Failing to dress to impress<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
Aside from checking out the audience for the local fashionista's
\ndesperate bids at oneupwomanship in the style quotient
\ndepartment, the 19th trend show presented by the Indonesian
\nAssociation of Fashion Designers (IPMI) last week was nothing to
\nget excited about.
\n--------------------------------------<\/p>\n
The Mercedes Benz Indonesian Fashion Festival, the first
\nsponsored by the automaker as part of its global fashion
\ncommitment, promised much, with several of the 16 designers
\nboasting strong, experienced pedigrees.<\/p>\n
Despite a few standout shows by young designers, however, the
\ngeneral impression was uninspiring, and certainly no harbinger of
\nwhat sartorially minded urbanites will be wearing any time soon.<\/p>\n
Take Sebastian Gunawan, who along with Italian-born wife
\nCristina Panarese, presented his ready-to-wear label Votum.<\/p>\n
Themed Flare de Fleur, the collection had no strong unifying
\ntheme and fizzled on the whole.<\/p>\n
Layered miniskirts in nude color and the black asymmetrical
\nruffled skirt were among its interesting creations. The floral
\nmotif, dominated by lime green, was also quite fresh and light.<\/p>\n
But there was nothing daring here: the baby doll, lace, empire
\nline waist, we've seen it all before. Even worse, some of the
\ndesigns suffered from untidy cutting and finishing.<\/p>\n
The same was also true for Chossy Latu, whose collection was
\ndominated by gowns and apparel for formal wear.<\/p>\n
Focused on lace, paillettes, with the occasional fringe, the
\ndesigns were undistinctive, and again they appeared to have poor
\ncutting.<\/p>\n
The collection of Ghea Panggabean, who made her name in the
\n1980s with tie dye and other ethnic-inspired collections, was not
\nmuch better.<\/p>\n
It said safe, clean and bland, most notable for its white
\nkebaya encim lace applied on retro '50s skirts and jackets.<\/p>\n
The Javanese batik and motif prints, meanwhile, were too
\nimposing and outdated, when they could and should have been
\nsubtle and fresh.<\/p>\n
The exceptions to the otherwise mundane collections were a
\nresurgent Oscar Lawalatta, Urban Crew by Era Soekamto and Ichwan
\nThoha and Denny Wirawan.<\/p>\n
Oscar has bounced back after a period of celebrity-dom when he
\nseemed to have sunk into believing in his own hype. After his
\nearly promise, he came up with calamitous designs marked by
\nlackluster creativity and shoddy cut and finishing.<\/p>\n
He obviously has learned more about his craft and is
\nimproving, presenting designs for his OscarOscar ready-to-wear
\nlabel that are more mature but intricate, casual but elegant and,
\nmost importantly, wearable.<\/p>\n
Dominated by black, Oscar mixed jersey with chiffon or tulle,
\nas in a tank top knitted with a handkerchief skirt. A highlight
\nof his collection was the white miniskirt (doubling as a pair of
\nshorts), and balloon dress.<\/p>\n
Aside from black and white, there were a few variations in
\ncandy colors (peach, yellow, baby blue) in sack dresses. An
\ninteresting detail was the hen embroidery, a row of paillette on
\njersey material, and also tie dye, harking back to his previous
\ndesigns.<\/p>\n
The Urban Crew duo, meanwhile, had a strong concept and theme,
\nand shows that it is very in tune with its young market.<\/p>\n
With a beach holiday as the main theme, the label took
\ninspiration from the 1970s' fun in the sun look, with a hippie
\nfloral dress, denim and modifications of cargo pants.<\/p>\n
It was marked by faded hues, like pink, khaki and baby blue,
\nbut with splashes of bright colors.<\/p>\n
Details included layers, stripes and fruit motifs. All in all,
\nit was not strictly original (but then what in fashion is?), and
\nthere were some miscalculations in the choice of material, but
\nits freshness shone through.<\/p>\n
Concluding the two days of collections on Thursday was up and
\ncoming designer Denny Wirawan.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, after his previous ethnic-themed designs, he
\ncame up with an electric collection that revived the flower power
\ngeneration, rock 'n' roll and disco glam but in his own style.<\/p>\n
Bell bottoms, washed denim jackets and fringes were huge.
\nPaisley embroidery was carefully made, with a clean cut, feminine
\nyet strong silhouette.<\/p>\n
Highlights included quilted jackets with a floral motif in
\ncaramel and tobacco, a hippie flowing dress with optical motifs
\nand a gold fringed hula dress.<\/p>\n
As for identifying a trend from all the collection, it must be
\nthat the ultrafeminine style will continue to rule, with the
\nflowing light dress, floral motifs and lace. The bolero jacket
\nalso made a frequent appearance, with white and pastel the
\nprominent colors.<\/p>\n
It's also clear that designers are focused on the ready-to-
\nwear market, with evening dresses no longer dominating the
\ncollections.<\/p>\n
According to fashion writer and stylist Muara Bagdja, who was
\npart of the festival's organizing committee, the designers seemed
\nmore prepared and came up with better technique and construction
\nthan last year.<\/p>\n
\"This is a good thing so that we can compete with ready-to-
\nwear collections from China, Korea and Thailand, which dominate
\nthe market because of their competitive price and good quality.
\nIt's been too bad, because we've had all the potential here,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Local designers must keep learning their craft, so there will
\nbe no more embarrassing examples of poorly cut and finished
\ncreations from name designers.<\/p>\n
\"Because sewing and tailoring techniques keep improving,\"
\nMuara noted. \"Therefore, designers need to continue upgrading
\nthemselves.\"<\/p>",
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