Fashion school's students show creative force

Emiria Wijayanti, Contributor, Jakarta

Oriental themes, young, playful attire and a striking '60s comeback were the flavors of the night when ESMOD Jakarta presented its 8th annual Fashion Festival last week.

This year's show -- taking When Invisible Gets Visible as its theme and held in the classy ballroom of The Regent hotel in South Jakarta -- presented the work of students graduating from its one year certificate program and three-year international diploma program.

The graduates of the French franchised international fashion school, set up in 1996 under the patronage of the Indonesian Design Development Foundation to provide professional education in fashion design, broke new ground this year by introducing menswear, children's wear and lingerie collections.

First to strut their stuff on the catwalk were models decked out in the creations of ESMOD Jakarta's graduates from the one- year program. With themes like Oriental Grunge by Christine F. Tambunan, Japanese Simplicity by Linda Nadia P. Salam and Geisha Reconstruction by Roy Mulyanto, the oriental trend was obviously top of mind for the students.

Among the 19 collections, the theme emerged in the form of a blue kimono, Kabuki style make-up, Shanghai collars and the ever- prominent oriental flower.

Another prominent feature was the distinctly youthful style. Riyam Putri Dayani with her Street Turns Sport design seemed inspired by the streets of New York, with playful creations featuring rolled up shorts and the trucker baseball hat -- a prominent fad among today's youngsters.

An undying fashion mainstay that found it way to the catwalk were jeans -- embroidered, fringed and cut asymmetrically.

Also interesting was the predomination of female students in the night's shows, with only two men represented. An emerging crop of young, talented female designers may change the gender gap in Indonesian fashion, traditionally dominated by men.

The night's winners among the certificate students were Rika Riskawati, who won the special jury award with her Art of Beatles designs -- a winning combination of a black and white checkered suit with puffy sleeves, dark jeans, metallic belt and pink corsage pinned on the suit.

Tiara Surti won the best pattern maker award with her The Face of Spain designs. The best fashion design prize went to Irawati with her The Austerity World, bearing a slightly futuristic theme with the use of shimmer fabric with matching silver metallic headband.

In between the fashion shows of the one and third year students, clowns on stilts and juggling jesters appeared on stage, wearing what seemed to be reconstructed plastic tops with a flower collar. The costumes were designed as part of a project by the one year students in collaboration with Harris Hotel of Paris.

Loud cheers marked the start of the shows by third year students. Felia Kurniawidi Ningrum's Urban Breakthrough displayed a second line with a strong street flavor. Decking out her models in jeans and Converse sneakers, she also had them modeling out plaid patterns and a backless hooded jacket.

Her first line displayed butterfly patches and asymmetrical cuts, and she received the Golden Needle Award.

Hip with Attitude by Sariparamita Kurniawati and Felicia Regina took the Fashion Business Special Award. They introduced a lingerie line that was true to its rebellious and sexy theme, highlighted by a bustier top and a see-through wrap skirt. Their first line, a mixture of street smart and hip-hop glam, featured ribbons on neatly cut suits, pleated skirts and high-heeled boots.

Roida Erika S. Sihotang's She's A Lady showcased women's wear as her first line design and children's wear as her second line, with clean cuts and classy designs that will appeal to both the working mom and her teddy bear-toting tot.

Lynda Sutardja's work on two separate designs paid off, as she was awarded the best patternmaker accolade for her Kawaii theme.

"Kawaii means cute in Japanese and the designer, Alnia Samantha, and myself as patternmaker, wanted to translate the show's theme of when invisible gets visible by mixing animation and the girlish Japanese look through our clothes designs," said Lynda after the show.

The Kawaii design transformed into a fun and playful look on the catwalk, featuring a crisp white jacket and sleek accessories.

Other winners included Monica Himawan, who went home with the special jury award for her Future Past Tense work and Yenny Mellisa Triswanto's Mirror Image that was chosen for the best fashion design accolade.

Not on show were the creations of 52 second year students, who worked together with Lee Cooper in designing costumes on the theme of Olympic Vintage Glam. The creations -- reconstructions of the denim company's old designs into new modern and glamorous pieces by the students -- also came down to a contest, with first prize going to Kiky Indah Lampah.

The school's president, Mayadewi Hartarto, was pleased by the showings on the night.

"I am very proud of the results and success of the children. Especially for the third year program, this is the first time we have displayed menswear and children's wear.. so it's a combination of previous years' work."

This year's show also signaled the expansion of ESMOD Jakarta into new territory by getting the designs out to the general public.

Apart from collaborative works with companies like Lee Cooper and projects with Harris Hotel, ESMOD Jakarta will soon produce ready-to-wear attire. Working together with Mal Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta, ESMOD will open its ready to wear store this August.