Designers take a chance on trance in Bali

Agatha Belinda, Contributor, Bali

From the happy hippy days of the Beatles, grunge's dark suburban look to the "bling-bling" ghetto fabulous of hip hop, music always underlies changing fashion. As music progresses in its art, culture and popularity, the fashion industry is never far behind to seize the day -- and the trend.

So, what does it take for a trend to explode from its culture to the masses? And how long does it need? In Bali, a journey of this kind continues and its future looks bright, although a bit tricky.

Pioneered by the label Spacetribe in 1991, it has led a growing group of artists in Bali in showing their own flair in trance fashion, making the island a key exporter worldwide and the biggest in Asia. Inspired by the fast-paced electronica dance music party scene in Goa, India, it was created to provide an identity, as well as visual stimulation for loyal partygoers -- known as the "trance family" or "tribe".

They throw outdoor events at chosen venues all over the world, such as on the Spanish island of Ibiza, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and so on, spending nine months out of the year traveling to these events. Though host to a wide range of ages, from teenagers to people in their 50s, the events are exclusive, spreading through word of mouth rather than promotions to ward off too many newcomers to the scene.

Thus, the intention is less about making profits, more about sharing.

Ultimately, it is about an "outer body experience" in a good bonding, spiritual yet stimulating setting. Adapting to Hinduism, they have a "cause" -- the full moon or eclipse, for example -- to ensure a positive energy. They are a kind of modern day, New Age hippie, with the same ideologies of yesteryear but now armed with the latest laptops, high-tech toys and other attributes of comfortable living.

Spending about three months a year in Bali making clothes before retailing them abroad at the parties/festivals they go to, as well as selling them wholesale to international buyers, isn't a bad way to support their lifestyle.

Before Spacetribe -- one of the leading trance fashion labels in the world -- started making black and white optic art printed T-shirts, partygoers were wearing rock climbing gear. Spacetribe's original idea was to trick the eyes in seeing a moving object, taking '60's old school psychedelic, batiks, Hindu gods or crude tribal prints and silk screening them with reflective dyes that would light up under black lights.

Gone were the low key North Face basics, replaced by the newly loud, attention-seeking tops, pants, and sarongs with its tie dye, OpArt or Ganesha prints in feel-good, easy to care fabrics like microfiber, cotton and stretch nylon.

"Everyone thinks we're making millions of dollars but actually, we're still a small company," admitted Aero, owner of Spacetribe. "Although we now produce everything from shoes to children's wear to banners, (we produce) less than 10,000 pieces a year. That's nothing in the fashion industry."

At its height seven years ago, trance wear actually made a leap to high fashion. Major designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood did inspired collections, but dinosaur brands such as the Gap never took the trend mainstream.

Though Spacetribe's products were featured in high profile magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan, the trend fell short and never made it to the big time.

Perhaps both out of necessity and hushed ambition, the younger trance wear labels in Bali are coming out with a much more wearable, sophisticated look. The yearning to disassociate their labels from the niche market of trance culture into a broader segment -- calling it streetwear, clubwear or even travelwear -- could be the turnaround point for the trend commercially, since their trance hippy customers don't actually have strong buying power.

Gerry, 40, launched his trance-inspired streetwear clothing line, Booom, a year ago, selling it wholesale straight to the skate and surf boutiques in Japan and the Netherlands. This August he is planning to go to Portugal to open a clothing stand -- which will cost him a few hundred euros -- at Boom, the biggest trance festival in the world.

"My collection is purposely designed to be more generic and high in quality, so that they can be worn during the day. But at night, in clubs, the details of the over decking stitching and the patterns of the patchwork can be seen through the fluorescent threads and fabrics," revealed the marketing savvy Singaporean, who made 1,000 pieces in the first year and can already afford to stock fabrics.

It's an attitude shared by Agnes Caroline and Andre Ferdy, the Indonesian designer duo of Shaman, one of Bali's biggest trance labels. The couple also runs a successful, recently expanded clubwear boutique in Seminyak called Cyber Bazaar, owned by Agnes' parents.

Categorizing Shaman as "electro couture" or travelwear, they talk about standardized sizing (to focus more on patterns, designs and qualities), customizing, plus lowering its price point to increase the market for local customers, which makes up to 60 percent of total clients.

Together they produce about 3,500 pieces a year, with plans to find an international partner to make a deeper dent in the European, Japanese and American markets and, more importantly, to mass produce. All this from a 21 and 22 year old.

While it's good to have confidence, is the market really ready for mass production?

You can count on good quality production on this tiny island, but Bali (and Indonesia for that matter) is certainly expensive for labor costs compared to India, China or Thailand. With the added shipping costs, it would actually be cheaper to mass produce in Europe, if it wasn't for the huge number of minimum orders European factories put as requirements.

The laid-back attitude in Bali combined with the many traditions that affect day-to-day activities here tend to also slow things down. To top it off, Indonesia's garment industry is unfortunately known to prioritize exports, making it that much harder for the local designers.

But it may be a blessing in disguise.

"The trance community wants to be seen as 'alternative' people. The worst thing to do (to my brand) is to flood the market. If I get twice as many orders a season, I actually raise my price to bring it down, because once everyone starts wearing it, (my customers) don't want to wear it anymore," said the easy going Aero, who also admitted to having toned down the style of his label to follow demand.

The 25 to 45 year old market for trance fashion shies away from drawing attention to themselves, perhaps the result of the world's generally paranoid attitude. Regardless, individuality and personality never go out of style. With now over the top and saturated hip hop fashion reaching a feverish high in streetwear, the fickle market will most likely be ready for the next "underground" trend very soon.

The rising popularity of the "cyber hippy" style (psychedelic tunics with bell bottoms or tight clothes in fluorescent colors) in trendsetter cities such as Tokyo and London indicates that the rest of the world will be quick to pick up on the trend.

In Bali, competition is getting tougher. New designers keep popping up; first-time designer Asli Kent, 40, brought fine leather work to the scene, while Dara Malekottodjary, 36, is hitting exclusive, funky urban boutiques in the U.S with his "gutter punk" streetwear line, Ratredz.

"There's a rat race in Bali, just at a different level," said Gerry, half-jokingly.

One thing for sure, however, is that like any other business, the secret of success is to just keep evolving, which is exactly what trance fashion in Bali is doing, and to be ready for some changes on their own as their wish may just come true.

A long time ago, my always fashionable -- and sometimes funny -- mother used to justify her shopping sprees by saying, "You're not always what you eat, dear, but you definitely are what you wear". Not that she ever let me eat any junk food, but these days, her statement does have a ring of truth to it.