Puzzling pieces form the norm in Fashion Week

Puzzling pieces form the norm in Fashion Week

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): After months of planning and chaos, Jakarta's first Fashion Week has rolled up its red carpet. In six fashion shows toasting 62 collections, Indonesia's designers tried to prove that they've got the goods to make Jakarta the fashion capital of Southeast Asia by the year 2000.

The Jakarta Tourism Promotion Board, a major sponsor of Fashion Week, also wants tourists to replace Singapore as a shoppers' city.

As leading batik designer Iwan Tirta explains: "Fashion is one way of putting Indonesia on the map of the world".

APPMI Director Poppy Dharsono realizes, however, that fashion is a competitive, cut-throat world. What she wants is to create strong foundations for a local fashion industry which can then compete overseas. "We don't want to take over the market. We just want a sounding from the market of what we can offer them," she said.

Poppy adds that audience response has been positive. "We were so worried that nobody would come because it was mid-week, but there were a lot of people! That shows that fashion has become a lifestyle here," she said.

Many did turn up at APPMI's four consecutive shows at the Jakarta Convention Center. Poppy Dharsono and Agnes Budhisurya had solo shows on Wednesday, while the Young Designer show and Fashion Tendance '97, the yearly trend show representing 22 designers, were held on Thursday. The Busana Muslim (Moslem fashion) designers showed on Friday.

Puzzling

A question mark still looms, however, over whether the audience will buy what they saw on the catwalk. APPMI may be known as the business-minded rival to the more high-fashion Indonesian Fashion Designers Council (IPMI), but some of the APPMI collections were far from commercial. In a time of minimalist chic, some ensembles were over-done, outdated, or just plain bizarre.

Granted, oddballs are found in every industry. But what dragged the APPMI collections down from their potential was not the scattering of puzzling pieces, but the general lack of direction. Some IPMI collections were also haphazardly put together. Overall, they were not just a jumble of clothes, but a packaged vision of their idealized woman, or man.

Some APPMI members may argue that, as garment manufacturers, they want to appeal to the broadest market possible. "Fashion is not just about image -- it's a business. Creativity is important, but so is management, merchandising, and marketing," said Poppy Dharsono, hinting at the ongoing feud between APPMI and IPMI. The split occurred a few years ago because APPMI, which is listed under the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN), wanted to pursue a more commercial direction.

Yet there is a fine line between appealing to the market and catering to the market, and the successful designer knows how to strike the balance. History's most influential designers, such as Yves Saint Laurent and Issey Miyake, earned their name by ignoring market demands and being true to their esthetics.

From year to year, however, APPMI resorts to following fair-weather trends. This season, for example, Raizal Rais is crazy about knits -- knitted dresses, cardigans, and bell-bottoms in a blinding rainbow of colors and prints. The clothes were fun, but of low use in tropical weather. Is this just an infatuation with the knitwear dominating European fall collections?

Ubiquitous throughout the collections are sarong-like check prints, first seen in Indonesia in Biyan's summer show and sold cheaply in Indonesia. Some used the checks with great fun. Jeany Johanes has been designing little girl fashions for years, so she shaped them into cute A-line dresses worn with combat boots. Looking like a teenager may not be for everybody, except for teenagers themselves, who comprise a large portion of the consumer market.

Hendry Kusuma was less definitive. He designed ensembles in a range of colors and fabrics, but without a thread between them. His finale came in the form of well-cut white satin suits -- elegant fare, so why wear them with pom-poms on the shoes and the models' heads?

Pom-pom shoes, however, were great compared to the black patent pumps worn with the breeziest chiffon gowns (Agnes Budhisurya, Ellen Darsana, Suzanna Wanasuka). Designers may argue that they design clothes, not shoes. But if they're not selling shoes, then why have them at all? If they want the fine tailoring and intricate hand-painting to be the focus, then why distract audiences with clunky footwear?

But if not enough styling disadvantaged some collections, too much styling weighed down others. Musa Widyatmadjo had some lovely 1940-style dresses, but the models wore antennas on their heads! What's the connection between subdued office-wear and crazy hair? For evening, Musa put sequined kebaya over shorts, cardigans over sequined tops -- a good example of someone who wants to please everyone all of the time. The individual pieces are interesting, but together they're a mess.

Some collections were more directional. Taruna Kusmayadi did his in candy colors of raw silk, with matching shoes. A watermelon pantsuit was delicious, a lilac evening gown just as tasty. But several outfits seemed old, especially with shoulder pads. One can see where Taruna wants to go, but he has not completed the journey.

Taruna's young, and will learn from experience. Ina Rachma is a more seasoned designer who is scaling the heights of her potential. Ina's an embroidery master, and this season she spins her threads in a psychedelic web of colorful squiggly lines. It's a progressive move which will bring in younger customers.

Both Koos Arumdani and Poppy Dharsono have also defined their signature style. Koos Arumdani does batik chic, particularly in linens and cottons. Her safari wear may be a little rough for city life, but they're funky travel wear. Poppy Dharsono also went on safari, but in a more urbane mood, using bright citrus colors. Yet it's her batik eveningwear -- in lean silhouettes and sinuous golden hues -- which reiterate her reputation.

Ardianto Pranata is another great veteran. His expertise is fine batik and tie-dye, but he also knows how to weave traditional textiles into a modern composition, using them mostly as accessories. His shapes are modest and wearable, and the styling is subdued.

The highlight of the evening, however, was not Harry Dharsono's beaded evening gowns straight out of Joan Collins's closet, but Nanik Rachmat's sexy body-hugging collection. The bias-cut gowns, tie-dyed in earth colors, were the epitome of ethnic chic, and hinted at a confidence lacking in the other designers. Proving that she's a name to watch, Nanik Rachmat showed a singular and visionary esthetic, as well as a coherent understanding that the market wants well-made marketable clothes which keeps them on the hip side of fashion.