Futuristic fashion designer takes audience to heaven

Futuristic fashion designer takes audience to heaven

By Asniar Sahab

JAKARTA (JP): Fashion designer Didi Budiharjo has seen much of
the world but found his own country the best. The rich local
culture is now the major source of the inspiration that has
resulted in his spreading fame.

At the beginning of his career, the futuristic style became
his trademark. It was this style that persuaded fashion editors
from various publications to present him with the APAREL award,
the most prestigious award in Indonesia's fashion world, in 1990,
just two years after he became a professional fashion designer.

Since then Didi, born 30 years ago in Malang, East Java, has
become a fashion designer to be reckoned with. For nearly six
years he was consistent with the futuristic lines he had opted
for. During this period his work was highly specific and was
exclusively intended for a limited circle. In fact, Didi
purposely aimed his designs at fashion conscience rich ladies.

However, in mid-1995 he began to be interested in Indonesian
culture and his designs bear witness to this shift in emphasis.
There was less influence from foreign fashion designers as he
began to orient his work to Indonesian culture, particularly the
culture of Java. The Javanese culture stirred his imagination
enormously. The death of his senior, Prajudi, a few years ago
made him all the more obsessed with drawing on Indonesian culture
for his inspiration.

Didi began to study Javanese culture in greater detail so as
to ensure that his fixation would be properly channeled.

"I was lucky enough to be brought up in an environment heavily
imbued with Javanese traditions. I began to learn these
traditions when I was still in elementary school. Besides, I am
used to writing literary pieces in Javanese. The Javanese
philosophy greatly appeals to me because of its uniqueness and
broad scope. Now I am able to distinguish bridalwear from
Yogyakarta, Sunda, Surakarta, Madura and elsewhere.

"When Mas Yudi (the late Prajudi) died, I became very restive
and obsessed with furthering his aspirations through my own style
and concepts. So, in early 1996 I began to grasp something as
part of the search for identity in my work," he said.

In his 1996 solo show, Didi introduced a beautiful bustier
style. He proved himself to be capable of combining a charming
kebaya line with perfectionist workmanship. Eventually, he
inspired the introduction of a touch of bustier to Indonesian
fashion so that a kebaya in a bustier line pattern became the
prevailing trend at that time.

Didi studied fashion design with Susan Budihardjo and then
went to France in 1999 to further his studies at the Atelier
Fleuri Delaporte in Paris. As a fashion designer, he visits the
world's fashion centers almost every year to enrich his
knowledge. He can therefore deftly combine the occidental and
oriental elements in his designs in a highly transparent, refined
and beautiful way. His solo show held in late September at the
Grand Hyatt, Jakarta testified to this ability.

Under the theme of Widyadhari, meaning, in Didi's words, a
lady descending from heaven, this show had different nuances
compared to his previous shows. He prepared the show meticulously
and the ballroom where the show was held was transformed into a
beautiful venue with a Balinese-style entrance portal. Before
entering the room, the guests had to pass along a corridor
illuminated only by sidelights. As they approached the white
curtain separating the corridor and the room for the show, they
became aware of a different atmosphere. The room with all-white
curtains and a white stage had a door decorated with floral
arrangements as the backdrop. The show began with the
illustration of clouds from a projector. Amidst the clouds,
beautiful ladies emerged from behind the flower-decorated door as
if they were descending from heaven.

"I would like to take the guests to the world of my
imagination. Outside there are quite a lot of problems ... I hope
the guests can feel my dreams and rid themselves of their daily
routines for a brief moment," Didi said.

Didi on this occasion chose Bali as his inspiration. To him,
Bali, different from other regions, has a very mystical quality,
particularly the traits and characteristics of the Balinese
people. He sees them as having an international character but at
the same time clinging to their own culture.

However, the 84 designs in his latest collection show that
Didi has tapped only the essence of Balinese inspiration for his
designs. He has never allowed himself to take this inspiration
without selection. At this juncture, for example, he has
developed a breast cloth pattern using a winding technique in the
outer part of the gown, or what is known as a breast cloth in the
style of a women's waist sash or stagen. The asymmetrical lines
in the stoles worn by Balinese women have been transformed into
modern cuts. The colors of Klungkung's songket cloth, which is
embroidered with bits of gold or silver thread, have been made
brighter. The show also demonstrated the power and remarkable
character of Didi's lines as from the beginning to the end of the
show, he expressed the beauty of woman's body through a blend of
shantung materials lined with silken organdy, laces, fur, cotton
and satin.