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.