Mangga Dua show unfurls stylish Moslem fashions

JAKARTA (JP): With its maze of narrow hallways jammed with bargain hunters, one of Jakarta's biggest megamarts, ITC Mangga Dua Mall, was the ironic venue for a fashion show Monday.

In fact, there was a quiet elegance to it.

Peddling an understated Moslem look, 11 designers paraded their collections, that straddled the line between Chinese, Indian and Western concepts, in front of the droves of the fashion-conscious.

Preceding the opening ceremony of designer Ida Royani's boutique of Moslem apparel and accessories on ITC's fifth floor, the fashion show was held to promote designer collections sold at the boutique.

Ida Leman, one of the designers, said the boutique featured more than 50 outfits per designer.

These included collections by Ida Royani, Donna Hasbiya, Gusmi Jufri, Minawati Sardja, Fenny Mustafa, Anne Rufaidah, Arrlieza Razalie and Zainal Ariffin.

Since Moslem outfits are traditionally sober, designers focused on color, straight cuts and fluid lines. Slits in tunics, attention to design and the soft quality of fabrics made the outfits look cool and feminine.

Colors included muted browns, baby blues and pinks, bright sunflower yellows and bold red and blue designs. There were varying shades of pastels along with accidental colors, which defined the shape along clean lines and easy fashion.

Arrlieza's collection included sackcloth outfits in beige white and brick red, while Gusmi's collection included lots of tissue in gold, pink and muddy colors.

Donna's outfits fused brown ethnic designs with bright yellow colors while Anne's collection was in baby pinks and muted oranges.

It was Fenny's collection which took many by surprise. The off-whites and beige collections included lots of unique embroidery work, baby-doll designs and head accessories resembling horns of colored, knotted hair.

Models paraded Ida Leman's collection in white with gold trimmings and other rainbow, tissue-thin material. Colors ranged from sea green for the adult collection to dark blue for the children's collection.

She said prices ranged from Rp 100,000 to Rp 1 million.

Djoesma Taher, wife of the minister of religious affairs who also inaugurated the event, said the collections were "fine and suited women of all religions".

She said the collections were appropriate for "all women of the 90s". (02)