Bali strives to be int'l fashion center
Bali, long known as an exotic holiday resort, has major potential to play a role in the international fashion industry. Yet it has still a long way to go before it becomes a fashion center. The Jakarta Post's Rita A. Widiadana and I. Wayan Juniarta look into the matter.
NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): The Indonesian fashion industry has just captured international attention by staging the Bali Fashion Week 2000, which ended yesterday, in the Bali International Convention Center.
The four-day fashion event was the first to bring together more than 100 fashion designers, garment producers, the textile industry and jewelry designers to display their latest collections and to attract both domestic and foreign buyers to Bali.
Mardiana Ika, the initiator of the event, said she was satisfied with the results although there were still many shortcomings which must be improved in the years to come.
"Every beginning is difficult, but at least we have already set out on the right path for the development of the local fashion industry," Ika said.
Head of the Bali Chamber of Commerce Gde Wiratha expected that Bali Fashion Week 2000 would present good opportunities for Indonesian garment producers and exporters to introduce their products to domestic and foreign buyers.
"The garment industry has been playing a significant role in Bali's economy, alongside the traditional tourism and handicraft sectors," said Wiratha.
Dolly Nasution, managing director of Tini's Collection, said the event was a good opportunity to expand the company's business networks.
"We have been exporting our goods to Europe, Australia and the United States. But, by participating in this event, we gained a lot of new connections in the fashion industry," he said.
Despite the fact that Indonesia has a myriad of beautiful textiles, traditional clothes and a long tradition of textile production, the modern fashion industry was not represented here until the late l960s.
The first generation of modern fashion designers included Peter Sie, Non Kawilarang and Iwan Tirta. These were followed by Harry Dharsono, Poppy Dharsono, Prayudi, Ramli and many others.
"Most of them had an overseas educational background. Indonesians knew very little about the world of fashion," said Pia Alisyahbana, a fashion commentator and publisher of the Femina Group magazines.
Pia remembered when her family and friends wanted to establish a woman's magazine Femina and a teenage magazine Gadis in the early l970s.
"Our magazines must be filled with articles on Indonesian lifestyles and other subjects including Indonesian fashion," she recalled.
It was the time when the creations of Indonesian designers started to appear in the local media. "The media plays a very vital role in supporting a country's fashion industry," Pia said.
The wide coverage afforded to them by prestigious lifestyle magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and renowned newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune has shot world fashion designers to stardom.
"Of course, the designers have talent and produce innovative creations but without media coverage, only a few people would recognize their names and work," said Pia.
In Indonesia, the emergence of women's and lifestyle magazines has also contributed to the development of the country's fashion industry.
Growing
In the past 20 years, the fashion and garment industry has experienced rapid growth. "Today, not only lifestyle magazines but also newspapers have fashion columns and new faces in the local fashion world appear almost every month," added Pia.
To support the industry, several magazines also hold annual contests for fashion designers and models.
Femina, for instance, organizes a Young Fashion Designers' Contest to seek fresh talent and novel ideas.
"I borrowed the idea of the contest from the more established Hong Kong Fashion Week," Pia admitted.
Hong Kong and Singapore occupy a very important place in the fashion industry. These countries, she said, have established themselves as Asia's foremost and most dynamic fashion centers.
"They have set up a very good system to produce synergies between fashion designers, the textile industry, government agencies, the business community, buyers and the media," explained Pia.
Every year, both countries hold large-scale and well-organized Fashion Trade Marts, namely the Singapore Fashion Week and the Hong Kong Fashion Week.
These two fashion events are major annual forums where fashion designers and garment and accessories' producers display their latest collections ranging from high fashion (couture) and high- end apparel to designer label collections.
The coming Hong Kong Fashion Week (July 11 through July 14) will have as its highlight the Asian Fashion Designers' Show which emphasizes the organizers' determination to promote Asian fashion designers.
According to Pia, Indonesia should learn more about the fashion industry from Singapore and Hong Kong. "Indonesia has yet to develop a systematic approach to the developing of its fashion industry," Pia said.
Alone
So far, most Indonesian designers have being going it alone.
"It's too naive for an Indonesian designer to claim he or she is already famous without actively taking part in international fashion events," Pia commented.
Organizing an international fashion event like the Bali Fashion Week 2000, could become a stepping stone for entry into the international market.
Designer Poppy Dharsono, chairwoman of the Indonesian Fashion and Garment Producers Association, acknowledged that it was very difficult to organize a large-scale fashion event so as to attract international buyers to come to Indonesia.
"I have been doing it for such a long time without getting any encouraging results. I don't know where the fault lies," admitted Poppy, who was also a former chairwoman of the Indonesian Fashion Designers' Association (APPMI).
Poppy said local fashion designers, business circles and the government must work together to support the domestic fashion industry.
The government, in this case the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) have frequently organized fashion exhibitions in several cities in Indonesia and various foreign countries.
"But as usual, these exhibitions were poorly prepared and organized," Poppy said adding that the organizers usually only informed participants at the very last minute.
Besides the lack of professionalism, few promotional activities are undertaken.
"Most government-sponsored events receive little coverage from the media or attention from buyers and viewers because of the lack of promotion," said Poppy. She suggested that the government and the business associations concerned act merely as facilitators and leave the organizing of international-scale events to the professionals.
Ita Munaf, public relations manager of Jakarta Promotion agreed.
"Organizing world-scale trade marts like the Bali Fashion Week or any other such event requires a lot of energy and competent people who have experience in handling conventions," Ita explained.
Support from interested parties like hotels, airlines and other sectors in the tourist industry are also needed.
Rocky, managing director of Panorama Convex, a professional convention promoter, added that the government, business community and fashion designers could use the Bali Fashion Week as a means of improving the country's already tarnished image in the international world.
The coverage given by CNN, the South China Morning Post, Fashion TV L'Original and, of course, the local media, could show that Indonesia is still an attractive and beautiful country despite all the bad news on social, economic and politic upheavals.
Marzio Narcero from Fashion TV L'Original said the Bali Fashion Week 2000 will open the eyes of international fashion circles and prove that Indonesia has a great deal of talent and has the potential to become a center of fashion.
"I want to expose Indonesian fashion to world viewers. We have been very active in promoting Asian designers and now it's Indonesia's turn," said Narcero.
This could prove to be a major opportunity for local fashion designers and the fashion industry to go international.