Fashion students skirt the boundaries of creativity
Fashion students skirt the boundaries of creativity
Text by Stevie Emilia, photos by Arief Suhardiman
JAKARTA (JP): Picture a model trying her hardest to walk
elegantly despite the VW car tires coiled stylishly in her neat
hair, hanging off her ears and enclasping her hands and ankles,
as her domed red skirt bears two flashing headlights and a car's
license plate number.
It may be fit for the road, but is it wearable? Yes, according
to the jury of the Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de
Mode, which chose the finalists for the Paris grand final this
December.
VW Trend Car by Lie Lie Muljadi was one of 10 designs picked
from 39 contestants in the semifinal competition -- centered on
the theme of traveling -- held at Le Meridien Hotel on Nov. 14.
Sri Yulyanti's Bag offers a futuristic design of a luminous
white gown, with black bags wrapped around the model's neck and
waist, and matching sunglasses and Chinese-style cap.
Sun Glasses by Natalina Deviani stunned the audience with its
slender transparent slip, which left little to the imagination,
and by the accentuating black sunglasses as bodice, necklace and
shoe accessories.
Maria Brigitta Linania served up the exotic with her creation,
A Typical Wood Forest, featuring an orange miniskirt wrapped by
brown tassels -- alluding to the forest's tangled roots -- and a
matching top with "roots" as necklace.
Macu Monika's Sweet Ornament was so bizarre it made one wonder
whether inspiration came from the story of the prince and the
pauper, instead of the latest fashion trends.
The title of Sri Mulyani's design, Beautiful Left Over, was
not reflected in the creation, which was made out of coiled
strands of film adorning both the pants and the model's hair. Not
surprisingly, it gave her a striking resemblance to wild-haired
Dutch soccer player Ruud Gullit.
Other creations included Blue Ethnic by David Harsepuny, a
feminine translation of traveling into a miniskirt matched with
gloves, necklaces and cap inspired by a hedgehog.
The design which blended the contest's theme with a touch of
local ethnic designs, Wild Wild East by Mery Kantono, borrows
from Kalimantan's leather crafts in a tricolored dress in red,
black and yellow.
Supriantho Djawana's The Rucksack Jacket, the Dayak Basket,
also inspired by the native people of Kalimantan, had a dark
brown miniskirt with leather top and jacket, accompanied by
matching backpack.
A beautiful creation of Shinta Suryani Dwihartianti, Butterfly
from Java, was of a columnar blue dress combined with a
transparent scarf, Javanese mask and butterfly attached serenely
at the waist.
These were the winners, and unlike the previous five
competitions, this year's jury did not give the nod to ethnic-
themed entries, even though there were plenty to choose from on
the runway.
Left out was Indonesia in Miniature by Sulistya Ningtyas,
scaled-down representations on the skirt of national landmarks --
the National Monument (Monas), Istiqlal Grand Mosque and
Borobudur Temple among them -- and Am Darmadi's Borobudur,
featuring a ballgown with the temple's structure.
Head of the 14-member jury, Pia Alisjahbana, said the ethnic
agenda had not been paramount in the selection consideration.
"This contest prioritizes the students' creativity in
designing their works," Pia, director of the Femina publishing
group, told The Jakarta Post.
Other designs which fit the requirements on the traveling
theme and wearability were also shut out, including Sky in the
Mountain by Rodua Yulianti, and Bird Fly Around the World by
Santoso.
Several designs were so outlandish that it was a stretch to
imagine how they conformed to the contest's criteria.
This was true of Amin Fahriyah's The Art of Sparepart of Car,
which resembled VW Trend Car, except for the headlights glaring
from the waistband of the tire-shaped skirt.
Windrini Angkasawati's cryptically named The Jungle of Bottons
would make the wearer look like she was auditioning for Jane in
the Tarzan tale, and it would require formidable self-confidence
to go out in public in The Tailor Rubbish by Yuliandri Eka Putra
and Andri Wang.
In their zeal for creativity, which ran to elaborate
collections of accessories, perhaps the concept of traveling
light never crossed the designers' minds.
Like the VW Trend Car design, most of the winners flouted the
boundaries of definitions of wearability.
"The (VW Trend Car) design is not so complicated as it appears
on stage. I believe it will attract the Paris audience," Pia
said.
Designers were required to make the creations without
assistance.
"It would be embarrassing if the finalists won in Paris but
didn't know how to make it own their own," Pia said.
Five other finalists won the Concours International de Monnaie
de Paris des Jeunes Createurs de Bijoux for their accessories.
Selected were Primitive Elegance by Aaron Nugroho Rusli,
Circle by Lucky Wijayanti, Satu Rasa by F. Puspitasari, Pesona
Asmat by Catur Bina Prasetyo and Interchange by M. Billiton.
The winners may have gained prestige, but money is another
matter. Each of the 10 finalists received Rp 1 million, but they
will have to pay to enter the Paris competition, not to mention
the airfare and accommodation expenses.
But then nobody said that making it big in Indonesian fashion
would be easy, even though the grim facts would probably scare
away poor but talented designers.