Lingerie trend sweeps town

Hera Diani The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Voluptuous models were recently seen parading in lingerie and swimsuits during a fashion show heralding the opening of a new women's lingerie boutique and another's presentation of its latest collection.

The two boutiques are Le Boudoir and niconico intimo, both in Kemang, South Jakarta.

Following the launch of niconico last February, Le Boudoir, an exclusive boutique that specializes in silk batik lingerie, opened its doors to the public.

"We love batik and we wanted to make something special. I have always loved lingerie and I collect it. So, I thought, why not produce batik lingerie," said Le Boudoir director Ida Maille.

Ida established the business early this year along with her French husband Patrick, an architect who designs all the lingerie.

As the couple wanted to make exclusive products, they came up with the idea of handmade batik silk, where all the fabric and material came from local sources.

"The problem at first was finding tailors because most local underwear is made in factories where the employees only work on one part of the garment. For instance, one employee only sews on the buttons, while others work on the seams. But if we asked them to sew a bra, for example, they couldn't do it. We also had difficulty in finding patternmakers," Ida said.

After finally finding the people she needed, she cooperated with a colleague in Central Java, who owns a batik factory, to make the fabric, before sending it to Jakarta to be sewn.

While lingerie with batik motifs is a new thing, even for Indonesians, the fashions turned out to be cute and sexy when put on display by Le Boudoir.

Panties, thongs, G-strings, bras, bustiers, corsets and also pajamas, slip dresses and chemises are all featured in silk batik.

The classic batik patterns of truntum and kawung are used and come mostly in pastels. But there are pieces that come in dark brown, black, shocking pink and bright purple as well.

Targeted for women aged 20 and over, prices start from Rp 150,000 (US$16.30) for a pair of panties and Rp 350,000 for a bra. Pajamas, meanwhile start from Rp 1.75 million while a corset costs Rp 3.5 million.

"All products are handcrafted batik and made out of silk. Since we want to make it (the line) exclusive, the number of each item is very limited. It's a customized corset so we only make it on order," Ida said.

The corset is a truly Victorian style, and uses real iron for its support, which Ida promised "would help reduce your waistline".

"You can even wear the corset outside," she added.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, niconico also presented its collection of lingerie and swimwear in a closed fashion show for a limited audience.

The lingerie shown were pieces from the boutique's premium line of fashion for adults, which has more elegant styles including lace and frills, and a teenager's line, which featured more funky stuff.

The premium line featured various laced lingerie, floral chiffon robes, white satin robes and slip dresses with embroidery.

The teenager's line, which is called missimi, comes in army camouflage, stripes and florals, all of which sport mostly bright colors.

"The newest stuff presented here is the swimwear. The theme is the wet look. We used shiny fabric which comes from Italy's Swarovski," said niconico's owner and designer Nico Genze.

The swimsuits are quite varied in style, print and color. One swimsuit had a halter, while others featured a zipper in front and came in florals, stripes or a leaf print.

There are bikinis as well -- tie-dyed bikinis, striped bikinis and bikinis with cartoon characters.

With its lingerie and swimsuit collection, both Ida and Genze expect a higher awareness from Indonesian women, as they said women here had yet to become fully aware of the importance of lingerie.

"We want to educate people to increase their awareness. At least, lingerie can make women feel good about themselves," Ida said.

Genze, meanwhile, wants to change the swimsuit's image as being merely "sexual and vulgar".

"That's why I am holding a fashion show here in a small cafe, in front of adult women while they're having afternoon tea, instead of holding it at a club at night," he said.

There has been more fashion shows and more attention toward lingerie and swimsuits, he added, but its image is still typecast as sexual.

"Our next project is to create a regular swimsuit calendar. Not those typical vulgar calendars aimed at men. It can even be for mothers," Genze said.