Fashion and interior design reflect one's lifestyle

Fashion and interior design reflect one's lifestyle

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Do you remember the Von Trapp' children roaming around Saltzburg
dressed in nothing but some old drapes in The Sound of Music?

In the much-loved film, drapes were used to make simple play
clothes for the children to replace their "formal" jackets.
However, in the hands of the world's leading designers like John
Galliano at Christian Dior, Lars Nilsson at Bill Blass and Oscar
de la Renta for Pierre Balmain, upholstery fabrics, such as a 18-
century French toile de jouy and scalamandre, have been
transformed into glamorous, elegant gowns.

But, there is more to fashion and interior design than just
fabrics. Of course deep understanding of various materials is
imperative but both fields involve a lot of creativity to come up
with creations that are not only functional but at the same time
reflect aesthetic excellence.

Both fashion and interior designers forecast lifestyles and
set trends, in terms of shapes, prints, colors and fabrics.

"It's about the innovative interpretation of lifestyles and
trends," said ethnic fashion designer Ghea Panggabean on the
sidelines of a fashion show, marking the 25th anniversary of
Elite Grahacipta interior design showroom in Jl. Kyai Maja, South
Jakarta.

And just like fashion, interior design and its elements are
all works of art, said L. Shinta from Elite. But, she added that
interior design has not been given the appreciation it deserves
in Indonesia.

Ghea and five other noted fashion designers: Sebastian
Gunawan, Eddy Betty, Adrian Gan, Didi Budihardjo and Kanaya
Tabitha were invited to showcase their elegant and luxurious
creations, reflecting a style that complimented modern Asian
interior design by American interior designer Thomas Elliot,
dubbed the Richness of Monotones and the glamorous designs of
Indonesian interior designer Jaya Ibrahim, titled A Journey from
Earthly Asia to Exotic Europe.

Design and quality are important as they are priceless and
timeless values.

Ghea said interior designs are often embellished with
priceless antiques or other beautiful ethnic elements and a
similar thing also happens in fashion, where ethnic elements are
adapted to fit modern fashion designs.

"Like antique items, ethnic elements have their own strength
and I'm glad that the ethnic theme was visible in both fields,"
said the designer whose kimono-inspired designs were displayed
during the show.

Ghea focused on natural tones derived from leaves, earthy hues
like terra-cotta, brown and orange or from precious gems like
turquoise.

Although there are no standards for which interior fabrics can
or cannot be used in fashion (and vice versa), at least it meets
certain descriptions.

"High quality interior fabrics that are soft with beautiful
prints and textures can be used in fashion designs," said Adrian.

Adrian himself also used tassels in one of his nightgowns to
create a cloud effect to fit Chinese-influenced theme Naga di
Atas Awan (Dragon in the Clouds).

Like other famous designers' works, Didi Budihardjo's feminine
creations also accentuated the elegant and luxurious lifestyle
with the use of flowing materials.

"Next year women want to indulge themselves even more than
this year," he said.

The use of different cultural elements in the forms of prints,
fabrics, colors and shapes in fashion and interior designs also
expressed public openness toward designs and awareness of what
they really want.

"As long as these elements are blended wisely, each item can
support the other and so create a harmonious balance," said
another fashion designer Sebastian Gunawan, whose 2002/2003 theme
is Eclectic Emotion.

Although interior trends are not as fast changing as that of
fashion, designers in both sectors recognize the return of past
trends with "fresh" faces.

For next year's fashion trends, the designers agree that sexy
and feminine shapes will still be in with a lot of emphasis on
female curves through low cut neck and back and short skirts to
show off beautiful legs.

Favorite materials are flowing and elegant fabrics, like
brocade, lace, satin, chiffon. As for colors, bright colors and
black are dominant as they can be easily matched with other
colors.

Simplicity will reign and this year's excessive details will
slowly be forgotten.