Trio of designers show their stuff

In a recent interview here, Indonesian-born designer Farah Angsana said it was strange and sad that she had to go all the way to Paris to make her name.

But she also noted the outstanding talent to be found here.

"I see some of their works from magazines brought by my friends. Like Eddy Betty, Adrian Gan..such perfectionist Indonesian couturiers.., Sebastian Gunawan, Didi Budiarjo," she said.

Coincidentally, there was a joint fashion show of the designers, minus Eddy Betty, at Hotel Mulia in Senayan, Central Jakarta, at the end of March.

Focusing on evening wear and wedding dresses, the collections were fresh and promising.

Known as an evening gown designer who emphasizes the lines of his dresses and sophisticated patterns, Didi's collection was full of details, such as paillettes, tassels, ruffles and feathers.

Aside from classic black, Didi uses peach, and also bright colors like gold, purple, pink and yellow. Floral motifs also appeared often, while the silhouette was sexy and elegant.

The wedding dress, meanwhile, was the classic white Western style one, with designs including a layered dress resembling the tiers of a wedding cake.

Adrian, meanwhile, went with the brightest colors of all: Lime green, purple, shocking pink, bright red, bottle green and gold.

Popular in the local fashion scene for his elegant, glamorous and trendy designs, he upped the style factor this time around, with plunging V-necklines, bare backs and ribbons along the waist.

Sebastian stayed true to form by keeping things classic.

When he made his debut in the mid-1990s with ballgowns, many doubted that the ornately finished clothing would catch on. But with his glamorous, old European-inspired designs, Sebastian has been successful in carving out his own niche in the market, loved by celebrities and the fashionista alike.

For the fashion show at Mulia, Sebastian presented a series of black evening dresses with details including lace and glitter, and a Chinese-inspired wedding dress.

A standout included a sleeveless wedding dress adorned with pearls to form the appearance of a vest.

All in all, the three designers presented good collections, but there was nothing ground-breaking or inspiring.

Adrian's pieces, for instance, with such garish hues, the glitter and diagonal stripes, seemed better suited to drag queens.

Farah was right about the wealth of talent, but she politely refused to comment about the fact that local designers, including these three, are often copying Western designers, with sometimes poor finishing.

She did offer a few pieces of advice, including that to be a good designer one needs to know the market, the target, the design and the philosophy of fashion.

"Fashion is about who do you want to inspire, what do you really want out of your business," she said.

Indonesian designers, she added, do not necessarily have to focus on ethnicity in their designs.

"The important thing is they need to find their own identity, philosophy of fashion, with a good collection that is you, not somebody else ... Have your own vision of fashion, not because of trends." -- Hera Diani