Dress up and enter the Year of the Dragon
By Agni Amorita
JAKARTA (JP): The dragon is not always scary despite its sharp claws and fire breath. It can also be flirtatious and an inspiration for three Jakartan designers.
Thomas Sigar, Raizal Rais and newcomer Adhi Boreel welcomed the Year of the Golden Dragon with their newest fashion collections, which were presented at a Chinese New Year party in Cafe Kencana, Jakarta, last Friday.
Thomas, whose designs have been absent from local catwalks for more than five years, said: "I have been busy with my new art gallery," when he opened the show with his kebaya encim collection.
These tradition-inspired long sleeve blouses were paired with lokan and button-and-zipper-free Betawi batik long skirts. In pastels ranging from green to velvet, Thomas' kebaya are like traditional twinsets when coupled with his spaghetti-strap tops. Thomas embellished each of his soft embroidery shirts with two big braided buttons.
Adhi, who hails from Bogor, West Java, went further. He used the color of the golden dragon as his main color.
"Although people still proudly wear 'millennium colors' like silver, I think it is about time to go back to gold, because gold is a classic color that is appropriate to wear any year," he claimed.
Adhi fashioned all of his creations on pants-inspired long dresses.
"I believe that China is home to the inventors of trousers," he explained. "In China, trousers have been widely accepted as traditional clothing for both men and women," he added.
Under Adhi's hand, the dragon was metamorphosed into past and present elements. The past was reflected in his strict traditional lines, such as the mandarin collar, wrap-over necklines and dragon scales embroidered into the newest trends to hit town.
"For example, two outfits are maxi dresses because I needed the space to show the fancy socks worn with the outfits," he said.
Adhi says girls in China nowadays are fascinated with socks.
"This winter, socks in China are not just foot warmers but are the newest fashion trend," he said.
For the Indonesian tropical market, Adhi paired his outfits with light and delicate socks as accessories to be worn with stilettos. "Funky, isn't it?" he exclaimed.
Funky too were Raizal's collections. Selling for about Rp 500,000 a piece, he presented his newest all-red, viscose long dresses with lace on the sleeves and at necklines.
Buyung, as Raizal is better known, adorned his gowns with gold sequins and used the patterned holes in the lace as sexy accentuations. The slit in his cheongsam-inspired long dresses went as high as the upper thigh.
"For those who don't have the courage to wear it, I can offer pairing red trousers to be worn inside the dress," Buyung, a teen designer known for his provocative collections, explained after some male viewers whistled at the show of thigh on the catwalk.
Viewed by more than 100 guests, the fashion show also introduced "golden dragon makeup".
According to famous beautician Yonky Pitoy, it is a bold makeup line. "You can pick hard red as your lipstick for morning or afternoon," said Yonky while drawing an illustration in which he accentuated the eyes.
"You can put golden eye shadow on the upper part of the eyelid and choose a dark color for the lower part," he said. "While the perfect choice for the hairdo is flat without a bouffant at all."
The golden dragon can also be appreciated in toning the hair a light blond, replacing the red tone mania that has swept town for the last two years.