Newcomers highlight of fashion event

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): Three young unknown Indonesian designers had the spotlight turned on them last week when their designs impressed the jury of the National Fashion Contest.

A nine-person jury, headed by Peter Sie, agreed to nominate Arifan Mas, Thomas Yogi and Etty Bachetta to represent Indonesia at the Asian Grand Prix Contest '94 in Osaka, Japan.

Indonesia is invited to send three designers to compete in the contest with the theme, "City-look for Youths", said Pia Alisjahbana, chairperson of the organizing committee.

Most of the designs are about nature or have a back-to-nature touch. "It is the current trend," Alisjahbana said, "people are more environmentally-conscious, caring more for the planet."

Arifan's design was called Eceng Gondok. He not only used the form of eceng gondok, water hyacinth, as the inspiration for his design, but also he used eceng gondok as the fabric for his clothes.

Arifan's design is not just made of eceng gondok but is a combination of the water plant and suede. "I tried to integrate two components, plants and animals," said the student of Susan Budiardjo Modelling School.

Arifan said he used eceng gondok for his male shirt, trousers' pocket, skirt, and parts of the accessories.

"I got this idea after I watched a television program which showed that Indonesia is trying to popularize eceng gondok in Japan. However, the products were only accessories, they were not made into clothes, yet," said Arifan, who determined to take the challenge of making clothes from the water plant.

Alisjahbana praised the creativity of the contestants. "I am very optimistic about the chances of the finalists, especially the one with the eceng gondok theme. It is a natural product, not yet mass-produced. But it can be, and it will be."

The other finalist, Etty Bachetta, of Jakarta, combined the East and the West in her creation The Fishermen from the West. She said she picked up the Indonesian fishermen's styles and their fish-nets as the element of the East, while she took jeans, the clothes of American cowboys, to represent the West.

"I only had one and a half days to do the design and to look for the fabric," said Chozie. "I had been watching the fishermen every time I ate seafood at Anyar Beach, Jakarta. I wanted to do it a long time ago. Anyway, the Osaka contest asked for clothes for youngsters. So, I combined jeans, the clothes of youngsters, with the styles of Indonesian fishermen."

Environment

Concern about Indonesia inspired Yogi's design, Surat or "Letters." "I am attracted to environmental issues, especially after Indonesia was charged by other countries with environmental destruction. On one hand, I am sad that Indonesia was the only country attacked, but on the other hand, I also realize the danger of the destruction."

Yogi then combined his concern with his long-time hobby, correspondence. His male clothes had elements of letters, envelopes and stamps. He said that Letters is about Indonesia's forests and therefore he even had forest pictures on his stamps.

The contest also proved that domestically-educated designers are not below the standard of those educated overseas. All of the three finalists are students of local schools. Arifan is from Susan Budiardjo, Chozie is from Bunka and Iswi, while Yogi is from Inter-Studies.

"Domestic and overseas graduates are basically on the same level. The important thing is a strong sense of determination," said Yogi, who has never entered the contest before.

"Indonesia's fashion schools give enough basic knowledge of designs and fabric," said Alisjahbana. "A background from a domestic fashion school is enough to enter the international contests."

Yogi said his decision to enter the contest was triggered by a desire to challenge himself as well as to show his students that a domestically-educated designer could succeed.

Preparation

He and the two others succeeded in sending that message. However, they still have more to prepare before their departure to Japan in three months.

Alisjahbana said that in Osaka the finalists will be interviewed not only about their designs, but also about the story behind them. "We will help them sharpen their concepts," Alisjahbana pledged.

Arifan said he will go to Pekalongan and do additional research about eceng gondok to prepare himself for Osaka. Like the other two, he is both optimistic and pessimistic about his chances.

"It will be too much to hope to win in Osaka," he said, "but I'll try my best. This is a matter of representing my country."

Japan's well-known, high quality control has whipped the three finalists into preparing their products as neatly as possible. They must choose the best fabric and sew the clothes perfectly.

Because of the city-look theme, the designs also need to be down-to-earth so that the clothes have a high market value. However, they have tried to keep the price of the products under a million rupiahs.

They are not merely concerned about winning or about selling their designs. "The chance of winning is slim for me," said Yogi. "A chance to join a world-class contest is more than enough."

Chozie and Arifan, in separate interviews, said that their trip to Japan is hopefully not just for the contest. They hope that they can also go to Tokyo's fashion centers to increase their knowledge of fashion design.