Indonesia to host Asia fashion contest
Indonesia to host Asia fashion contest
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian fashion is at last targeting the international market earnestly. In celebration of Indonesia's 50th independence anniversary, the Indonesian Fashion Designers' Association (AAPMI) will hold its first Asia Fashion Design Competition from August 8 - 11.
The competition, expected to involve designers from 11 countries, including India, Vietnam, and Japan, is the most ambitious and far-reaching event the local fashion industry has attempted. International or Asia-wide fashion design competitions are usually held only in Japan, Singapore, or Hong Kong.
"We don't want to just participate in other people's competitions", said AAPMI director Poppy Dharsono, "We want to establish our own international stage".
The competition, which will be held at the Sahid Jaya Hotel, will be judged by an international team of design experts, including fashion editors Jenny Capitain from France's Vogue and Yumiko Hara from Japan's Mainichi Simbun.
The first winner will receive US$15,000, while second and third winners will receive $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
Inspired by the perseverance of traditional handicrafts, AAPMI has declared The Beauty of Asia Heritage as its theme. All designs must utilize local handicrafts and textile arts.
Dharsono declares the promotion of local handicrafts a necessity, because "we have so many craftspeople, and we must help them flourish".
Showcasing handicrafts on an international stage will also add to their prestige, she said. "AAPMI wants to transform handicrafts into a value-added product."
Indonesia will present the works of four aspiring designers who will be selected from a nationwide competition, to be held on July 14 at Jakarta's Grand Metro Equatorial Hotel.
The competition is open to designers under 30 years old and who do not have their own label.
Foreign entries are selected from the winner of similar national competitions.
The Asia Fashion Design Competition 1995 also celebrates the birth of the Indonesian Design Center. Widagdo, a professor of Bandung's Institute of Technology explained that the center, the function of which includes inventorying, promotion and consultation, is "still at the embryonal stage".
Yet its arrival has been long awaited.
"Even the Philippines had a national design center 20 years ago," Widagdo said. In Southeast Asia, only Brunei does not have a design center.
"Indonesia has a lot of catching up to do," commented Sidik Prawira, Director General of Small Businesses and Co-operatives at the Department of Industry. Prawira adds that such an institution will foster better design, and this will "improve the technology of small businesses, and hence improve efficiency." (Dini Djalal)