaiian creative services company PASSIONFRUIT, he certainly has beautiful surroundings as creative outlets. “My environment also plays a major role — I’m exposed to so much living in cities like New York and traveling all over the world.”

And being coined as the “new era of selfcare,” New York-based Hawthorne has hit the shelves of stores like Nordstrom and Ssense, making waves, alongside headlines and features in GQ, The New York Times, HighSnobiety and Forbes, to name a few.

As Hawthorne creative director, Okata is currently working on Hawthorne’s numerous campaigns, product launches, and expanded brand distribution. But as noted, Hawthorne is not the only thing he’s up to. Locally, he’s been busy with PASSIONFRUIT — a creative services studio in Hawai‘i — with his business partner Ben Perreira.

“As two local boys [Okata and Perreira], we’re utilizing our experience of working in Los Angeles, New York and Paris, and bridging those worlds we’ve worked so hard to establish, with our creative community in Hawai’i,” Okata shares — and one major event naturally came to our mind. “We launched PASSIONFRUIT with our Jacquemus runway show last year, and have executed other projects with Valentino and Atmos magazine (where we highlighted the water crisis in Hawai‘i).”

And those fans of the stunning Jacquemus show will be thrilled to know it is not set to be the last international Okata-born collab in the Pacific.

“Ben and I are working on a number of upcoming projects to continue to bring intentional work home to the Islands, as well as highlight Hawai‘i in a way that hasn’t been done before,” Okata states.

And traveling to make international connections enables Okata to appreciate everything in Hawai‘i. Just ask Okata yourself.

“It [traveling] really puts my life into perspective. It’s a consistent reminder of where I come from, how hard I had to fight for my existence growing up, and how I got to where I am,” Okata shares. “Today, it makes me want to keep going.”

Follow more news on Instagram @taylorokata.