Hawaii Gets Set

Jet Set models Michelle Vawer and Tai Sunnland.

The modeling opportunities in Hawaii just got bigger. Jet Set Management Group, a La Jolla, Calif.-based modeling and talent agency specializing in fit and tan beach models, opened a Honolulu office on March 1. President and CEO Cindy Kauanui describes it as a sister agency, with a modeling and acting division as well as a brand-new music division.

Kauanui believes this location will help her company scout and recruit new talent. “I’ve got the contacts in the Mainland and we’ve got the talent here, and all I’m going to do is match the beauty with the brand,” she says.

Clothing designer J. Crew recently booked Jet Set’s entire Hawaii-based male roster and Kauanui adds that they received the same amount of money they would have received on the Mainland. “We’re not going to lower our rates for anybody,” Kauanui says.

Raised on Kauai, the single mother and her three sons relocated to Los Angeles when Hurricane Iniki hit in 1992. She opened Jet Set in 1995, and its models and actors have appeared in Guess ads and the movie Blue Crush.
 
Homesick for the Islands, she bought a condo in Waikiki as a vacation home, but found herself working out of it anyway. However, in May 2007, Cindy’s pro surfer son Emery tragically died. Overwhelmed by grief in California, she found solace in Hawaii. She didn’t work for nine months, but friends helped her find office space at Ward Plaza next to Billabong, a long-time business partner. The Honolulu staff is comprised of locals; no one transferred from the La Jolla office.

Kauanui heads both offices and is looking for investors. As of March 12, the company had signed 15 models in Hawaii, adding to Jet Set’s more than 2,000 models worldwide.

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