Batik dons modern mantle for young style mavens

By Yogita Tahil Ramani

JAKARTA (JP): Spun, colored and drawn on by patient hands, batik has graced the forms of nobles of the Yogyakarta and Solo palaces from the 15th century on.

Javanese cultural traditions range from heavy to featherlight cloth, or kain, but the conventionality of batik fabrics ends there.

With talents such as Iwan Tirta and Amir Yahya having redefined batik's centuries-old history on fashion runways, local designers confirm that the cloth not only lures the cultured and traditional, but the younger generation as well.

A recent fashion show at Batik Danar Hadi boutique on Jl. Melawai Raya, South Jakarta, was proof.

Bringing together business executives, moneyed housewives, teenagers and grandmothers, the crowd basked in the outmoded but reinvented fashion scenes of Syam Reza Muslim, Carmanita, The House Of Prajudi and Batik Danar Hadi.

Subtly jumping from one generation to another, models shifted psychological gears with the parading of each outfit. The surprises were both delightful and noteworthy.

After decades of nondescript kebaya, Batik Danar Hadi's collection this year was most aptly represented by its single, rose-colored, paper-thin batik selendang -- it drew smiles from observers.

Most of the Danar Hadi collection included transparent, Chinese-buttoned shirts to teddy-boy styled batik shirts over sleeveless chiffon and slim pants. Colors of the House of Prajudi's designs, reminiscent of Iwan Tirta, were delightfully haphazard.

There was also Carmanita's wraparound pagi-sore (morning- evening) sarongs in blue and red motifs and, finally, Syam's mostly black, sleek gowns with batik designs.

Satin silks, chiffons and organzas fashioned a dance of colors of broken white, black, forest green, sky blues, pinks, browns, yellows and pastels.

Prajudi's collection included four-piece outfits with a heavy coat, inner shirt and double ball-gown batik skirts, slit knee- high in the center. Each skirt for the outfit had a different batik trimming.

Boring?

Syam Reza Muslim, a Batik Danar Hadi in-house designer whose has focused on the designs for the last two years, said most people perfunctorily stamped batik as "boring".

"With the right cuts, one can give batik a contemporary look. People have that understanding that, because their mothers wore it, it's boring and uncomfortable," Syam said.

Despite straying into cheekiness, Syam's designs spelled well- cut, black elegance, with the black scarves as accessories underscoring the message.

They looked fit to kill in straight pants, low-neck black tunics and neat hairdos. Abstract batik designs streaked black, figure-hugging gowns.

Carmanita's collection was understated, but no less attractive. Sarongs with Merak Ngibing (Dancing Peacock) motifs showed definitive characteristics of Indramayu.

Batik designs of this West Java fishing village are ordinarily simple and not intended to be too labor-intensive. There were lots of silk sarongs with applications of the overlay of prada gold covering.

With audience members stopping models to feel the silky texture of the sarongs, Carmanita's pagi-sore designs were the eye-catchers.

"The kain has two parts to it," said Batik Danar Hadi's public relations manager, Syamsidar Isa. Each half of the cloth had different colors and designs.

The 40 outfits shown were priced from Rp 200,000 to Rp 1.3 million, with the exception of one Prajudi's multi-batik design exceeding Rp 4 million.

Syamsidar said diversity of batik designs was great.

The coloring and dyeing process plays an essential role in batik-making, determining smoothness and giving the cloth its character. Most people, however, are unaware of this significance.

According to Syamsidar, only the old or those learned in batik could distinguish between fine and "coarse" examples of the art.

"In the old days, people were extremely particular about texture. Nowadays, as long as it looks good on them (the young generation), anything goes.

"I don't blame them, as most of them do not know of the work that goes into batik-making."

Copyright

Founded by married couple Danarsih and Santoso in the early 1970s and today one of the nation's most prominent batik centers, Batik Danar Hadi focuses more on the domestic than export market.

Distinguished visitors to its boutiques in Solo, Jakarta, Medan, Padang, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Bali have included the wife of Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Tan Choo Lang, and Graca Machel, wife of Mozambique's founding president.

Syamsidar said the firm suffered a 20 percent to 30 percent decline in profits last year due to the monetary crisis.

Nevertheless, with lines spanning household accessories, batik cloth, Moslem fashions and branded wear, Syamsidar claimed business was "in good form as usual".

"It does not affect us because batik, in all its forms, is used for almost all ceremonial activities, from wedding parties to household necessities."

Following the International Batik Conference and Exhibition last November, Vice President Try Sutrisno stressed that local designers and artists should copyright their designs to protect against long-term financial losses.

But Syamsidar told The Jakarta Post the measures may be in vain.

"The main point is that one cannot copyright or patent things that belong to the nation. Batik motives and designs are the nation's treasures.

"There is the technique of batik. Can one put a copyright on that?"

She used the example of a designer using a leaf in a work, which is then copied, with slightly different positioning, by another.

"Traditional designs are improvised on, and even if some are original, fashion still changes. In the meantime, registering the design itself at the patent office takes three months for paperwork alone."