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".