Born into the Architecture and Interior Design industry in the Hawaiian Islands, founder of SUMO, Nalani Sato developed an innate appreciation for the distinctive concoction of architectural styles present within the Hawaiian Islands early on. She later traveled the world, studied Fine Arts and returned home to Hawaii. She juggled regular informal modeling at Neiman Marcus, Chanel and Christian Dior, painting and more school between what started as a part-time gig at Architectural Surfaces, Inc., her Dad's business established in Honolulu in 1984. She started at the very bottom: sample organization. That is how she learned every single product, it's look, use and quality. Her job description later included administrative duties like customer service, placing orders, etc. as well as visual merchandising.
She is built to be what she is. Involved in art intersections, Nalani bridges the divide between
Grasscloth Collage
Grasscloth Collages are composed of layers of natural woven shapes which are pasted onto a substrate. Each project is installed by artist Nālani Sato and her team of skilled craftspeople.
As seen in Architectural Digest's Open Door, HGTV's Renovation Aloha and Modern Luxury magazine, Grasscloth Collages can be scaled to suit the project - ranging from full wall applications to framed artwork. See more on our Around Town page..
Above: Modern Luxury Hawai'i "Behind the Scenes" March / April, 2025
