Local Fashion Brand Strategy Breaks Into Global Markets

Jakarta — The development of the fashion industry now requires designers to think more strategically. Beyond creating visually appealing garments, designers must prepare a well-planned business expansion strategy from the outset of a collection launch. The fashion week stage is no longer merely a place to showcase the latest designs; it has become a market-testing arena to gauge customer response directly before a brand is truly ready to compete overseas.

“Pengakuan itu harus dari pihak yang lain, bukan dari kita sendiri gitu. Nah kalau kita sendiri yang ngomong kita bagus, itu kan cuman kita aja yang ngomong ya,” said Thresia Mareta, Advisor to JF3 and founder of LAKON Indonesia, in a discussion of JF3 titled “Recrafted: Shaping the Future” at Summarecon Discovery, North Jakarta, on Tuesday (19 May 2026).

In fact, there are specific consumer groups seeking the honesty behind the fashion production process, as well as efforts to empower local artisans. This economic opportunity could be missed if designers are reluctant to explore more diverse customer tastes. Given the diverse buying audience, the shopping area at fashion fairs is deliberately designed to train designers’ business sensitivity. Through this area, fashion designers can interact directly and monitor the purchasing power of visitors from various segments.

“Kalau memang ikut Fashion Village atau Food Street, JFW mengharapkan itu bukan cuma sekedar ikut bazar jualan gitu, tapi bener-bener dipelajari market-nya itu bagaimana,” added Thresia.

The presence of mentoring programmes such as PINTU Incubator, which Thresia helped establish, is felt to be very helpful in introducing fashion entrepreneurs to the cross-border transaction ecosystem. “Bagi saya sih, PINTU itu sudah membuka banyak kemungkinan-kemungkinan baru bagi desainer-desainer muda, dengan membawa mereka ke Paris. Karena bukan sekadar pamer hasil kreasi, pamer fashion, tetapi juga dibuka jejaring,” said fashion editor Daniel Ngantung.