Local brides take a fancy to simple gowns

By Agni Amorita

JAKARTA (JP): An elegant beige wedding dress, made of pure silk, is on display at a bridal boutique in Kempinski Hotel. It is appealing not because of its non-traditional color or because of the fact that the designer, Kim Thong, died last Monday. The design itself is exquisite. The sleeveless gown is simple, made in princess line that builds the slim silhouette. It has a single eye-catching crystal embroidered in the neckline.

Kim Thong's collections are among the most expensive wedding dresses in the country and he created the gowns based on a price call, mostly starting from Rp 20 million.

According to Roy Artanto, Kim Thong's marketing manager before his death, Kim was in the middle of a wind of change. He said that his ex-boss, who was considered as the pioneer designer of European style bridal gowns in Indonesia, no longer maintained his glamorous trademark.

"At the beginning, people reluctantly accepted the simple but very chic designs because we used to show off every penny that was spent in the gown," he said.

Artanto, who continues Kim Thong's big plan to launch his annual collection in a gala fashion show next month, added that the designs are highlighted with glittering materials like crystal or even gold or diamond.

In fact, there is a trend among European style designers here to turn from the glamorous to the simple.

"Since the monetary crisis, reducing unnecessary details has become number one priority," explained bridal designer Fifi Young who confirmed that almost half of her customers during these hard times eventually agreed to wear a more simple gown.

"Now the most popular one is a very simple wedding gown in slim design such as princess line or mermaid line," she added.

This means that the ball gown design has no big fans in Indonesia lately.

The princess line, or A-line gown (a one piece dress made in three vertical cuts namely the left, right and the middle portion of the whole gown) was prevalent in the latest three bridal exhibitions in Jakarta.

May May bridal boutique, which introduced its wedding fair in Grand Hyatt Jakarta on March 4, was dominated by princess line gowns in white and ivory colors. The same phenomenon was also found in Eva Bun Cool Bride collections at Fashion Cafe Jakarta on Feb. 26. Although presenting an aquatic inspiration -- mostly translated as transparent fabric to represent "water", Eva Bun's collections also focused on simplicity.

The latest show was from Widhi Budimulia who held a week-long fashion bazaar in Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, last week. "Because we prefer no sleeves, we focus on the neckline," said Monika Yuliana, Widhi Budimulia's house designer.

Although being dominated by princess line gowns, Widhi Budimulia's collection offered other themes like the empire style and two piece bridal gowns and his masterpiece was a ball gown with five layers worn with a crown made from silvery wire.

The fashion bazaar itself was the first managed by Widhi Budimulia and friends. "This is a golden opportunity to reach the public, get them closer to us," Widhi explained.

Widhi's enthusiasm was shared by other bridal designers. "By joining such an exhibition I usually can reach up to 40 percent new costumers," claimed Fifi Young who rents her wedding gowns from Rp 5 million. Another success story comes from make up artist turned bridal designer Chenni Han. "I got a large coverage from the media when I exhibited my paper wedding gowns last month. Then Radio Netherlands came (for an interview) and now we are in the middle of negotiations to exhibit my work in Amsterdam," Chenni said.

There is a tight schedule of fashion bazaar approaching. Fashion designer and famous fashion bazaar organizer Ramli holds the Bridal 2000 exhibition in Crowne Plaza Hotel, Jakarta, from March 10 to March 14, while Fifi Young will launch her single exhibition in Le Meridien Hotel on April 9, a few days before Kim Thong's memorial show and exhibition in Kempinski Hotel, Jakarta.