Denny Wirawan: From psychedelic to elegant

Syahmedi Dean, Contributor, Jakarta

Close to the end of the year, the fashion trend is in a transitional period, between what was trendy in the early months of the year and the projected trend for the coming year, which will not emerge until October. In this transitional period, many designers develop their previous collections by adding newness to the designs. In Europe and the United States, this is the period when designers will be usually very busy creating a series of resort wear and cruise collections, just to fill in the vacuum.

In Indonesia, however, only a few designers have applied this production system because, perhaps, there is no market for these transitional-period trends or because following their annual production plan, their production will start only late in the year.

Denny Wirawan is one of these few designers. He made a breakthrough in early August by creating a new collection that is derived from his psychedelic print series under the theme of Disco Diva, his prime design that he had put on show early last year.

This time Denny has developed his explosive Disco Diva series into more mature and more elegant designs geared better toward "ladies who lunch". He has toned down his extremely loud psychedelic motif. The motif is printed on elastic tulle fabric and then a motif block is adorned with an arrangement of beads to create a glamorous effect.

One of his attractive designs is a combination of a body- hugging top decorated with a paisley motif and a multi-layered chiffon and satin skirt. This combination is pleasing as he has blended the fitted and sexy quality of the upper part of the outfit with fluidity and flair in the skirt. The first hemline layer of the skirt, made of chiffon, is broad in a zigzag manner and will flow beautifully when you walk. Meanwhile, the second layer is made of satin fabric. This glossy satin will be faint in the chiffon-lined parts. However, the transparent chiffon will exude the luxurious property of the satin.

Denny's designs are modest in terms of silhouette but excel in his sharp and neat workmanship, the very reason why this combination has made the designs look superbly beautiful. One halter dress with an empire cut, for example, has in its upper part some embroidery work whose motif is obviously a transferred psychedelic motif.

In his latest collection, Denny has made only 14 sets of designs without any duplicates and they are available only in his chic boutique in Cipete, South Jakarta. These designs have been specially created to fill in the vacuum in the fashion trend.

"I have produced these designs amid my very tight schedule as later this month I will start making new designs for the 2006 trend show to be held by the Indonesian Fashion Designers' Council. Then I also have to start production to meet the fashion circle's needs for the Lebaran Muslim post-fasting festivities and also for Christmas," he said.

The show of Denny's latest collection was held in La Moda of Plaza Indonesia, as part of the programs to highlight the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Indonesia's independence.