Cut from different cloth

Muara Bagdja, Contributor, Jakarta

Regeneration in fashion, like in all aspects of life, is inevitable. Young designers emerge and display the talent necessary to do business and survive in a new era. Some of them become the trend-setters of their generation.

In Indonesia, five generations of designers have emerged since Peter Sie pioneered the profession in the country in the 1950s as a haute couture designer.

Iwan Tirta and Prayudi were fashion figures of the 1970s, becoming the first generation to popularize modern designs with traditional Indonesian textiles, particularly batik and woven scarfs.

When fashion design contests became common in the 1980s, many leading young designers like Samuel Wattimena, Itang Yunasz and Chossy Latu appeared as the generation that introduced ready-to- wear dresses to the public at large, with promotional support provided by women's magazines and sales outlets of department stores.

Sebastian Gunawan and Didi Budiardjo belonged to the next generation, marked by elegant and hand-made ornamental styles in the fashion of the 1990s.

Now, a new generation has emerged, filled with such names as Urban Crew, initiated by the designer duo of Era M. Soekamto and Ichwan H. Thoha, Oscar Lawalata and Andrea Sutisno. They have a more liberal concept in fashion creation and avoid being trapped in only one style.

All the designers, from Peter Sie through to Ichwan Thoha, shared a great interest in fashion from their youth. They also shared the dream of becoming professional designers by making Indonesian women well-groomed. Each of them assumed varying styles, based on the times and conditions that provided them with inspiration.

They also have had to deal with different problems.

"At the beginning of 1959 I held a charity show. We faced various constraints like the limited availability of material, unprofessional personnel, scarcity of sponsors and so forth," recollects Peter Sie in his autobiography, Peter Sie, Mode adalah Hidupku (Peter Sie, Fashion is My Life).

Even in the 1980s, it still took some trouble and time to build a career. As a rule, designers started by taking part in fashion design contests. Winners would have their works publicized in women's periodicals. Only when they were better known would they produce garments for sale in department stores.

It's been a much more comfortable lot for the younger generation. They have grown up in more affluent circumstances, with the availability of fashion schools, information from diverse media and show coordinator services.

By holding fashion shows, today's designers can easily gain fame through their more idealistic creations, without having to consider too much the commercial aspects of their work.

Andrea Sutisno is an example. In introducing her elaborate collections since 1999, she has made her name in fashion circles. Urban Crew, with its techno-pop streetwear creations produced in cooperation with Dupont, the producer of Lycra fibers, is now also held in high regard.

Sydney fashion school graduate Yunita Harun, who returned home only several months ago, displayed her first collection recently to introduce her presence in the fashion world.

These new designers generally come from wealthy families, a necessity because a show costs a lot of money. It takes about Rp 50 million to hire a hotel assembly hall, not to mention payments to models, lighting and coordinator charges. All this still excludes the cost needed to produce the dresses.

Formal education like that at the Esmod fashion school in Jakarta costs about Rp 50 million a year. "Money does comes first. No ideas can be realized without financial capital. But conversely, money alone, without concepts and capabilities, will produce nothing. So they should be balanced," said Andrea.

The media also plays its part in making their names.

Show coordinators now need to prepare at least 100 seats for fashion editors, reporters and photographers from print, broadcast and Internet media. Young designers acknowledge that media coverage gives a positive impact to their reputation and marketing. "I got some new customers after they saw me on TV," added Andrea.

In the 1980s designers emphasized identities that were kept specialized as their particular fashion image using hemmed, ethnic or embroidered designs and fabrics.

Greater freedom marks the present generation's designs. But the most prominent attitude is the rejection of segmentation, as Oscar Lawalata declared when trying to branching out into haute couture recently.

"As a designer I reject monotonous ideas and presentations. I don't want to hear people say, 'Andrea's just making the same old style', so I'm always innovating," she said.

Becoming trend-setters instead of mere followers is what younger designers most desire. But some criticize their work, claiming that they lack originality. Despite the rapid advance in technology, which leads to shared influences, it is difficult to find genuinely creative output.

"Our products look different through styling. We have the styling capability to display the characters of our customers in our garments," argues Ichwan, a graduate of Singapore's Lasalle fashion school.

Despite all the available facilities, they still face constraints, especially in the supply of materials. As was the case with their seniors, cooperation with textile factories is not easy to carry out and the government has not yet paid proper attention to the fashion business through facilities or programs.

However, the emergence of newcomers by no means discourages existing designers because they each have their own style.

"People now care about appearance even more, with a booming lifestyle of outdoor activities among the younger generation. I just want to seize this opportunity," Ichwan said.