By now, you may have seen, touched or purchased one of our exclusive reusable totes.
These are, bar none, our TOP SELLER. They have outpaced any clothing item, kitchen towel, acroball pen, even cooler bags over the last 5 years! And these are some of our die hard #1 sellers. But the medium totes? They always come out on top.
At the end of 2020, Jasmine Tanioka from THE Tanioka’s Seafoods and Catering reached out and asked if we wholesale. At the time the answer was no. Us?? What would they want to carry from Eden? Oh yes, cooler bags, lunch bags and duuuuuh, our reusable totes. I remember Jasmine setting up an appointment to come and shop the warehouse and I ‘casually’ asked Alyssa to “come up with a design for Taniokas, will ya?” And the kicker? I forgot to mention that this was 30 minutes before Jasmine’s arrival.
Side note: Alys works so well under pressure. So… you’re welcome, Alys!
Fast forward 30 minutes and I was walking with Jasmine through the warehouse pulling her favorite designs (Global Grinds, Heart of Eden Icons, Bloom Queen and Shakulani – a blast from the past if you’ve been around since 2020!)
I saw Alys slip a paper on the table with a cute Tanioka’s pattern and the beginning of our collab journey commenced!
EDEN X TANIOKA’S
A little bit of fish meets a whole lot of poke bowls. Add in a cool Tanioka’s dude with a big shaka and voila – pau, done, finished. We made some tweaks like adding in an ahi (who quickly got dubbed Happy Fish in other designs) and added their logo to the storefront. Navy was the perfect hue for this tote and BOOM – into production she went.
Since 2020, Tanioka’s has carried a variety of colors of their signature design (baby blue, pink, purple, poke bowl maroon, poke bowl gray) and we created a special Eden x Tanioka’s ALOHA MAUI collection to support their efforts in supporting those affected by the Lahaina fire in 2023.
EDEN X CHOCO LE’A
True story? We don’t eat a lot of chocolate, but we can proudly pound an entire box of Choco Le’a mochi truffles in one sitting. They’re THAT good. And Erin, the owner of Choco Le’a knows it!
So for years, Erin and I have been business buddies. We’ve leaned on each other as we grew our little businesses over the years. During the pandemic, we all had to shut down. That was hard! But truthfully? Opening was even harder. With no easy rules, Erin asked me to do a walk through of the shop and simply give feedback as she started opening more to the public.
As a true biz bestie, I took the ask very seriously. I scribbled pages of notes, typed my notes feverishly in Q+A format and sent them over within 24 hours so everything was fresh (just like her chocolates!) in my mind.
Since I came from a retail background, my first instinct was to add some retail to complement the chocolate experience. Coffee scented candles, books about chocolate, mugs with funny chocolate sayings and hey… “Eden could even do a collab tote if you’re interested!”
And just like that, we went to work. Erin sent a list with things she felt represented Choco Le’a and when Alys sent me her first round of designs, I was smitten. Smiling truffles? OMG, I must eat them all.
Visit http://www.chocolea.com to check out all of Erin’s delicious truffles and more!
EDEN X HAWAIIAN CHIP COMPANY
After Jasmine Tanioka did a third reorder, “we knew we were on to something” Alys and I said as we chomped on a hot box of sweet potato and taro chips that a customer brought us from Hawaiian Chip Company.
“Who can we ask next about a custom design?”
We looked at each other and raised our chips in the air, “Hawaiian Chip Company of course!’ (crunching away)
We emailed Jimmy, owner of Hawaiian Chip Company and the rest is history.
A flying taro, mustached sweet potato and an ode to his daughter Holly made his design complete. In his signature poppin’ orange a line of totes + large cooler bags and ultimate totes were perfect picks for his square boxes of hot ‘n fresh chips.
Visit hawaiianchipcompany.com to munch on their amazing offerings.
EDEN X CAFE KAILA
By the time Q4 of 2021 came around, we were meeting over brunch ’cause agendas just seem easier over eggs and waffles, don’t ya think? Our brunch spot of choice is ALWAYS Cafe Kaila. Hands down, we have gone there for more birthdays and out-of-towner gatherings than you could imagine. It was the first restaurant I “dined in” at during the pandemic because I knew owner Chrissie wouldn’t skimp on safety protocols or dishing out new waffle flavors when she reopened.
So asking her to collab on a tote was a no brainer! We went to work as soon as Chrissie texted me an excited YES!
Sweet waffles and smiling pancakes, eggs in love, sassy avocado toast and the most joyful fruits you’ll ever lay eyes on. We opted for a neutral eggshell color to pop the colorful design but also sent Chrissie options with her favorite colors – glacier blue and her Mom’s pick… party pink!
Things got fun! We loved eggshell, Chrissie loved glacier blue and her Mom loved party pink – all were cute and had their own flair. So, Chrissie did what I would naturally do when deciding on three dresses I loved – “We’ll get them all!”
Visit Cafe Kaila and check out their award winning menu here.
EDEN X MCKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL
After we launched our Year of Da Tiger collection in January of 2022, we got an email from McKinley High School inquiring about some guidance/mentorship on their “Tigers Closet” project. A closet where kids could “shop” during school hours with tiger bucks that they received for achieving certain goals. After talking to them, I had an idea!
As our first school, McKinley High School featured campus spots, inside jokes, flaming M and some notable alumni. The Year of Da Tiger Tiger changed outfits and becase fit for high school.
Visit McKinley High School’s website here for more information.
Since the fab 4 from 2020-2021, we’ve done over 300+ collabs with amazing companies, schools and organizations in Hawaii and beyond! And the journey? It continues! Check out a few of our collab projects over at the collab club here.
Know anyone that would want a fab collab? Let us know!
Collab inquiries are taken on a case-to-case basis. More information and our contact form here.