Frivolous fashions dominate Femina competition

Text and photos by Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): "Fashion is either good taste, bad taste, or no taste," said Singaporean designer Thomas Wee at the 1995 Lomba Perancang Mode, or Fashion Designer Competition. Wee was talking about fashion in general, but he could have easily been describing the competition itself.

Economic booms are often reflected in outlandish fashion. In the U.S., the prosperity of the 1950s popularized suffocating corsets and hoola-hoop skirts. Perhaps it's a reflection of Indonesia's confidence in its economy that designers here are leaning towards the whimsical and excessive. Good taste, bad taste, and no taste: they're all flourishing in this era of affluence.

For 17 years, the Femina Group has sponsored aspiring young designers. Director of the Femina Group Pia Alisjahbana said that, despite the existence of other competitions, the Lomba Perancang Mode maintains a first-rate reputation, having discovered successful designers Carmanita, Itang Yunasz and Samuel Wattimena. The first-prize winner wins Rp 7.5 million (US$3,282) and a trip to Paris. More beneficial to prize-winners is invaluable access to the Femina Group's fashion magazines Femina, Gadis, and Dewi.

Access comes with affluence, however, and contest participation is determined by a designer's disposable income. A third-place prize of Rp 2 million ($875), for example, barely covers the costs of a collection, which can skyrocket up to Rp 10 million ($4,376). There are no official means of financial support other than from one's own pocket, so the most successful young designers are often the most wealthy.

Drama queens

The well-to-do again pervades in this year's extravagant collections. This year's drama queens come in two age-groups: teenage and time-worn. Twenty-five year-old Surabayan Putra Lingga provided designs for both camps, and won both first prize and favorite-designer award from the audience. His collection, an amalgamation of conservative silhouettes with vibrant colors, was audacious without being frivolous. This is not Lingga's first accolade, having won the special prize in last year's contest. His participation this year was motivated by what he learnt the previous year. "Last year, I was too afraid to experiment and only used one type of textile. But I learned from Emir Keitta (last year's winner) that you can combine colors, textiles, and patterns," said Lingga.

Lingga's collection was superb. Singaporean guest, jury of one, Thomas Wee commented that Lingga won because, "He's got an international appeal. Just look at how he develops the ideas with the textiles." Wee elaborated that a cosmopolitan outlook is essential to a designer's success. "From his work to his personality to his attitude, a designer must have this international appeal," said Wee.

Second-place winner Ferry Sunarto lacks this cosmopolitan appeal. Sunarto's show opened with a long-legged model in pink silk bloomers and matching bonnet pushing a baby carriage. Toddlers nurturing one another: is this what the fashion world is all about? What followed, an array of pastel-colored frilly evening wear plastered with kitsch flowery plastic panels, was more of the same silliness. Sunarto called his collection "Imagination of a Little Girl", and showed the reverse. They were not little girls pretending to be grown-ups, but adult women pretending to be infants, sucking on baby bottles. Can most women aspire to be nostalgic in babydoll dresses? Not when juggling a household and a career.

Kindergarten nostalgia is simply unflattering. It is embarrassing to watch grown women bare their wobbly knees. Contestants Gusnadi Imanudin and Arom Nugroho both had penchants for trendy hosiery. Gusnadi Imanudin's black knee-socks with his short checked kilts or poof-skirts will help you remain a receptionist throughout your career. Wearing the same outfit to a party will get you a date with either the pimply teen or the octogenarian with a Lolita fetish -- hardly the ambitions of the feminist movement.

Arom Nugroho takes kitsch to a higher level. His collection, called Girls in Towels, had models brushing their teeth onstage and wearing shower caps (their coiffed hair immaculately peeking out, of course). Poise seemed to be an afterthought, as gray terry cloth mixes poorly with silver nylon. Here's an ensemble: a wrap skirt with not enough material to cover silver panties, with matching bra, black socks and hair curlers. The fresh-from-the- shower nymphet on her way to a rave undoubtedly has an audience, among them men who like their women vapid and pre-pubescent. Perhaps the collection was aptly named: you should wear these clothes only in the bathroom.

Asmat culture

If kiddie-porn was one misfired idea, Asmat culture should have been another. Countless Indonesian designers are "inspired" by the Asmat, leaving observers to conclude that only two ethnic groups matter here, Javanese and Asmat. It is ironic that garment manufacturers are fascinated by a society who do not wear many clothes.

The Asmat designs this time, however, were intelligent and won the third-prize for Jakartan Julita Oetojo. Oetojo paired earth- colored knits with rich organza and gold satin. Asmat inspiration was mostly in the textured textiles (including grass skirts) rather than motifs. Irwan Fritz' Asmat Modis collection was less astute, sending out cream and ivory satin ensembles with embroidered Asmat patterns. Despite the straw bags hanging from the models' foreheads, Asmat-style -- with nothing in the bags, of course, un-Asmat-style -- it was difficult to see what was so Asmat about the clothes.

Adi Boreel's collection, entitled Yin & Yang, remarkably combined vinyl, suede and satin. He took the black-and-white symbol to new territory, presenting bold graphic clothes suitable for a gallery wall. Conceptually, Boreel's ensembles fit the times: fanciful and peripheral. Perhaps it was too conceptual. In a fancy-free era, too much thought in design is redundant.