Cloth is all that counts for Obin

Cloth is all that counts for Obin

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a comfortable room inside her old but smart house on Jl.
Teluk Betung, adjacent to the Hotel Indonesia, cloth designer
Obin, 46, spreads her collection across the carpeted floor.

Colorful pieces of traditional cloth with a range of motifs
and patterns are laid out. Some of the pieces are batik, some
ikat, others jumputan and embroidery, while a few are a
combination of all of these.

In the background on a nearby television, a recent Japanese
NHK TV documentary about Obin plays.

Carefully, Obin picks through the pieces, explaining the
motif, the technique and the hard work and pain that went into
creating it.

"I remember every single piece. You pick a cloth and I explain
it to you," said Obin, short for Josephine W. Komara, who without
fail wears a kebaya (traditional woman's blouse) and kain
(cloth).

She is not kidding about remembering every piece in her
collection. Obin has been working on traditional cloth since
1975, and a conversation about the subject with her could last
for hours.

"I just love traditional cloth. It's a family thing. My mom
used to wear lurik (a type of woven traditional cloth), and my
father wore a sarong. Then I started to study it," she says.

But Obin got her start by creating fabrics for couches,
chairs, pillowcases, lampshades and curtains, together with
partners Yusman Suwandi and Inke Rafida.

After that, they started to make shirts with ikat woven motifs
and traditional cloth-based products.

"I was looking at old cloth and wondering why there weren't
any new motifs," said the woman who is known as "Mama" by her
staff.

Obin began to study the various techniques used to make
traditional cloth in regions across the country. She combined
these techniques, resulting in a unique and exclusive traditional
cloth.

According to her, the more she studied it, the more she
realized how extremely rich traditional cloth in this country
was.

"You know what, there are over 300 types of woven textures
alone. But I feel so very sad because hardly anybody pays
attention to our traditional cloth, which is really very
beautiful," said Obin.

Some 20 years ago, Obin and her partners established a store
called Bin House. From a small rented shop, it has developed into
a gallery in the elite area of Menteng, one in Bali and another
in Singapore.

Bin House products can also be found in several exclusive
boutiques in Japan, where Obin often holds exhibitions.

And last Tuesday, she held a show at Chijmes Hall in
Singapore.

"I want to show people in other countries that this country
hasn't died yet. We still have something good to show," she said.

"You know what, Singaporean reporters told me they had never
seen an Indonesian fashion show before. I was like, geez, what
have we all been doing all this time? We're busy creating
something but people outside our country never learn about it.
And Singapore is like, so close to us," she added.

At the fashion show, Obin presented several new products,
including batik on leather, batik on pashmina and batik on suede.

The research to create new products, Obin said, can take up to
seven years.

"We try it out, fail, try again. You only see this beautiful
cloth, but you have no idea how difficult it is to make it. But
it's the risk, we have to be innovative and creative if we want
to improve," she said.

While it takes a long time to make cloth, things are
different if customers come to her store saying they are going to
get married and want to wear something from Bin House.

"I would be very excited as if it was me who was getting
married. I ask them from what ethnic group they come from, then I
design it for them," Obin said.

"I don't know, I just adore seeing two people in love and
getting married. For me, love is a very serious thing and
marriage is something that we have to face eventually," she said
passionately.

Seeing the grimace on my face, Obin looked straight into my
eyes.

"Honey, if you think we have many choices, we don't. We
actually don't have too many choices in this world. It's just
being born, living and then dying, that's it. Marriage is part of
our lives," she said.

Obin clearly has a thing about love. Her eyes sparkle every
time she talks about her husband, Ronny Suwandi, an archeology
and anthropology professor at the University of Indonesia.

Ronny joined Bin House in its early years, and now he handles
the research and development department there.

"He's the one who taught me the correct way of thinking. He
always emphasized that everything should be based on method,"
said Obin.

One thing you don't want to do is call Obin a fashion
designer. She prefers to be called a tukang kain (cloth vendor).

"What's wrong with that? I am a tukang kain. Maybe I never
formally studied cloth or design, but all my life has been
dedicated to it. My whole life is my CV!" she said, adding that
she only graduated from elementary school "because I was such a
naughty girl".

The same is true for traditional batik-makers in villages.
Those people, Obin says, deserve to be called artists.

"They're not laborers, they're artists. They create artwork.
It would be impossible to create something beautiful like that if
they didn't have a sense of art."

According to Obin, Indonesia has an advantage in its large
population.

"In developed countries, where most people are educated, no
one is willing to do hard work, craftsmanship and things like
that. So we have potential," said Obin, who employs some 2,500
people across the country.

"People waste money by holding seminars on unemployment,
that's bull! Give the money to me, I'll hire people to make batik
and sell it abroad," she said.

Obin's main desire is for people to gain an increased
appreciation for traditional cloth.

"I attach a 'Please do not cut' tag on some of my cloth. I
hope people who buy it understand and don't cut it to make a
dress. I know it's their right and they probably don't listen,
but at least I've tried," she said.