Batik dons modern mantle for young style mavens
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."