Taking fashion forward - The Nation

Niken Prathivi

The Jakarta Post

Asia News Network

Jakarta October 24, 2013 1:00 am

Taking fashion forward

Jakarta Fashion Week 2014 is back - and this year it is bigger and better than ever.

Talented home-grown designer Tex Saverio wowed fashion lovers during Saturday's opening, showcasing collections fresh from the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week, where the Tex Saverio Jakarta line was recently launched.

"The theme of the Spring-Summer 2014 collection is Fantasy made Reality, a wearable collection for modern women," the 29-year-old designer said before the show. Through the new collection, Saverio, who has dressed top celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian, redefines evening wear by creating silhouettes that are effortlessly appealing and flattering to any body type.

Cosmic colours like cerulean blue, chartreuse green, champagne and jet black were paired with shimmery, holographic and sheer materials, giving an edgy but light feeling that's perfect for summer.

Saverio is a member of this year's Indonesian Fashion Forward programme, which is presenting works by some 240 fashion designers and brands in more than 75 shows at Senayan City shopping centre in South Jakarta through tomorrow.

The Fashion Forward event aims to expose the country's promising designers to the international market and saw such designers as Friedrich Herman, Jeffry Tan, Dian Pelangi, Jenahara, Nur Zahra, Albert Yanuar, Toton Januar, and Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan presenting their collections.

"I'm touched by the fact that within six years of Jakarta Fashion Week, we have a group of talented designers who have entered the local and international markets," said Jakarta Fashion Week chairwoman Svida Alisjahbana during the opening event.

"Add to that our 40 designers who have also made look-books and focused on particular |markets."

Five fashion labels paraded eye-opening collections and numerous designs celebrated and exploited the country's own traditional fabrics.

Auspicious label Monday to Sunday featured batik from Brebes (Central Java) while NFRT and Milcah chose Garut's (West Java) woven fabric.

Designer Eridani drew inspiration from batik from Kudus, Central Java, and Vinora incorporated elements of Palembang's (South Sumatra) woven fabric into its creations.

Seven international designers from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Netherlands also used traditional Indonesian fabrics for their collections.

Dutch designer Hans Ubbink's designs featured woven fabrics from the West Java town of Garut and Bali as well as woven silk material from Makassar, South Sulawesi for his eclectic Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

Lee Suk Tae of South Korea also chose to include the traditional woven fabrics in his outfits. The event's creative director Diaz Prasada said the organisers had chosen the colours and motifs of tenun as a fabric suitable for the visiting foreign designers' collections.

"The traditional fabrics is being seamlessly presented in their designs," he noted.