Oscar combines technology and culture for designers award

By Agni Amorita

JAKARTA (JP): In mid-April, fashion designer Oscar Lawalata flew to Singapore, carrying a dozen black-and-white suits bearing bodo motifs to represent Indonesia in the ASEAN Young Fashion Designers Contest 1999.

His two months of toil preparing for the contest proved worthwhile: He won the second prize of 4,000 Singapore dollars in the prestigious annual event.

Born on Sept. 1, 1977, in Pekanbaru, Riau, Oscar said he chose the bodo motif, which originates from South Sulawesi, because he knew he could innovate it to suit the theme of the contest: culture and technology.

"Culture and technology reflect harmony in life, because culture links us to the past and technology to the future," he said.

Oscar synthesized the South Sulawesi cultural heritage with modern fashion technology by creating a sophisticated rectangular pattern. His creation won the admiration of designer Walter Ma, of Hong Kong fame, who was one of the three judges at the competition.

Most impressive about Oscar's design is the level of sophistication of his geometric pattern, which is also highly wearable.

The modern technology that Oscar spoke of is the combination of five types of textile in a single piece of clothing.

"I used traditional materials like Ujungpandang silk and combined it with tulle, cotton tulle, synthetic leather and furring.

The high wearability is made possible by a buttonless zipper system and single size designs, appropriate for any occasion.

Oscar, who represented Indonesia at the fashion contest after winning a national competition, also presented accessories such as leather thongs, fans and bronze plaited bandanas, as well as unisex pants and sarongs.

Oscar began to fully dedicate his life to the profession three years ago, shortly after completing his tailoring course at ESMOD, Jakarta.

"I learn fashion from foreign magazines and watching films and video clips. I think fashion in Indonesia has not properly developed."

He opened a boutique on the ground floor of Mal Ambassador, South Jakarta, two years ago, targeting youths and young women "who want to appear different".

"In every piece of my collection, there is always something that makes it different from that of other designers. Also, I create high tech collections," said the youngest child of comedy actress Reggy Lawalata.

His collections sell for between Rp 150,000 (about US$19) and Rp 250,000 a piece.

Oscar said he had no specific plans for the immediate future other than to develop his business.