Ghea Boutique, House of Prayudi keep ethnic flavor hot

Ghea Boutique, House of Prayudi keep ethnic flavor hot

Text by Agni Amorita, photos by Mulkan Salmona

JAKARTA (JP): How do you reconcile tradition in these modern
times of the 21st century?

Local designers Ghea Panggabean of Ghea Boutique and Arie
Seputra from House of Prayudi have their own solutions. Their
latest collections, presented in an afternoon tea fashion show at
Cascade Lounge of the Mulia Hotel last Friday, showed clearly how
both designers can combine contemporary designs with the treasury
of Asian traditional artwork.

Ghea, for example, borrowed from the golden days of India's
Raj. She took dark blue denim as her medium to express the ethnic
romantic theme, combining it with chiffon stretch illustrated
with the image of the Hindu god Ganesha in various pastels. To
add a "hippie" impression, Ghea put light tassels as details on
the denim. She also introduced Y-shaped-neck loose shirt with
flower embroidery around the seamed neckline.

The Indian impression was emboldened by the coin-shaped
mirrors which were embroidered in the cloth and accessories like
handbags. Ghea, who also presented pagoda sleeves, has
concentrated in her latest collections on embroidery and bead
attachments. Her works are categorized as handmade crafts, with a
commensurate price tag reaching up to Rp 1.7 million per dress.

The House of Prayudi offered the genuine Indonesian touch of
batik as its main theme. Cleverly wrapped in a sarong-shaped
miniskirt, the batik stole the show through the special treatment
given by the designer. The skirt was covered with transparent
long-sleeve tunic illustrated with famous Tasikmalayan white
embroidery. In very soft colors like broken white, pastel green,
beige and pink , The House of Prayudi also created three-piece
dress in a casual style, taken from Jackie O's sleeveless shirt
and hats to pinafore-inspired dresses.

Ghea and the late Prayudi were long considered Indonesia's top
talent in exposing ethnic art as main them of their fashion
collections. At 43, Ghea, or Giskaeni Sukarya Panggabean, has
chalked up another achievement by maintaining her ASEAN markets.
In Singapore her collection is represented by government-owned MJ
Joaquim Boutiques in Liat Towers and The Millenia Walk, while in
Malaysia, Ghea has cooperated with The Aseana Boutique on the
first floor of Surya KLCC.

Ghea was not at the show because she was on her way to Kuala
Lumpur to prepare her next collections for the Aseana Boutique,
which asked for more of her sarongs and kebaya dresses. Aseana is
considered the place for ASEAN's leading designers to represent
their works for the Malaysian market.

The House of Prayudi is strict in continuing the late
designer's choice of batik as its fashion identity. Prayudi's
successor, Arie Seputra, 38, has no difficulty in following his
mentor in adopting batik as their lone fashion language. He has a
lot to work with because batik, with its own distinct
characteristics, is found in more than 17 of the country's 26
provinces.

Arie sometimes combines the batik with other elements, like
West Java's famous embroidery in his latest collection. Items in
the collection sell for prices ranging from Rp 500,000 to Rp 3
million per piece. The House of Prayudi is still strong after the
death of Prayudi Atmodirdjo, who battled pancreatic cancer until
his last day in 1995. Now run by Prayudi's sister-in-law, Lily
Atmodirdjo, The House of Prayudi also provides household products
including antique Javanese furniture.