Simple lines setting style
Simple lines setting style
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
What do you get when you cross an engineer with a clothing
designer?
A clothing line with a strong sense of geometrical precision
-- at least, that is the case with engineer-turned-designer
Nuniek Mawardi and her line of Muslim clothes.
Taking inspiration from architecture and the colors of
building materials, the finalist in the 1977 Miss Indonesia
beauty pageant creates designs that are distinctly geometrical.
For example, mixing a simple straight tunic dress with a
modified version of a blazer, Nuniek creates a chic yet
conservative two-piece Muslim dress appropriate for formal
parties.
"My designs are for active, dynamic women to wear on formal
occasions," Nuniek said recently.
Two-piece dresses are her favorite and she lets her
imagination loose when designing the outer dresses, with
horizontal or vertical lines predominating.
"I guess it's the influence of my background. I'm from civil
engineering and my husband's an electrical engineer," Nuniek
said, adding that designing clothes had been a hobby way back in
junior high school.
Nuniek's choice of colors also reflects her civil engineering
background, as she prefers subdued colors to bright, flashy ones.
"I get inspiration from earthy colors, the red of bricks, of
rocks. Rocks are not necessarily gray, you know," she said.
Nuniek also combines different kinds of materials in her
designs, often using leather with gabardine wool or raw silk to
create what she calls an "androgynous" or masculine-style dress.
Early in her career, Nuniek chose to design clothes for the
working woman, such as blazers and two-piece dresses.
"But Muslim clothing at the time was so plain, and I found
that I could come up with creative ideas for creating something
new from that basic design," she said.
Muslim fashion has become a major industry in recent years,
with many public figures and celebrities choosing to wear Muslim
dress that is both modish and modest.
Nuniek acknowledged that she chose designing over a career in
engineering mainly because of a promise she made to her husband
that she would not work outside the home.
Her designs are now found as far afield as Malaysia. "I asked
a friend to take my designs to Malaysia, and I'm really glad to
find that they liked them," Nuniek said, adding that besides
Bandung, her designs could also be found at Pasaraya department
store in Blok M, South Jakarta, and in Surabaya.
In Bandung, her designs are found at her home and studio at
Jl. Griya Utara, and will soon be showcased at a new boutique.
The prices of her dresses range from Rp 500,000 (about US$47)
to as high as Rp 3 million.