Wood shavings head for Osaka in fashion contest

By Izabel Deuff

JAKARTA (JP): Is there hope that the crisis could be a challenging source of creativity, rather than applying the brakes on the Indonesian fashion momentum?

The Association of Indonesian Fashion Designers and Manufacturers (APPMI) wanted to think so: despite the fierce crisis hitting Indonesia and thanks to its sponsors including Texmaco, and the support of Esmod, an international fashion school, it held the Indonesian final of the Asian Fashion Grand Prix Contest on July 2.

Unlike previous years when the contest, the fifth to be held here, took place in prestigious hotels, the 1998 Indonesian Fashion Grand Prix Contest occurred in the newly opened Waroeng Kemang restaurant, South Jakarta.

"Hotel rooms are very expensive and this place ... can welcome 250 people," said the APPMI international director, Taruna K. Kusmayadi. Finalists will participate in the Asian Fashion Grand Prix Contest due to be held in Osaka on Nov. 18.

Indeed, there was quite a crowd attending the fashion show involving 40 finalists. They had been screened from 188 entries of under-30-year-old students from eight fashion schools in Jakarta.

The jury was chaired by designer Thomas Sigar, and members included Rae Sita Supit, general manager of promotions of the Pasaraya department store and Firman Ichsan, a photographer.

Following an opening address by Poppy Dharsono, well-known designer and president of APPMI, the audience was suddenly plunged into a violet half-light setting.

Fitting the scenery composed of motorcycles hung from the ceiling, the venue was instantly full of the humming of motorcycles and white spotlights twirling on the white podium, waiting for the first top models.

The various materials and crazy-shaped garments followed one another.

Most of the presented designs seemed to stress the originality of the materials more than the shape of the designs. Short skirts and long coats dominated the fashion show as well as the low- waisted features of skirts, trousers and shorts in line with the latest trends.

Some of the designs were notable because of their unwearability; one with a very straight and long papier-mach- like dress forced the model to take many precautions not to trip on the steps.

Another one featured a futuristic design of a dress silvered with metal wires and rings, all linked together and wrapping the model's neck and arms so that she could hardly move.

This design was one of the lengthy robot-like and space- influenced series, harking of the works of Spanish designer Paco Rabanne. Ethnic-theme entries, mostly with wicker, wood, leaves or flower motives were also paramount in hats, skirts and sandals.

Yasmina Benlalam, the French professor of Esmod Jakarta, said ethnic themes here were getting to be a bit too repetitious.

"Unfortunately, Indonesian students always come back to ethnic aspects. They (including jury members) favor brown colors and rustic materials."

However, many fashion followers here accepted such designs, she noted. "Leaves and branches suit people here. They can't do without them."

She added: "What bothered me is that the shoes didn't fit the clothes. They were too much or too less."

A few designs also lacked sewing -- hems were missing at the bottom of dresses, giving the impression that perhaps beautiful cuts were only the prerogative of haute couture clothes.

APPMI international director Taruna described the fashion show as following: "These clothes are not haute couture nor ready-to- wear. They could be clothes people would dress up fancy in Paris or New York. What would be more suitable in Indonesia is a ready- to-wear de luxe (style), something light and flowing."

The jury's criteria were innovation of materials, the effect on stage, the silhouette of the garment and its consistency.

The first prize of a one-year scholarship at Esmod and Rp 1.5 million went to Deviani Natalina. She was a finalist in the 1997 International Young Fashion Designers Contest in Jakarta, held to select entrants to the Paris grand final.

Deviani's long brown coat caught the jurors' eyes with its meranti (sal) wood shavings arranged in vertical lines and in flower shapes. Interestingly, she said she had drawn inspiration from wooden shavings left after the construction of neighborhood security posts during the May riots.

Second and third prizes, respectively Rp 1.25 million and Rp 1 million, were awarded to Ida Maryani and Fitri Laela, both studying in Interstudi school.

Their designs looked alike: Ida's long-sleeved overgarment was made of pastel green and wax-paper squares sewed together and was worn with colorful trousers made of banana tree leaves, cassava leaves and other sequins.

Fitri's creation included an open down the front tunic with a long apple-green straight skirt underneath. The sleeveless tunic looked like a tartan tangle of green, yellow and orange latex stems edged with a white downy fringe.

In the Osaka event, the three finalists will compete with finalists from 10 Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan and China. The winner will receive 2 million (about Rp 200 million) and have their design displayed in a Japanese museum.

Taruna hoped the event would increase awareness on supporting young designers, saying that the government and companies so far focused only on labor in the textile industry.