Urban Crew Mixing and matching but staying in style

Urban Crew Mixing and matching but staying in style

Muara Bagdja, Contributor, Jakarta

In a paisley blouse with the current must-wear knee-length pants
and a beret perched confidently on her head, singer Titi DJ took
her front-row seat for the launch of the latest collection by
design duo Urban Crew.

Across from her was emcee and former MTV veejay Alex Abad, in
a similarly eclectic outfit of a Panama hat and funky jacket.

These two celebrities can be counted on to blend different
styles from their wardrobes but always with a distinctive,
stylish result. They know that dressing well is not about labels
or how trendy clothes are, but the care taken in putting them all
together.

The same was true for the designs on the catwalk. Held at
Embassy, the most-hyped club in the city, it was on the theme of
an "exotic night party" and featured men's and women's designs.

Employing the formula of a harmonious blending of clothing,
Urban Crew's Era M. Sokamto and Ichwan H. Toha featured basic
articles of clothing that are so familiar to us -- sleeveless
tops, shirts, jackets, simple gowns and patched jeans -- in
attractive combinations.

The designers called their show Rejuvenescence, a
combination, according to their press release, of the words
rejuvenation and essence. It's a difficult word to pronounce for
most Indonesians, and it was similarly tough to work out quite
how it related to the designs on stage.

But the predominantly young audience did not give much thought
to the theme. They did not care that the show began an hour late,
or that the 2003 collection was making its debut midway through
the year. What mattered most to them was to dress smartly, come
to the club and enjoy the party!

"We are in a relaxed mood, just like people going to a party
or relaxing in a spa," Ichwan said behind the catwalk.

The air of relaxation was present in their designs, which were
influenced by dress styles from the Middle East, such as Turkey
and Morocco, and the Orient, especially Indonesia and India.

There is nothing new in this "go East, young designer"
philosophy: Many designers have interpreted a "return to peace of
mind" by taking as their reference all things Oriental, with the
lasting associations of religion and spiritualism. The hippy
movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, where wealthy but
disenchanted westerners sought some spiritual solace in India and
other Asian countries, contributed to Asian-influenced clothes by
designers such as Yves Saint Laurent.

In Urban Crew's styling, the "exoticism" of their own backyard
was cooked up in a multicultural blend with Western styles.

A male model went down the runway in a tie-dye sleeveless
undershirt and multipocketed cargo trousers, his hair styled up
in a stiff semi-Mohawk.

The kaffiyeh, the headscarf made fashionable by Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat, was tied as a tunic blouse. A Moroccan-
style cloak was worn by a male model with his hair in dreadlocks.

It must be acknowledged that the blending of styles was
supported by the makeup and hair-styling talents of make-up
artist Qiqi Franky. The tanned, dewy faces of models contributed
to the exotic look, as did his novel selection of the mohawk and
dreadlock hairstyles.

Overall, there was a youthful, free, almost hippy-like feeling
to the collection, and the designers said they were inspired by
the rebellion of the Woodstock communal gathering in New York
state in the 1970s.

There was a surprise in this collection. Urban Crew up to now
has been noted for its sporty, contemporary and decidedly non-
ethnic designs, but there were also faded, or "shabby", batiks on
show.

Faded batik was a popular style in the 1980s, a period of
coming of age for the Indonesian fashion world when the search
for self-identity was made through a great reliance on local
products. It was part of the "shabby chic" trend that took hold
in the United States and Europe, when it was a case of the
shabbier the better for the wealthy.

Today, in a local fashion world awash in a current of trends
and the popularity of elegant and glamorous gowns, the use of
such batiks is in itself a courageous, rebellious step. That is
especially true because Urban Crew's clothes are oriented to the
young, notoriously resistant to wearing a fabric that is more
often associated with their parents.

"Why shouldn't we use local products. What counts is that they
are shown in a cosmopolitan manner," Ichwan said.

For him, cosmopolitanism in dress style means that the batik
design is closely contoured to the body for a more youthful, sexy
appearance. Take, for example, the tight batik blouse combined
with a gown and a denim jacket. There was also a loose-sleeved
faded batik dress accented with plain fabric and embroidery that
resembled the obi, the uniquely Japanese broad sash.

"I like the idea of batik and its embroidered details," said
Titi DJ, although she said batik did not suit her look.

Instead, she preferred a bright orange baby-doll gown with an
embroidered fringe below the bustline.

It's not easy giving a modern, cosmopolitan look to a
traditional mainstay, and the designers seemed caught in the
cosmopolitan-but-exotic paradox.

They showed faded batik in a kurta-style dress, inspired by
the traditional tunic of an Indian male, with pants made from a
sarong. For women, there was the leisurewear of a baby-doll
blouse, but accessorized with a nose ring and mihindi henna hand
decorations.

Again, the young often crave paradoxes, perhaps as part of the
need to buck conventions. A bit of adaptation and styling,
however, could help smoothen out the rough edges.

The two designers are graduates of Singapore's Lasalle fashion
school, but Era graduated earlier than her design partner, who
had worked in a textile company.

He also had a stint at leading teen magazine Hai, which gave
him the opportunity to organize the styling for photo shoots and
in the process work out his own creative devices.

Era took part in the Indonesian Young Designers Contest and
won first prize. Then the two of them joined forces in Urban
Crew, funding it out of their own pocket but, using creativity
and courage, approaching Dupont Lycra to sponsor their first
fashion show.

Since then Urban Crew has gained recognition in the fashion
community and in the entertainment world. As well as celebrities
donning their clothes, several music groups have chosen their
designs for their music videos.

Today, their label is perhaps the only one in the country that
is focused exclusively on ready-to-wear for youngsters.

For the last three years, the designers have demonstrated
their ability in dress styling, the pattern of which has become
very familiar to fashion observers. The formula is basically to
look stylish, and wind a broad sash round the waist above a
combination of hipster pants and a tight blouse or gown.

The creativity is still there, but they seem to have
overlooked that the sash look is now out of fashion, simply
because it is found everywhere.

"Ive got too many broad sashes and jeans in my wardrobe
already," sighed one young woman as she kicked back with a drink
at the after-show party.