Jakarta Fab for Fashion Week
Jakarta Fashion Week opened last weekend with a colorful fashion parade. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
Indonesia’s fashion capital, Jakarta, is bound to throb with excitement this week.
At the heart of the it all, a huge white tent stands in the middle of the road between the Senayan City mall and Binus University. Loud thumping reverberates outside until late at night.
Senayan City is currently hosting Jakarta Fashion Week 2014.
Themed “Bringing Indonesia to the World,” this year’s event will feature 240 Indonesian and seven international designers, introducing around 3,000 new looks for the upcoming year.
“This is the biggest Jakarta Fashion Week so far,” Svida Alisjahbana, Jakarta Fashion Week chairwoman and chief executive of the Femina Group, said.
“We’ve been planning it since last year, so that we could better prepare for the event this year.”
Jakarta Fashion Week’s three main venues are located along the road beside Senayan City, inside the mall’s atrium, and “The Hall” on the eighth floor, which is the buyers’ room.
“We want to support the growth of Indonesia’s fashion industry,” Senayan City chief executive Handaka Santosa said. “And Senayan City has the potential to make Jakarta Fashion Week even bigger and better.”
The event launched under the main tent on Saturday, and among those in attendance were Tourism Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi, Central Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni, and Veronica Basuki, the wife of Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
“Although it’s still a baby in terms of fashion weeks around the world, it is growing fast and already walking,” Mari said. “Through Jakarta Fashion Week, we’ve seen Indonesian designers being featured in prestigious international fashion events. Some [international] department stores also carry their collections.”
It is an exciting time to be in Indonesian fashion. For the first time ever, an Indonesian designer, Tex Saverio , presented at September’s Paris Fashion Week. His Spring/Summer 2014 collection debuted in Jeu de Paume, Place de la Concorde, and a number of buyers have already confirmed orders.
Indonesian designers Ari Saputra, Toton Januar and Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan also presented their collections in Trace SS14 Paris Showrooms, a trade event held in conjunction with Paris Fashion Week this year.
Upscale department stores Harvey Nichols in London and Isetan in Singapore now carry Ari Saputra’s ready-to-wear label Major Minor.
“Indonesian products stand for excellence,” said Pahala Mansury, Bank Mandiri’s managing director of finance and strategy. “Therefore, we’d like to support bringing Indonesia to the world.”
Bank Mandiri is the main sponsor of Jakarta Fashion Week 2014, which also features an “Indonesian Market” that offers fashion products, accessories and handicrafts by local small and medium enterprises fostered by the bank.
About 70 SMEs presenting their products in the beautifully decorated “Pasar Indonesia” tent, located just behind the Jakarta Fashion Week fashion tent.
“We’re developing [local SMEs’] capacities and capabilities through our CSR [corporate social responsibility] program,” Pahala said.
“And through [Pasar Indonesia], we hope to expand their markets. We want to make Indonesians feel proud about wearing and using Indonesian products.”
“Through Jakarta Fashion Week, Indonesian fashion talents have become known to the world,” Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said in a statement read by Sylviana. “The city administration will continue to support this event and establish it in Jakarta’s calendar of events.
“The governor also expects Jakarta Fashion Week will help establish Jakarta as Asia’s fashion capital,” she added.
The opening ceremony was followed by a parade of 31 up-and-coming Indonesian designers and their muses.
Twenty of the designers participated in the Indonesia Fashion Forward (IFF) program last year.
Indonesia Fashion Forward is an incubator for young designers aiming to break into international markets. The program is a collaboration between Jakarta Fashion Week, the Tourism Ministry, the British Council, and London-based fashion consultant Center for Fashion Enterprise.
Jakarta Fashion Week 2014 featured IFF designers’ Spring/Summer 2014 collections on its first day.
Major Minor’s collection, “Wanderlust,” is light, simple and easy to wear. The collection, which reflects the vivacity and freedom of travel, consists of loose-fitted dresses, pants and blouses in muted beige and gray.
Occasional bursts of orange and lime green hues highlighted the collection.
(JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
Major Minor also presented prints adapted from the lively animal and feminine figures of the old Batik Van Zuylen, circa 1863 to 1947.
Celebrated Islamic fashion designer Dian Pelangi showed a playful line titled “Pop Batik” that befit her name, which translates as “rainbow.”
Dian evokes fantasy and youthfulness by playing with proportions in a fashion-forward, editorial take on modest dress. From silhouette to styling and accessories, Dian’s looks demonstrated a keen eye for showmanship. Clearly, this is a designer who understands not simply how to stage a dramatic fashion show, but conveys self-awareness of her customer and her collection’s position in the international marketplace.
“Pop Batik” comprises a line of separates ready for mix-and-match daily wear, featuring a variety of silhouettes ranging from A-line skirts to tapered pants, blouses flowing and cinched, capes and loose jackets. Several prints and oversized beadwork in “Pop Batik” reference colors and shapes of modernist pop art.
Dian balances this playfulness skillfully with a recurring geometric batik motif that she designed and printed herself, and which reads as “lux” as any Louis Vitton or Chanel branding.
Islamic label NurZahra showed “Folk Solitude,” which drew inspiration from East European peasants through loose tunics, long overcoats and slim-fit pants made of the light and airy cotton voile.
The collection is also enhanced with a unique geometric pattern derived from Japanese shibori , which is a method of dying cloth by binding and stitching, and Indonesian batik.
The excitement of Jakarta Fashion Week culminated in the launch of Tex Saverio’s luxury pret-a-porter label, Tex Saverio Jakarta.
“The brand carries my DNA, but it’s more light, simple and wearable,” the 28-year-old designer said.
Tex’s “Fantasy Made Reality” show was a repeat of his entries at Paris Fashion Week last month.
The collection consists of quixotic evening dresses made of sheer and shimmery materials. These materials are finely tailored and layered to create elegant silhouettes.
Holographic patterns of trees and tendrils embellish most of his dresses.
Tex sources his fabrics from around the world for this collection. One of them is a thick and durable textile resembling silk.
“It’s especially made for us,” the soft-spoken designer said. “It has silk’s feel and beauty, yet is very strong and durable. Women can wear it comfortably without being afraid of ruining the material.”
The designer declined to name the textile or the country from which it was sourced.
Tex’s collection, priced between $750 and $3,000, will be available in Jakarta and New York early next year.
The first night of fashion shows ended with the appearance by top Indonesian model Paula Verhoeven in Tex’s gold-and-black mermaid-styled dress, with an elaborate black crown on her head.
When the audience of about 600 people broke into applause at the end of the night, the sound was deafening.
The excitement continues through this Saturday.
On Wednesday, L’Oreal Professionnel and Indonesian designers Peggy Hartanto, Rinda Salmun and Stella Rissa will present 2014 hair trends at a show in the main tent.
On Thursday, young designers Billy Tjong and Auguste Soesastro will show special collections inspired by the late Dutch artists Rudolf Bonnet and Hans Snel. The show is sponsored by Erasmus Huis, the Dutch cultural center.
The day will also feature a joint show by Albert Yanuar and Kaal E. Suktae, sponsored by the Korean Cultural Center.
0 comments:
Post a Comment