Young Designers Contest stuns audience<\/p>\n
By Dini S. Djalal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The hip brigade has landed and immersed itself
\namong Indonesia's fashion students. At the 1995 Indonesian Young
\nDesigners Contest last Friday, the audience was given an
\nunexpected education on the newest version of cool.<\/p>\n
Dressing cool will require a fiery attitude. Plastic pants and
\nsheer slips. Platform combat boots and high heels perched on
\nwooden bulbs. A man in a lace bodysuit with see-through pajamas.
\nThese are not images for the demure and the humble. The theme is
\nthe future, and if the designers have their way, we will be
\nliving the X-rated version of the Jetsons.<\/p>\n
But the next millennium is potent inspiration for the young
\nand hopeful. Many of the nine contestants produced excellent
\ncollections, containing humor, commerciality, and innovation.
\nTheir hard work was directed towards the two winning prizes,
\nwhich entitle not only cash reward but also entry to the ASEAN
\nYoung Designers Contest in Singapore. The ASEAN competition, to
\nbe held on Sept. 20, is coveted for its S$5000 prize as well as
\nthe scholarship to California's Fashion Institute of Design and
\nMerchandising.<\/p>\n
This year's first-prize winner should feel doubly confident in
\nSingapore, because she also won the \"Favorite Designer\" award
\nfrom the audience. For her Charlie-Chaplin-inspired designs, 23
\nyear-old Jakartan Elizabeth S. Wijaya will be representing
\nIndonesia at the regional forum.<\/p>\n
Second-place winner Yongki Budi Sutisna, also from Jakarta,
\nwill also represent Indonesia at the ASEAN competition. His
\nspace-age casual wear, however, may shock observers expecting
\nbatiks and ikats from Indonesia's designers. Indonesian designers
\nmay at last be moving away from the now over-exposed ethnic wear.<\/p>\n
In fact, this year's collections showed little allegiance to
\ntraditional textiles, with some exception. The designs of
\nJakarta-based Lia Pailangan boasted an Irian Jaya theme, but
\nstrained to make the connection between the Asmat motifs, which
\nhaphazardously decorated tee-shirts and pockets, and her urban-
\ninspired silhouettes. A male model wearing Pailangan's copper-
\ncolored suits waved about an Asmat shield as if heading towards a
\ncricket pitch. If it's a joke, it's a poor one. Yet unintended
\nmockery is a pitfall many Indonesian designers often stumble
\nover, mostly due to a shallow understanding of the traditions
\nthey appropriate.<\/p>\n
Fashion anarchy<\/p>\n
But why look thousands of miles away for unfamiliar tribes
\nwhen the tribes of urban youth are just as exotic? Indonesian
\nyouth culture is abandoning its staid school uniform and heeding
\nthe cue of worldwide fashion anarchy. Browse through the city's
\nshopping malls and inevitably a platinum-haired teen in bondage
\ngear will growl past. Body-piercing -- nose, lip, belly button,
\nprivate parts, whichever will make your mother scream the most --
\nis becoming as essential as applying lipstick. One of this year's
\ncontestants, 17-year-old Astianty Namiera, smirked sheepishly
\nonstage under her green tuft of hair. The punk movement may be
\nnearly twenty years old, but its repercussions in this country
\nare only being felt now.<\/p>\n
It was there in the superb designs of Yongki Sutisna. With a
\nbasic palette of fire-engine red, stark white, and cool navy,
\nYongki produced a clean collection of workwear-inspired
\nensembles. Vinyl jackets were slimly tapered, and trousers took
\non a sailor's pleatless cut. T-shirts sported traffic signs,
\nalthough it would take only one of his see-through plastic
\ndresses to stop traffic. Of particular wearability was a
\ndiagonally-striped black-and-white skirt paired with a
\nwindbreaker and fitted white cardigan.<\/p>\n
Designs<\/p>\n
What distinguished Yongki's designs from the others was the
\nsleekness of the outlines. Diaz Charullah's Charlie-Chaplin-
\nthemed collection and Tris Setiawan's 1990s aristocrats, for
\nexample, struggled too hard to be \"designer\", and in the end
\nlooked too trendy. Too many complicated pieces and too many knee-
\nhigh socks tend to effect this impression.<\/p>\n
Some other silhouettes also repeated themselves to exhaustion.
\nParticularly popular are spaghetti-strings winding round all the
\nwaiflike waists, A-line miniskirts, and cropped tops. Never has
\nthe Jakarta Hilton International's Ballroom witnessed so many
\nbare belly buttons! It is also debatable if the Ballroom had ever
\nseen the nearly-indescribable combat clothes of Astianty Namiera,
\ncomplete with heavy padlocked chains. Office-wear meant padded
\nskirts in frosted pastels. If these are clothes to invade Jupiter
\nin, they'd surrender!<\/p>\n
In comparison, the winning designs seemed straight out of a
\nnunnery. On prints of gray or yellow checks, Wijaya sculpted
\npeacoats and pinafores. On sinuous silks and satins, she
\nimprinted images of Charlie Chaplin. Her patterns are clever, and
\nthe effect is elegant. However, the whole collection seemed a bit
\ntoo cute, too kitsch. Director of the Indonesian Fashion
\nDesigners Council Sjamsidar Isa contends the theme is not that
\nimportant.<\/p>\n
\"One of our old winners, Taruna, once won with a clown theme.
\nWijaya's collection is salable piece by piece, and that's what's
\nimportant,\" said Sjamsidar.<\/p>\n
Last year's winner utilized traditional embroidery arts as
\nwell as traditional Indonesian silhouettes in his collection.
\nShould there not be a traditional element in this year's entry at
\nthe ASEAN competition?<\/p>\n
Sjamsidar again disagrees. \"If the designer can use Indonesian
\ntraditions befitting an international style, then of course we
\nwould welcome it. But it is not necessary. The point is to create
\na ready-to-wear collection,\" said Sjamsidar.<\/p>\n
And a ready-to-wear collection is not cheap. The collection of
\nElizabeth Wijaya purportedly cost Rp 7 million (US$2,626) to
\nproduce. Usually, the collection that impresses most is also the
\none that costs the most. Those fortunate enough to obtain
\nsponsorship, whether from other designers or from stores, are
\nable to feed their creativity with the necessary materials.<\/p>\n
There are benefits to entering the competition, however. The
\nIndonesian Young Designers Contest is the only Indonesian
\ncompetition where senior designers give guidance weekly to their
\njunior counterparts, an experience not available elsewhere.
\nAlso, Galleria Department Store, who collaborated with the
\nIndonesian Fashion Designers Council and Hai magazine in
\norganizing the event, will sell the works of the young designers
\nthis month. The sales of the merchandise will not only gain a
\nbigger name for the young designers, but also help them pay for
\ntheir considerable production expenses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/young-designers-contest-stuns-audience-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}