Designer Edo celebrates traditional design
Designer Edo celebrates traditional design
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Edward "Edo" Hutabarat is angry. He believes there are not enough
people in this country supporting what he has been doing all
these years -- promoting Indonesian culture through fashion and
in the process, instilling the spirit of integration.
"Our national costume is the lifeblood that unifies this
nation," Edo asserted during the Fifth National Congress on
Culture held recently in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra.
When he meets with artisans from different cultures, Edo often
finds himself immersed in discussion of various topics of art and
beauty, so that potentially divisive matters of race and creed do
not find a place.
"Fashion is not only about walking prettily on the catwalk.
The beauty of it is that it's backed by a populistic economy,"
Edo said, illustrating that a single piece of clothing needs the
expert touch of dozens of artists.
"A fashion show can feed so many people, those who weave the
cloth, who put in the silver and gold weavings, those who carve
the silver necklace and bracelets, who do the hair, the makeup."
In the fashion show he organized on the night of the opening
of the National Congress on Culture in Bukittinggi, 20 of Edo's
models showed the audience exactly what he meant.
Recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different
traditional cloths and costumes, Edo takes the best of every
culture and merges the elements into a beautiful and unique line
of clothing fit for the catwalks of Milan and Paris.
Putting traditional motifs in modern settings, Edo
successfully transported West Sumatran weaving traditions and
lace, South Sulawesi traditional blouse baju bodo and Yogyakartan
silver to cater to modern tastes.
For accessories, there was a masterpiece of a fan bringing
together the talents of many; made from East Nusa Tenggara
sandalwood, the body of the fan was painted by expert painters
from Kamasan, Bali, laced with silver from the silversmiths of
Kotagede, Yogyakarta, and used a motif inspired by that found on
the traditional doors of Bali's Singaraja kingdom.
"How can I present the best with only cassava, if that's all I
have," Edo explained as his defining motto.