Fashion franchises prey on Indonesian elite

Fashion franchises prey on Indonesian elite

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens could have been referring to Indonesia's fashion
industry. With countless boutique openings and fashion shows, it
has been an eventful year for style hounds, although it remains
unknown whether the surface glamour is bringing in the bucks for
retailers. This year, the fashion industry became big business,
but not necessarily for local designers.

One thing is for sure: In Jakarta, fashion has become an
obsession. A friend recently commented that there are more
fashion shows in Jakarta than in London. She's right. Some
capitals boast operas, Jakarta is proud of its catwalks.

After all, Jakarta is, so far, the only Asian home of that
shrine to supermodels, the Fashion Cafe. This brainchild of
model-cum-magnates Naomi Campbell, Elle MacPherson and Claudia
Schiffer first opened in New York City, and recently in London.
No doubt Jakarta's fashion set is reeling to be in such
celebrated company, perhaps while gorging on house specials
Catwalk Canneloni and Runway Rigatoni.

But if the Fashion Cafe opening is more showy than chic, it
symbolizes where the fashion industry is going: commercial.
Indonesian designers were once mostly couturiers attending to
ladies who lunch. This month, the Fashion Cafe unveiled the new
casualwear by batik maestro Iwan Tirta. Instead of gold-painted
silks, Tirta sent jeans and khakis down the catwalk. You no
longer have to wait for the Gap to come to Jakarta -- generic
basics are already here.

Two weeks before Tirta's show, European designers were under
the Fashion Cafe's spotlight. Luxury label distributors PT
Mahagaya Perdana staged its 1996 Fall show of collections by
Milan-based Prada, Hugo Boss, and Escada. Prada showed their
ubiquitous Mary Jane shoes, along with cashmere sweaters and
graphic-printed coats. That these winter wraps will sell like
hotcakes in this tropical climate indicates the designer labels'
hypnotic spell on Indonesia's nouveau riche.

Designer labels

A stroll through Plaza Indonesia or Plaza Senayan can confirm
the hypnosis. There are two Gucci boutiques in Jakarta -- that's
one more than in the whole of Germany. Funky New York designer
Todd Oldham opened his first boutique in Southeast Asia here, as
did couturier Oscar de la Renta. Paloma Picasso paid Jakarta a
visit and opened her eponymous boutique. The latest boutiques to
open were Calvin Klein's CK Collection and Donna Karan's DKNY,
both at Plaza Indonesia. Planning on going to Singapore for a
shop-a-thon? Why bother? Nearly all the labels shoppers sought
overseas are now sold here in the comfort of air-conditioned
malls.

But while local designers lament the dominance of
international-name boutiques, the influx of imports are also
widening choices for victimes de la mode, and injecting much-
needed creativity. In the spring, Issey Miyake's fashion show, in
celebration of the boutique opening at Plaza Senayan, stunned
audiences for its non-sensical approach to modern dressing.
Instead of being a gala dinner, the event was a casual affair
using unconventional models and choreography.

The Singapore-based Glamourette Group of Shops also opened a
flagship store in Plaza Senayan, bringing in the collections of
avant-garde Belgian designers Ann Deumelemeester, Dries Van Noten
and Dirk Bikkemberg. In asymmetrical shapes and vivid colors,
these clothes require an attitude money can't buy -- a refreshing
alternative to the staid gold-encrusted suits of the rich but
uninspired. Ingenuity is also on the shelves at new boutiques
Romeo Gigli, Paul Smith and Alberta Ferreti, at Plaza Indonesia.

To local designers, the arrival of these boutiques threaten
not only their livelihoods, but also their artistic integrity.
Local designers insist that they are "inspired" by European and
American collections, but industry insiders accept some local
collections as outright copies. Now that their "inspirations" are
available under the same roof, local designers are pressed to
forge their own creative path.

Some are striding confidently, others are stumbling. These new
challenges were confronted at Jakarta's first-ever Fashion Week,
held last month at the Jakarta Convention Center. Sixty-two
designers presented their collections during five days of non-
stop posing. Organizer and designer Poppy Dharsono explained the
venture as an attempt to get "a sounding from the market of what
we can offer them."

Prada tributes

The market is as yet undecided (the collections will not be
sold in stores until April), but some of what the designers
offered were difficult to witness, much less purchase. Here,
there, and everywhere, were tributes to Prada, Helmut Lang and
Gucci, currently fashion's biggest movers and shakers.

But there were lone wolves among the flock of sheep, at least
momentarily. The best collections came from designers either with
coherent, individual visions, or with a love of traditional
textiles. Biyan, Ronald Gaghana, Ina Rachma, Tuti Cholid, Hutama
Adhi, Ghea Panggabean, Sebastian Gunawan, Stephanus Hamy, Nanik
Rachmat, Ardianto Pranata -- the list of great designers isn't
endless, but it's substantial enough to give hope to local
retailers. Metro Department Store will showcase the collections
of the Indonesian Fashion Designers Council in April, as well as
allow space for some collections from the rival Indonesian
Fashion Designers Association.

This year, financial support also came from the textile
industry, particularly foreign textile producers. Both the
International Wool Secretariat and the French Linen Association
sponsored select local designers to present wool and linen
collections for two grand shows. While success for "cool wool"
may need a few more years of campaigning, the progress in
producing batik wool may expand market potential for local batik
designers.

In contrast, linen producers are trying to convince consumers
that porous linen is perfect for tropical weather. High prices,
however, may prevent buyers from sporting those chic linen
wrinkles.

But what about the clothes? For what are the hip opening their
Louis Vuitton wallets? Well, that depends on the good sense of
the clothes-horses in question.

For example, the military look has carried over from the
Spring collections to the Fall shows. That means more epaulets,
camouflage, and all shades of browns and greens. Dark earth
colors are fine for pale folk on a chilly stroll through leafy
parks, but tend to make the olive-skinned resemble Kermit the
Frog. Besides, anyone who has been in an Army-and-Navy store
should feel ashamed to spend millions of rupiah on a parka rip-
off.

Geek chic is still going strong, but with modified
inspirations. Designers argue about exactly what these
"inspirations" are, but a visit to either your mother's closet or
a second-hand store will clarify the confusion. It's a wonder
that designers can still find trends to copy from the Seventies
-- perhaps the Seventies revival will actually last longer than
the Nineties itself. For now, it's that era's polyester pants,
graphic prints, wrap-dresses and long cardigans that are hot on
the catwalks.

But while retro remains sacred to fashionphiles, modern is
also a popular buzzword. Make that modern minimalism. This is the
year Calvin Klein, who has been doing simple chic for a decade,
followed the cue of current minimalist guru Helmut Lang. Lang's
T-shirts and straight-legged pants, in basic colors like black
and white, may look undesigned, but he is spearheading the
movement towards slim, and slimmer, silhouettes. In fact, his
skinny armholes and merciless lean shapes have drawn criticism
for championing a look that only models, like those at Jakarta's
Fashion Cafe, can wear.