New blood for Indonesia's fashion industry

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."