Endro turns garbage into fashion objects

Endro turns garbage into fashion objects

By Singgir Kartana

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Many people believe that creativity is key to
building a business because of the need for innovation in
answering needs of the market. In the hands of a creative person,
a seeming piece of garbage can have a use and a simple object can
be made attractive.

Endro Suwarno, 35, a native of Yogyakarta, does not only spout
the above principle, but also shows its truth. By using seemingly
worthless objects, he has managed to develop a unique souvenir
handicrafts business. His products are sold locally and
internationally.

Endro's raw materials are gathered from chicken feathers,
rabbit fur, bird feathers, wood chips, aluminum pipes, pieces of
leather and poultry bones. Nearly all is material usually
considered garbage.

But the materials are put together to form useful and
attractive objects. Endro produces no fewer than 10 products --
bags of various models and sizes, key holders, hairpins,
accessories like mini dolls, Indian masks, necklaces, bells,
window decorations and miniature wayang (puppets).

Endro attaches small pieces of leather with glue or by
stitching them together to form sheets. Following a design
according to the form and measurements desired, he paints various
pictures and decorates them with beads and chicken feathers. He
then shapes the bag according to the design. At a glance, people
would probably not believe that the objects are made from waste
materials and scraps of leather.

Miniature dolls are made of wood and rabbit fur. Pieces of
wood are sculpted, paint is applied and details drawn upon the
figure. The dolls, with a height of between 15 cms and 20 cms,
are wrapped in rabbit fur.

Chicken feathers, bird feathers, pieces of leather, beads,
bone chips, aluminum pipes and pieces of wood are used for the
manufacture of key holders, Indian masks, necklaces and bells.
The raw material is combined with thread or glue to create
various shapes and motifs. All the work is done manually.

Prices vary, with the cheapest being a key holder made of
leather and rabbit fur for Rp 1,500. The most expensive is the
Indian mask, about 30 cms in diameter, at Rp 500,000 each.

Endro started his business in 1991. The simple reason was that
the raw material was easy to obtain and there was little
competition in the handicraft business. His original aspiration
was to become a handicraftsman or a businessman but a painter. He
still paints and as a child he liked Indian comic books.

"Why did I enter the handicraft business? Because I was
conscious that if I depended solely on painting or being an
artist for a living, I would neglect my family. I would not be
able to earn enough. At the time, I already had responsibilities
to my family. It is my principle to provide for them. Later I
could follow the voice of my heart," he told The Jakarta Post at
his production center in Sumberan village, Ngestiharjo, Kasihan,
Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Endro says it is not difficult to obtain the raw materials,
nearly all of which is available not far from his house. The
prices are reasonable, too. He obtains chicken feathers from the
many chicken slaughterhouses in Yogyakarta. They cost Rp 10 per
kilogram. Rabbit fur is found at rabbit sate stalls.

"If it is difficult to obtain them here, I order them from
Sidoarjo or Magetan in East Java," he said.

Endro's business turnover is sizable at no less than Rp 60
million a month. His products are sold in Jakarta, Bandung,
Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali and Lombok. They also are exported to
the U.S., Germany, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Australia, Switzerland, Myanmar and Brazil.

Endro rents three neighboring houses as workplaces. He has
hired workers, most of them from the villages around Bantul. Now
he employs no less than 150 people, many of them women with
families. Some of his workers are married couples.

Workers earn between Rp 4,000 and Rp 15,000 daily depending on
their productivity.

For all Endro's success in shaping beauty from garbage and its
prospects for further development, there is no denying that his
business is not sufficiently supported by strong management, both
in quality improvement and in marketing.

His product designs have remained stagnant over the years. His
marketing relies on direct information spread by word of mouth.
Endro has no venue to show his products and he lacks brochures or
other marketing tools. The location of his business is not
strategic because it is set back from the main road.

Despite the weaknesses, Endro's handicraft business has
brought considerable benefits to local inhabitants. Endro's
family shares these gains with many other people from the
surrounding villages.

"I am grateful that I can work here in order to provide for my
family. Even in this time of economic crisis we can still earn
well," said Temu, 40, whose wife also is in Endro's employment.

Temu and other workers have much reason to be grateful. The
Bantul regional administration also should be grateful because
the handicraft center is doing its part to help lower the ranks
of the unemployed.