Nelwan Anwar's clothes revel in a golden opulence
Nelwan Anwar's clothes revel in a golden opulence
By Parvathi Nayar Narayan
JAKARTA (JP): Nelwan Anwar is a fashion designer who believes
in the creation of exclusive designs for exclusive people. The
collection of 120 outfits unveiled at a recent fashion show at
the Hotel Shangri-La, Jakarta, revealed his trademark love of
ornamentation. The fabrics were richly worked, some of them in
all-over gold thread. The reason he gets away with such opulence
is that the basic styles of his clothes are simple. He sticks to
classic lines rather than current fashion.
The first segment of the fashion show displayed elaborately
worked skirt suits. Essentially short, some skimmed knees or just
covered them. The slim-cut skirts had slits at the sides or back,
the jackets were left open to reveal a matching or contrasting
tunic. Typically with heavy gold work covering the shoulders and
upper arms of the jacket, and lighter work elsewhere, these
shimmery suits were definitely not daytime wear.
Some suits veered towards the overly elaborate. This robbed
the embroidery of its overall impact, seen to such good effect in
the ensembles that followed. These were plain sheath dresses
combined with embroidered jackets. The deep blue sheath in
crinkly fabric matched with a gold-worked jacket, also in blue,
with an interesting woven border in red, yellow, turquoise and
black, for example, was very striking.
Actually, the colors dominating the show were the cobalt
blues, emeralds and lime greens, the burnt reds and purples. In
most of the fabrics the colors were shot through with a thread of
black, typical of the geometrically patterned ikat weave.
The menswear was far less interesting than the women's
clothing. It ranged from traditional shirts to ikat jackets. The
latter's wearability seemed a bit dubious with the vivid ikat
weaves, sleeves of different colors and shiny buttons. Certainly,
the most interesting offerings for the men were the mid-calf-
length caftans. These African-inspired caftans had a square panel
of geometric embroidery in front, full sleeves and a general air
of smart comfort.
The embroidery and fabric also came together well in layered
clothing for women. This included a minuscule array of pastels
where black was completely absent - bulky coats embroidered in
pastels (pinks, greens, blues) over plain shift dresses in
apricot, lemon and a rather startling pink.
There were gorgeous blouses in lovely shades of lime and pink
with full ruched sleeves worn over sheaths. Delicate gold
embroidery added a dressy touch to hemline, sleeves and neck.
There were several variations on this theme. Sometimes, though,
when the worked jacket was teamed with a skirt that was also
heavily patterned and embroidered, and a sequined tunic, the
effect was just too ornate.
The more understated ensembles allowed the focus to remain on
the really dramatic overblouses. Some of them had embroidery in
just a single color, cobalt or red or purple, without gold; the
result was a look both more contemporary and extremely wearable.
Favorite embroidery motifs were fish, arabesques, curlicues,
ropes and tassels in various permutations and combinations.
Sometimes the embroidery was very heavy, a definite opaque motif
worked over the fabric. The 'supporting' embroidery in such cases
was lighter and worked so as to harmonize and subtly emphasize
details of the ikat weave.
Towards the latter half of the show there was a display of
dresses in plain white and plain black. Crinkly lengths of cloth
worn as stoles seemed de rigeur with these evening dresses.
A white sheath dress with gold embroidery, for instance, had a
stole with elaborate and fanciful cut work done on the edges to
match.
Overlong heavy fringes with the fabric in wide strips was one
of the definitive, if slightly overused, detailing on the black
dresses. Other black dresses sported layers of folded and wrapped
chiffon over the basic slinky sheath shape. Hemlines were very
often uneven, pointed in front and raised higher or slit at the
back. These sported silver embroidery in ethnic designs.
There was also evening-wear inspired and based on the sarong
kebaya. The upper garments were reminiscent of a skirted coat
shape, usually heavily worked so that they stood out stiffly. And
again their hemlines were rarely uniform, but straight at the
back and worked to a point in front.
Before the bridal finale -- gauzy layered white with golden
embroidery -- was an array of pleated floor-length skirted
outfits. The drama of the clothes was enhanced with some rather
outrageous turbans as headgear. The models twirling in them
looked like a row of whirling dervishes in an array of colors,
pale gold, coffee, and blues. Particularly attractive was a deep
aqua with a contrasting embroidered jacket in burnt red with
touches of aqua and gold.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post, Anwar outlined the creative
process by which his outfits, like those showcased on the
catwalk, are created. The process begins, logically, with the
idea for a dress, taking into account its wearability and
comfort. The design is then put down as a fashion illustration.
It is on the basis of these illustrations that Anwar's regular
customers order from him.
Next Anwar designs the ikat fabric that the dress will be made
from, specifying the colors, usually earth colors. For clothing
textiles he uses only natural fibers, silk, cotton - and
sometimes even banana or pineapple fibers. This design is then
farmed out to the small weaving centers the designer uses, either
in Sulawesi, Central Java or Bandung.
Only ten metres of each design is woven, from which a maximum
of three dresses can be made. "But the character and design of
each is different - no two dresses are the same," he says.The
material is cut for the intricate embroidery, done by machine at
slow speed - this is his distinctive touch.
A dress can take around one month from the first design to the
finished product, being so labor-intensive. In terms of price,
the clothes range from Rp 125,000 to Rp 1,200,000. Wedding
dresses can cost as much as Rp 5,000,000. They can be found only
in Anwar's studio in Jakarta, not from department stores.
Nelwan Anwar graduated from the Jakarta Institute of Art,
1986, the year he won second prize at the Young Designer of
Indonesia awards. He has been working as a designer ever since.
But his creativity can be traced back to his childhood among the
weaving community in Bugis, South Sulawesi.
The weavers he grew up with were only interested in
traditional processes. But Anwar wanted to be different - he
wanted to create new fabrics in limited quantities which would
increase their exclusivity. The realization of this dream was
seen in the clothes on display at the recent show in Jakarta.
Anwar makes clothes that are unabashedly opulent and romantic.
His clothes are not casual wear and probably not for everyone -
the sheer wealth of color and gold would swamp many wearers. Of
course, there are possibilities for mixing and matching: the
entire coordinated outfit for that dress-up-and-be-noticed
occasion, or just the jacket to add glamour to a simpler outfit
for a simpler occasion.
Despite the unique nature of each outfit, some are not
particularly distinctive; the weaves and the embroidery motifs
are variations on a few similar themes, as he himself admits.
Still, when the various elements of Anwar's work come together --
the basic silhouette, the fabric design and color, and embroidery
-- the result is an ideal candidate for that "special dress" niche
in one's wardrobe.