Does Indonesian fashion have a foot in the grave

Does Indonesian fashion have a foot in the grave

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): Imagine yourself a newcomer to Jakarta looking
to buy some Indonesian-designed fashions.

You enter Plaza Indonesia or Plaza Senayan with great
expectations of ethnic chic, but all you see are the same
expensive boutiques you find in New York, London, or Paris.
Finally, hidden in a vast department store, you find a few racks
of clothes exclaiming "Made in Indonesia".

Unfortunately, however, none of the styles you want come in
your size. Feeling defeated yet still hungry for a purchase, you
finally settle for a sweatshirt made in Taiwan.

Will the Indonesian fashion industry survive the upcoming
"free trade era"? At a seminar held last week by the Association
of Indonesian Fashion Designers, retailers and designers
discussed the troubles facing the local retail industry.

Poor quality standards, uncompetitive prices, inefficient
management, and lackadaisical marketing, as well as the dismal
cooperation between the textile industry, retailers, and
designers, were listed as the main sources of the industry's
woes.

The discussion panel, which included general manager of Metro
Department Store Christine Barki, manager of Country Fiesta
stores Kenny Wiria, and retailing expert Suwandi Suparlan from
Bandung's Padjajaran University, stressed the urgency for
Indonesia's fashion industry to improve its competitiveness, or
else prepare for bankruptcy once free trade is enacted in 2003.

"With globalization, we will face stiff competition," said
retailer Kenny Wiria. "We need cooperation and input from both
the government and designers," he said.

At a separate press conference, leading Indonesian designer
Biyan also urged Indonesian designers to get serious about
grabbing a slice of the retailing pie. "If we don't start now,
it's going to be too late and more difficult in the future,"
Biyan said. Biyan is one of a handful of Indonesian designers who
have opened boutiques in shopping malls.

Retailing may not be as glamorous as fashion shows, Biyan
admits, but with foreign franchises inundating the market, it is
increasingly necessary. "Developing my outlets requires more
energy than producing a collection," said Biyan. "But everyone
overseas always asks me where to buy Indonesian fashion, because
there are few stores showcasing Indonesian designers," he said.

Biyan is fortunate to be able to finance his venture. Many
designers struggle merely to stay afloat, taking on uniform
orders and ball gown commissions to cover their losses in
retailing. Most department stores in Indonesia, such as Metro,
operate on a consignment system, in which designers rent counter
space at a high price, and then get paid later by the store for
every product sold.

"It's an unfair system," complains designer Jadin Djamaludin.
"The big always win, and the small lose. Why do these big stores
insist on the consignment system but pay us months later?," he
said.

Metro representative Christine Barki answers that the
consignment system is necessary because often the goods don't
leave the store. "If a designer can produce what the consumers
want to wear, then we can negotiate new terms," said Barki. Metro
currently pays its vendors 30 days after a sale.

Barki explained that Indonesian goods are harder to sell
because of their substandard quality, and of the tendency of
Indonesian designers to copy other designers.

"From the point of view of competition, this copying is not
healthy," said Barki. "Foreign clothes win on cut, style and
material. They may be produced here, but then they're sent for
export," said Barki.
Indonesia's status as a major center of subcontracted
manufacturing for European and American designers, and the
strength of its export-oriented textile industry. Add to the
equation Indonesia's cultural diversity, which may serve as
inspiration for local designers, and the future of Indonesian
fashion should look brighter than it is.

What Indonesia lacks, says manufacturer Kenny Wiria, is
efficiency and economies of scale. He says that multinational
manufacturers survive by reducing production costs through
subcontracting and sourcing the cheapest possible materials.

Within the context of the rapidly-moving global economy,
efficiency and economies of scale are no longer enough to survive
the markets, says Suwandi Suparlan. More important for ambitious
players is access to the market, which means grabbing
opportunities as they appear.

Finally, success requires adaptability. "We have to adjust to
customers' needs," he said.

Yet Kenny Wiria adds that the problems facing designers and
retailers are tied to the larger economy. He points to high
rents, in dollars, and the 20 percent down payment which shopping
malls demand. "In China and Hong Kong, they pay rent in local
currency, and the down payment is paid in three months," said
Wiria.

What may save local designers, Wiria and Suparlan point out,
is branching overseas. "If suppliers target only the local
market, it's too expensive and too high a risk," said Wiria.

"We should see 2003 as an opportunity to position ourselves in
Asia," adds Suparlan. Suparlan counts the many overseas designers
manufacturing in Indonesia as proof that local manufacturing is
good enough for export.

But before designers invest in manufacturing, they should
concentrate on producing goods with long-term commercial value.
"In fashion, if the goods do not move in three months, it won't
move. Fashion is fickle. Unlike land, its value does not
appreciate with time," said Wiria.

Wiria suggests that Indonesian designers follow the examples
of other Southeast Asian countries and establish a twice-yearly
trade show. Designers produces design samples for the shows, and
the industry then places its orders.

Yet a revised marketing strategy still requires increased
commitment from the designers to a greater role in the industry.
"Whether the orders are completed is the designers' own
responsibility," said Wiria.