Karangbanjar has wigs for all

Karangbanjar has wigs for all

Agus Maryono and Amin A Abdurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Purbalingga, Central Java

Don't be surprised if someone tells you that the wigs that the country's celebrities are wearing may have been made in Karangbanjar, a small village some six kilometers northwest of the capital of Purbalingga in Central Java, and the center of handmade hair products.

Here, some 300 villagers, mostly housewives, are involved in a business that has been operating since the 1970s and produces a variety of hair products, including wigs in a variety of styles and sizes, hair buns of various types and sizes, both modern and traditional, cemara (long switches of hair twisted into chignons), eyelashes, and many others.

The prices vary, too, from Rp 15,000 for a hairpiece about the size as an adult's fist, to Rp 300,000 for an export-quality wig.

The market for the hair products is not just domestic but also international, although the main market is local. "At present, for example, we are trying to fill orders from Suriname, which was formerly occupied by the Dutch, and populated mostly by people of Javanese descent," Ngudiyono, 45, the owner of a home- based industry producing hair products in Karangbanjar, told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

The business, so far, according to Ngudiyono, is relatively good, although there are now some five Korean companies, employing some 5,000 workers, producing the same products in Purbalingga.

That is because they have different target markets.

Karangbanjar's products are mostly marketed in Indonesia, while those of the Korean companies are for export only.

"Our product range is also more varied, while the Korean companies mostly produce false eyelashes," Ngudiyono said, adding that the handmade hair products from Karangbanjar were also cheaper than those produced by the Korean companies.

Ngudiyono, who has been in the business since 1980, also said that his products, like those of other producers in Karangbanjar, were made of either real hair that he obtains from beauty saloons, or synthetic hair that he buys in Jakarta.

Ngudiyono has 30 employees, mostly housewives. He said he could produce an average of 1,000 hairpieces, 500 cemara, 500 buns in 35 different styles and 250 other types of hair product, per month.

"We are now trying to develop a new product -- Muslim hair buns combined with a head covering, known as kerudung. We have already received orders for this particular product, which we invented ourselves," Ngudiyono said.

Separately, Karangbanjar village head Atingah told the Post that the hair products from her village were indeed of export quality. Yet, due to their limited knowledge of marketing and promotion as well as of the exportation setup, they found it difficult to penetrate the wider international market.

"Lack of capital and shipping problems have been our main problems. Therefore, we are inviting investors to help us overcome these problems," Atingah said.