Can local fashion designers look beyond these shores?

Can local fashion designers look beyond these shores?

Kylah Brown, Contributor/Jakarta

Given its access to outstanding textiles and cheap labor,
Indonesia should be at the forefront of the fashion industry.

But, unfortunately, it is not. It isn't even close.

Many industry professionals have offered explanations as to
why talented Indonesian designers are having difficulty
penetrating the international market. The reason certainly isn't
due to a shortage of talent.

In an article by Wahyoe Boediwardhana in this publication In
May, Mardiana Ika, founder of Moda Bali and organizer of Bali
Fashion Week, was quoted as saying that Indonesian designers need
to promote more at top-notch venues.

She advised designers to be proactive, instead of simply
"sitting and waiting for foreign designers to pick up their
goods". She added that they must be determined to be a success.

Ika hit on an important point, but one is left to wonder why
designers lack this drive. Another valid point that Ika made is
that fashion designers desperately need to brush up on what is
fashionable on the international level and create pieces that are
marketable beyond Indonesia.

In a "style counsel" opinion column in the Post, major fashion
designer Iwan Tirta also pointed out that many Indonesian fashion
designers are still "cut from the same cloth".

He said they remained a bunch of dressmakers who had yet to
realize that it took more than just "making pretty dresses to
become a real fashion designer".

Iwan continued that fashion design for men used to be
considered a prissy profession, that is, until the rapid growth
of the media and the exposure to international trends increased.

However, he then pointed out that it is the lack of exposure
to international trends and media that keeps Indonesian designers
from being of the same caliber as world-class designers.

But this ignores the fact that it is easier today to view
international collections, both current and archival, via the
Internet.

True, reasonably priced international magazines and books are
hard to come by here, but the World Wide Web provides ample
information to support a well-researched collection.

There is absolutely no excuse for a collection to be
lackluster due to resource deficiency. Iwan then went on to
suggest that designer hopefuls research trends, not in back
issues of international publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair,
or Elle, but in the local magazine Femina.

Iwan also explained that there was no experience like hands-on
experience, and urged aspiring designers to study under seasoned
professionals.

But given that very few "well-established" Indonesian
designers have managed to break into the international fashion
scene, it is a bit like asking the blind to lead the blind.

His last point was the need for competent fashion critics in
Indonesia, claiming that there are very few knowledgeable enough
to actually put fashion into context. But, if called upon to
criticize Indonesian fashion against the international code,
critics' comments would always be the same: "The Spring/Summer
collection proves yet again to be poorly researched and
unmarketable. Some of the evening dresses were pretty, but we
don't see anything fresh and new." And so on.

So, given no other viable option, they resort to judging the
collection based on Indonesian standards.

Indonesian designers have all of the tools necessary to become
noted internationally. The question is: Why aren't they using
them?

Perhaps the answer is that in Indonesia, there is an entirely
different standard as to what is fashionable. Here, what is
fashionable is anything that heightens one's social status.

Indonesians do not pay attention to what's stylish anywhere
else in the world if it isn't applicable to that which is "in
vogue" in the archipelago.

Around the world, very often the clothing trend is grungy,
torn, second-hand, faded or vintage. In Indonesia, this means
that you are poor and cannot afford nice clothes. What's
fashionable in Indonesia is anything that equates with money,
rather than style.

It absolutely doesn't matter if it is deemed deplorable by the
rest of the world. Pasty white skin, head-to-toe designer apparel
and big bouffant hairdos and don't make you appear hip and trendy
in New York, Paris, Milan, or London.

In fact, it would probably attract a few snickers and stares.

Indonesians simply don't need to be fashionable by
international standards to be considered chic in their own
country. Indonesia will not be deemed a reputable fashion center
until the general idea of what is fashionable adheres more
closely to that of the rest of the world.

The biggest question that Indonesian fashion designers should
be asking themselves is: "How can I be taken seriously on the
international fashion scene while still catering to the desires
of my local clientele?"

Many designers who have achieved fame and fortune peddling the
same old sequined gowns to women over the years have probably
been scratching their heads, befuddled as to why Milan and Paris
have not caught wind of their success.

Just because it is bedazzling on these shores does not make it
fashionable and internationally marketable. As the saying goes:
"All that glitters isn't gold."

But, perhaps Indonesian designers secretly don't care if they
are internationally recognized. Maybe this can explain the
aforementioned lack of determination and drive when it comes to
crossing over.

There is always a big to-do about which designer is going to
make it big in a fashion capital. But, many are aware that to do
so would require a lot of research. And this would mean
acknowledging that their existing collection, which received so
much praise at home, is practically devoid of any cognizance of
international trends.

And that means only one thing: Back to Square One. At this
point, unfortunately, the deigners might think, "Ah, might as
well leave well enough alone. Bali Fashion Week is good enough
for me".