JP/18/FASHIO

JP/18/FASHIO

Bali Fashion Week to draw foreign designers, buyers

The Jakarta Post
Kuta, Bali

Bali will again hold the annual fashion and trade festival, Bali
Fashion Week for the sixth consecutive year at the Discovery
Hotel, Kuta, from June 6 through June 8.

Bali Fashion Week, initiated by Bali and Hong Kong based
designer Mardiana Ika, has since 1998 become one, if not the
only, fashion forum in Indonesia that has brought together
designers, producers and buyers of fashion, leather wear, and
accessories in an integrated trade venue.

This year's event will present no less than 30 prominent
Indonesian and foreign designers such as Peter Lau and Cecilia
Yau from Hong Kong, Tatiana from Russia, Tube from Thailand,
Melinda Looi and Tom Abang Saufi from Malaysia and other
designers from India and the Philippines.

The event will also present trade booths of local and
international fashion, footwear, leather wear, garment and
textile producers.

"I really expect this year's event to draw a lot more foreign
buyers, " Ika told The Jakarta Post.

As the international fashion industry has grown to be a large-
scale and complex industry, Indonesian fashion designers and
producers have to keep up with the rapid changes in the industry
and global fashion trends.

"Indonesian designers and garment producers tend to be
oriented toward the individual rather than market-oriented. The
current paradigm must be immediately shifted if we want to play a
bigger role on a global scale," added Ika whose Hong-Kong based
Buttoni Label has started to show up in the international fashion
scene.

Most fashion shows organized in Indonesia are targeted at
individual clients.

"We have a lot of talented designers whose products meet the
taste of wealthy clients in various overseas countries," she
said. Yet, if we talk about the fashion industry, it will deal
with large-scale orders, professional management and
international trade laws. "In this field, Indonesian designers
and producers are still far behind our neighbors," Ika
acknowledged.

The four-day fashion event will also feature a series of
cultural events, the largest Batik painting, DJ competitions and
traditional Balinese art performances.

As the Bali Fashion Week is mainly aimed at bridging the wide
gap between buyers, designers and producers, there will be a
special trade session as well as seminars and discussions on the
latest trends in textiles and the fashion industry.

A gap also exists between the private and government sector.
So far, support from the government has only come from the
National Export Development Agency (BPEN) which provides a meager
amount of funding.

It is unfortunate that this event is not used as a promotional
tool for the Indonesian fashion and textile industry as well as
tourism purposes.

The Indonesian textile industry, once a major non-oil export
earner, has been facing a gloomy period with the change in the
international trade scene in line with the World Trade
Organization. Indonesia also faces the enforcement of quota
systems on its textile exports imposed by a number of Western
countries.

In tourism, Bali Fashion Week could be included in the
national agenda to attract fashion-conscious visitors to Bali and
other parts of Indonesia.

"So far, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has given the nod
to our activities. Nothing more," Ika said.