Mardiana Ika, a driving force behind Bali's fashion world
KUTA, Bali (JP): One afternoon in late April in a tranquil cafe on a corner of the busy Kuta street, Mardiana Ika, or Ika, sipped her hot lemon tea and explained her next big project, the Second Bali International Fashion Week, currently taking place at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel & Resort.
Enthusiastically, this tiny and active woman dressed in her latest fashion creation and silver jewelry displayed portfolios of designers, models and companies who would participate in the event.
"I hope every Indonesian designer, garment producer and everyone related to the fashion industry can take part in this international-scale fashion event," she said brightly.
The fashion week, the second of its kind (the first one was held in July 2000), is expected to yield numerous lucrative business transactions between foreign buyers and local fashion producers.
"The Bali Tourism Board (BTB), the provincial government and the Bali Chamber of Commerce have all agreed to lend a hand and to fully support the Bali Fashion Week as an annual event of the island," Ika said, joyfully adding that she would meet with some important people from BTB later that night.
A number of famous designers, local and international fashion writers and journalist have also confirmed their participation.
Everything seemed to be going well. Then a few days ago, Ika called the Jakarta Post. "I don't think BTB has seriously supported us," she complained.
As usual, she was ready with Plan B. "It doesn't necessarily mean that I have to postpone the Bali Fashion Week," she insisted.
What it meant was that she had to do the work by herself, which is more in her character. "I have to pay for the tickets for my friends from the local and foreign media from my own pocket," she complained.
Born to a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family in downtown Jakarta, she did not grow up expecting everything to be given to her. "There was no way that my parents would spoil us. We were forced to work very hard to achieve our dreams," Ika recalled.
Instead of studying business and finance as suggested by her father, Ika enrolled in 1973 in the then famous Far-East Dress- Making and Design School in Shanghai and later in Hong Kong.
Four years later in l977, she continued her studies at the London College of Fashion where she learned the art of design.
To improve her design skills and to learn the tricks of the fashion business, Ika worked with German fashion house L'Estelle for four years.
Ika later opened her own boutique and fashion house, Butoni Ltd., based in Hong Kong and Bali. She is currently active in various international fashion shows in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.
In 2000, Ika established the Moda Bali Foundation in order to set up a library, fashion and art center for local artists. The foundation is aimed at raising funds to provide scholarships for talented art and design students.
Ika, a devout Buddhist, is now happy living in Bali and Hong Kong with her American interior designer husband and their seven- year-old son.
"I was quite angry when people were so suspicious of me saying I only intended to make money from the Bali Fashion Week," Ika said.
It was her old friends like Pia Alisyahbana, Poppy Darsono who encouraged her to continue with her project despite the many obstacles.
"In times of crisis, we should aggressively promote our products to potential buyers. We cannot just do nothing, just waiting for a miracle," said Ika. (raw)