Kanaya Tabitha: Learning to control the emotions

Syahmedi Dean, Contributor, Jakarta

Two new elements have shown up in designer Kanaya Tabitha's latest offerings: the heyday of Hollywood and the modern aspect of today's women.

A model clad in a red evening dress moved along the catwalk, demonstrating great elegance, simplicity, modernity and feminimity. Perfectly wrapping the body and flowing past the ankles, the dress was focused on the shoulder line.

The shoulder line, patterned on the basic shape of model Sabrina's neck, was split asymmetrically from the right part of the waist to the left side of the shoulder with floral sequins at the waist as ornamentation. The presence of ornamentation in such an unusual place only served to increase the dress's attractiveness.

This design seemed to be a combination of two periods: on the one hand it gave the impression of modernity and succinctness while, on the other, it transported the onlooker back to the 1930s, an era when the style of the Hollywood stars and Grecian- style dresses prevailed in the world of fashion.

This evening dress was one of a number of dresses, all of which were equally attractive and elegant.

A tosca green gown with a clean cut silhouette looked quite simple but a big slit that opened from the beginning of the neck down to the waist line produced a dramatic effect with the waist line also being provided with five decorative elements placed in horizontal lines. Then there was another gown in pastel colors in the form of a drape unified at the abdomen, over which an ornament in the form of an orchid layered with beads was perched.

Through these designs, Kanaya Tabitha leads us to the conclusion that she has arrived at a new phase in her creative process. Usually explosive and quite emotional in her designs, Kanaya now appears to be trying hard to cool down. She has made sure that her ideas are no longer freely explosive. By contrast, she has managed to parcel out her emotions in a planned manner.

Kanaya, for example, is clearly trying to exercise self- restraint through her low and simple gowns, but has still managed to ensure a climax in the form of an explosion of detail through the placing of sequins at particular spots, such as at the shoulders, at the abdomen and even, mysteriously and surprisingly, on the right side of the waist. Fashion is like this. People are happy to see something mysterious and surprising; they enjoy playing a game. And now Kanaya has begun to lead in her own game.

"I prioritize beauty in my designs. I have seen down the years that it is beauty that ensures success in fashion," she said a few days before her fashion show, which was titled "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow". She also said that through all of these three periods, the elements of fashion were interconnected by the dream of beauty.

During the show, Kanaya featured 60 designs, a dozen of which were for men. From all of her designs, Kanaya was only really successful in conjuring up the image of "yesterday" and "today". The audience was not really given a glimpse of her "tomorrow". The closest they came to this was her rather futuristic men's designs.

The success of Kanaya's designs can be partly attributed to the support of PT South Pacific Viscose (SPV), which provides her with various special textiles, such as silk and twill. Her clothes contain Viscose, Tencel and Modal fibers. These fibers are the primary products of SPV and have also been used by international brands such as Mango, Zara, Girogio, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Donna Karan. Since it was established in 1982, SPV has produced a total of 1.5 million tons of fibers. To celebrate this achievement, SPV teamed up with Kanaya Tabitha.