New blood for Indonesia's fashion industry

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): How quickly the clock turns for the fashion police. Just as fad followers were taking a deep breath to fit into this summer's figure-defining cheongsams, designers/ dictators in Milan, Paris, and New York, last March did an Exorcist-worthy 360 degree head-turn. They unveiled Fall 1997 collections that looked like leftovers from ten years ago. The pretty, dainty chinoiserie is out, designers hiss over their bottles of Evian, and big-shouldered suits circa 1987 are in.

For everybody who couldn't get out of the Eighties fast enough, those are fighting words. The thought of a return to shoulder pads and four-inch waist-clinchers is painful (sometimes literally), and I'd rather battle with Bigfoot than a perm-happy hairdresser in soft shoes. People moan about the ugly Seventies, but flares and platforms were safer than teetering over cobblestone streets in spike heels and tight minis. Women with shy thighs are still recovering from the ordeal.

Nobody ever said fashion is kind. If fickle designers have their way, gone are years of forgiving long skirts and trousers.

The fall season's all-black androgyny is also eclipsing a renaissance of Orient-flavored femininity. Prada spearheaded the craze for Chinese chic with its lacquer-red Suzy Wong dresses, jeweled bags, and velvet sandals, updating its mastery of sheer style with chiffon Mao jackets. Copycat retailers followed with their versions of pretty clothes in lovely colors.

And colorful chinoiserie was good for business in Indonesia. Photos of Hollywood starlets trying to look like Far East princesses gave traditional local textiles and costumes a big boost. When local talent Biyan sent out maidens in Dayak regalia last season, style disciples and retailers raved rather than recoiled at the sight of proudly Asian attire -- thanks to Vogue's praises of tribal cool. It's not everyday that Western designers look east for inspiration, usually it's the other way around.

Less poised designers may now ditch this Asian confidence and go New York black next year, but some individuals are clinging to exoticism -- at least for now. Glimpses of the new collection by local talent Biyan Wanaatmadja show that his romance with Oriental romanticism, tinted with a European edge, is far from over. This latest and possibly soon-to-be-rare sampling of ethnic chic will be unveiled on Sep. 18 at Singapore's Fashion Connection trade fair.

New blood

Fashion Connection, now in its tenth year, will also be host to the ASEAN Young Designers Contest, held annually to discover and spotlight the region's up-and-coming talents. Indonesia's two representatives were chosen on Friday from a group of five hopefuls.

The winners this year are 23-year-old Liliana Lim and 21-year- old Era Minaryanti, who respectively won first and second prize -- which included seats at the ASEAN contest as well as the patronage and assistance of the Indonesian Fashion Designers Council. Their presentations were indeed impressive, although perplexingly similar.

The dominant colors of Era's collection, for example, were sunflower yellow and earth brown -- the same as Liliana's. And her silhouette was also lean and streamlined; slim shirt-dresses layered with knee-length skirts.

While Liliana kept her palette (relatively) clean, Era painted hers with sketches of bird wings and parched earth. And she painted on sheer chiffon worn over nude-colored bodysuits. With Yogyakarta-style leather sandals on their feet and wing-like gold ornaments and incense sticks poking out behind their ears, the models looked like a fantasy of rice-paddy princesses -- regal but rooted to the earth, and Orientalism at its best.

Liliana, on the other hand, twisted and folded her yards of tie-dyed yellow cottons and silks with more restraint. It was architecturally complex and well done, with the odd nod to asymmetry, but, with the models carrying baskets of sunflowers, a bit twee. The uncluttered suits were undeniably commercial but rather conservative and not particularly Indonesian-looking.

Yet according to the seven-person jury, which included local designers such as Ghea Panggabean and Ronald V. Gaghana, commercialism was exactly what they looked for and found.

"Liliana's collection catered to international taste, and that's what the contest looks for," said juror and designer Susan Budihardjo. She also praised the finishing and individualism of the clothes. "You can see from the way Liliana draped the fabrics that she had a daring twist," she said.

"New seeds" is how Budihardjo describes these winning students, seeds who will grow to match market standards under the direction and tutelage of Council members. Yet direction can only go so far, Budihardjo reminds -- the rest, she said, "depends on the student herself".

And when these youngsters arrive at Singapore's Fashion Connection, they will have the region's movers and shakers watching -- although not necessarily buying. Biyan admits that the Singapore show is an exercise of publicity rather than sales.

"Showing in Singapore is always good as a showcase, more so than as a market. Singapore has always been a platform for our collections, perhaps because it is closer to the surrounding regions," Biyan said.

Indonesia's market is stronger, said Biyan, but Singapore's industry is more accomplished. "It has a more professional set-up there for networking, and we are always stronger when together," he said. Exchanging and sharing ideas, information, and strategy with regional colleagues at the trade fair, Biyan said, is as beneficial as finding new buyers. In order to be able to contend with stronger competition from foreign retailers, Biyan said: "We help each other find the right path."