Punawai Rice of Hilo worked for Island fashion designer Sig Zane for many years. He managed Zane's production, provided graphic art and marketing services. Now he's started his own company, called Punawai, and is creating his own designs and printing them on delicate silk chiffon. The vibe is clearly Hawaiian, and the esthetic is subtle and sophisticated.

The Punawai design team consists of Rice, wife Hokulani Kaikaina and fellow Native Hawaiian artist Allan James, formerly the owner of Hawaiian Heritage clothing.

This is unquestionably a made-in-Hawai'i company. "Whoever is not holding our infant son gets to sew, iron and tag scarves. Sometimes my mom, Haunani Rice, will come down to the shop and baby-sit so we can have two sets of hands working the production line," he said.

Rice's goal is to create "something that's Hawaiian, but also sophisticated and serious enough that you would feel proud to wear it at home or on the Mainland," he said. He brings a polished, refined sensibility to themes such as Hawaiian plants and endangered birds.

Among the designs in his first run of scarves are puakenikeni, kukui, naupaka, kalo and a lehua blossom with an i'iwi bird.

Punawai's scarves are subtle, chic and understated. They would look equally at home thrown over a T-shirt for dinner out in Chinatown or under a suit for a business meeting in San Francisco.

After a great deal of research, Rice bought a giant digital inkjet printer.

"Weighs two tons," he said. "It's the same machinery used in Europe for (printing) silk ties."

It enables him to print on fine fabrics in short runs so he can print dozens, rather than hundreds or thousands, of scarves.

The scarves come in three sizes: a bandanna, a long rectangle and a large square that is more shawl-like than scarf-like. Prices range from $30 to $75.

Punawai is sold at Nä Mea Hawai'i, Nohea Galleries, Bishop Museum's Shop Pacifica, Missions Houses Museum gift shop, Queen Emma Summer Palace gift shop, Waimea Valley Park and Island Treasures in Kailua.

As is true of so many Hawaiians, family is of great importance to Rice. "My work is dedicated to the beauty and richness of my culture, and to the loving support of my family, expecially my wife and mother," he said. Rice donates a portion of all scarf proceeds to the Transverse Myelitis Association (www.myelitis.org) in honor of his cousin, James Lubin, who suffers from this rare neuro-immunologic disease and is now quadriplegic.