Ronald V. Gaghana roaring on empty

Ronald V. Gaghana roaring on empty

Syahmedi Dean, Contributor, Jakarta

Ronald V. Gaghana, 43, is one Indonesian fashion designer
whose creations are always eagerly awaited.

On April 28, he, again, represented his latest ideas with 60
designs featured in a fashion show held in the ballroom of the
Mulia Hotel in Jakarta. The theme of the show was the "Roaring
Twenties", calling to mind a decade in which fashion underwent
rapid changes and which gave birth to the term "modernist
fashion", which was embraced by designers who wanted to move away
from Victorian and Edwardian-styles of dressing that curbed
movement and constrained people.

These modernist fashion designers included Coco Chanel, who
introduced the term "the modern woman" and the "little black
dress", Lanvin with his dropped-waist dresses, Elsa Schiaparelli
with her body-hugging swimsuits and Paul Poiret, who turned
pajamas into an element of modern evening wear.

The decade of the '20s is associated with straight lines,
bobbed hair, flat breasts, boyish bodies and minimalist and
modern Art Deco (the film Chicago shows all these things very
graphically). All these items constitute a very rich source of
ideas waiting to be explored.

In his attempt to reintroduce the glory of the 1920s, Ronald
leaned heavily on the dropped-waist silhouette, a silhouette in
the form of a gown, the upper and lower parts of which are
connected to the waist (usually given a ribbon knot, a waist belt
or other ornaments).

One interesting creation was a beige satin gown with a green
ribbon knot on the waist. Ronald gave the a necklace made of Art
Deco-style beads. Although it represents a style that prevailed
in the 1920s, this look maintains its modernity even today.
However, the dropped-waist line of the gown that the model wore
went down to the upper thighs, therefore causing the gown to look
too loose and destroying the proportions of the model.

From Ronald's point of view, the 1920s were known only for the
dropped-waist silhouette only. What about the everything else?
Ronald went far and wide for his creative ideas. His best design
was a chiffon full skirt plus a golden-colored long-sleeved
jacket, very chic but, unfortunately, not in the least reflecting
the Roaring Twenties. Instead, it represented the New Look style
of the 1950s.

Many other gowns were ornamented with a lot of beads without
giving an Art Deco impression. A skirt made of several pieces of
cloth has all too often featured in Ronald's shows, as it did
again this time. (Enough, Ronald!) It seems that he ran out of
ideas. The skirt gave the impression that it had too many
elements so it was not pretty too look at. In short, it was too
busy.

The best color of the series of chosen colors available in the
show was the tosca blue. This color was outstanding and injected
a maximum fashion spirit, as with a gown with an inflated part of
the 1950s style (again not the style of the 1920s). Other colors
such as golden, red, beige and aqua blue were too often repeated
and, therefore, not quite challenging. One thing unforgivable
about the choice of colors was Ronald's combination of black and
golden colors, two colors that are today quite beautiful but
become boring when they are combined.

As a matter of fact, Ronald's designs were very fine, neat and
of a high quality. However, his ability to fantasize and develop
ideas is questionable. Several times the essence of his designs
became lost in the theme of his choice, with the result that one
got the impression Ronald did not have enough references and took
a wrong step. His chosen theme became empty and provided no
impression at all.

Unsurprisingly, the fashion public has begun to doubt Ronald's
credibility despite his fame in Indonesia's world of fashion.

Usually, Ronald's designs are inseparable from the image of
youthfulness, dynamism and modernity. His designs are suitable
for women with a youthful spirit, combined with an energized,
expressive and edgy disposition. Unfortunately, these
characteristics of Ronald's designs were absent in his collection
shown in the Roaring Twenties show. This time his designs
reflected middle-aged women trying too hard to enjoy a second
youth.