Postal bags and sexy curves in new fashion
By Agni Amorita
JAKARTA (JP): When famous fashion designer Biyan Wanaatmadja decided to design teen outfits, he also created accessories such as flatshoes and large bags. "Nowadays young people go crazy with Mr. Postman's bags," he says about his mailbag collection in his newest boutique called (X)SML. Biyan's comment is followed by one from famous model, Karenina Maria Anderson, or Nina.
"I love to be trendy," she said, "and one way is by carrying a Mr. Postman's bag." Nina wears her big rectangular bag with its long strap diagonally across her body, the way a postman does.
But not all famous teens love to be in fashion. For teen star, Inne Febriyanti, 22, a Mr. Postman's bag is not important as a fashion accessory. "Better call it my personal assistant," she laughed showing her big black backpack that looks very heavy.
"I don't know its weight but it mustn't be more than 5 kilograms," she said of the bag she carries on her back. "It's not as heavy as the carrier I take when I go climbing (mountains)," smiled the teen star, which like her regular backpack is Indonesian made, strong and well priced.
For Inne, a big bag is her only choice, because, as an independent and busy rising star she has to prepare her performance equipment herself. She uses her bag to carry her various needs such as cosmetics, jackets, a bottle of mineral water and scripts for her next role.
In fact, backpacks are not really out of date as fashion items; backpackmania just left town for a year. During its peak season from 1996 to 1998, we saw mini backpacks worn by almost all teenagers everywhere, including ceremonial parties.
This practice caught the attention of the famous illustrator Muhammad Misrad, in his serialized comicstrip of the Jakartans called Lagak & Gaya Jakarte (1998).
He devoted an entire page to describing his curiosity regarding the mini backpack worn by a trendy local girl, raising the naughty question: "Wonder, what is inside it?" Readers were no doubt amused at the size of the girls backpack; drawn so small it was almost impossible to describe it as a bag in which to carry things.
While teens went crazy with backpacks, adult women were fond of the Lady bag. It started with the late Diana, Princess of Wales, carrying her doublehandle handbag from Christian Dior.
The Princess' worldwide exposure raised the status of these quilted leather bags. Christian Dior then launched a collection called Lady Dior, very famous in the 1996 to 1997 season.
"In a day I could sell two to three LadyDior bags," recalled Maria Rotinsulu, the Marketing Manager of Christian Dior Boutique, Jakarta. At that time Maria sold Lady Dior bags for over Rp 3.5 million.
These days girls love sexy bags. Sensuality is shown in various ways. This includes a bag's material and provocative colors, through textured fabrics like suede to snake skin, to glittering colors including silver to pastel candycolors - especially gray.
Mini, midi and maxi handbags also come in very feminine shapes full of curves instead of classic masculine lines, a departure from traditional rigid dimensions and sharp corners.
Last August Loewe, the Madrid based bag company, launched its fall/winter 1999-2000 collection. The bags come in a mixture of leather, wood and fabric with detail such as polished galvanic brass nails with a gold plated nickel base.
Alternatively, the so-called Master of Bags, Louis Vuitton, introduced its Cup 2000 collections made from taffeta-feel polyamide canvas in gray. These new items will be available in Jakarta this month.
Gucci's newest bags are also available downtown. "Our collections is very sexy," said the public relations manager Linda Prawirohardjo from PT Busanagraha Rahayu, a local importer for famous brands such us Guess? and Gucci.
"Gucci has just released its fall-winter 1999-2000 collection which is very rich in terms of fabrics with a lot of velvet and leather," she said. Gucci, regarded as one of the hottest boutiques, also produce bags in bright eye-catching colors such as orange, gold, and silver.