Young Designers Contest 1994: In search of distinction
Young Designers Contest 1994: In search of distinction
By Dini Djalal
JAKARTA (JP): Fashion designers from Europe and North America
are looking to "the Orient" for inspiration.
In his spring and summer collections, Jean Paul-Gaultier
dressed his models in nose-rings and bright saris as an homage to
Indian and Masai culture. Vietnamese-style collarless jackets in
earth colors or indigo, fastened by ornate silk buttons, are now
a wardrobe staple. Even the cheongsam, that demure seductress of
a dress, has glamorously crossed the oceans. The originally
Chinese dress features prominently in Ralph Lauren's summer
collection and was worn by Demi Moore in the film Indecent
Proposal.
Meanwhile, Asian designers living in the midst of these
"inspirational" cultures are trying to develop their own
distinctive styles. They do not want to ignore the traditions of
their respective ethnic groups, but they also want to be
contemporary in scope.
The task is not as easy as it may seem. The option to
appropriate the tribal designs of various ethnic groups without
further thematic or technical innovation, is tempting, but hardly
amounts to a "personal style". Defining a "contemporary
Indonesian style" is akin to defining a contemporary Indonesian
identity, which is as yet in the formative stage.
Young designers
These are the issues being explored by the Indonesian Fashion
Designers Council (IFDC). Established in June 1993, last week it
staged the second Indonesia Young Designers Contest. The winner
of the contest, along with IFDC's member designer Carmanita, will
represent Indonesia as the ASEAN Young Designers Contest 1994 in
Singapore.
This year's contest winner is 23-year-old Syah Reza Muslim
from Jakarta. He is a student at the Susan Budiharjo Fashion
School. A protege of Hanky, of Hanky Coiffure et Beaute (one of
the sponsors of the event), he was urged to began designing by
fellow designer and friend Hutama Adhi.
When asked what his future plans are, Muslim replied, "I still
have to polish my skills for the ASEAN contest." Does he want to
develop an Indonesian style? "First, I have to develop my
designs, and then I will explore Indonesian cultures for further
inspiration," explained Muslim.
Muslim's designs were praised precisely because he met the
contest's requirements of commercial, wearable, individual,
crafted, Indonesian designs. His collection was named Kabaya,
after the traditional Javanese female dress of long-sleeved and
fitted embroidered bodices over a tightly-wrapped sarong.
He modified the traditional silhouette by cutting off the
sleeves and extending the trail of ladies' jackets to ankle-
length. The colors and fabrics were kept simple and natural --
mostly white, cream, and shades of rust in light linen and
cotton.
What stood out was the technical quality of his designs. The
jackets and waistcoats, for both males and females, were
elaborately cut but appeared seamless. The embroidery, which
innovatively replaced sleeve, waistband, pocket, and jacket
panels were simply gorgeous.
The winner of the Favorite Designer award also demonstrated
technical upmanship as well as promising personal style. Chelsia
Cahadi hails from Ujungpandang and is a 20 years old. For this
collection, she applied the bead work of Tana Toraja, in the
traditional colors of black, red, green, white and yellow, for a
striking and original effect.
Evening wear consisted of colorful, intricately-beaded
bodices, atop short or long black organza skirts. Day wear was
comprised of beaded brassieres underneath red cropped jackets and
waistcoats paired with matching low-waisted shorts, skirts or
slim pants. Many pieces were trimmed with bark or beaded
fringes, and sleeves or pockets were often ornamented with beaded
appliques.
Memorable
The most memorable part of the evening, however, was the show
staged by Sutanto Danuwijaya, a designer from Surabaya who placed
second in the contest. His collection was named "Oriental
Mystery" and began with a cloud of dry ice and gongs and chimes
from a traditional Chinese orchestra.
A stream of models then danced through the smoke, waving fans
and clothed in black and white linen aprons over ankle-length
skirts or wide-legged trousers. The audience gasped as male
models strolled the stage in similar aprons or long linen Mao-
style robes, with their heads sporting Chinese black caps with
long braided hair-pieces extending down to their waists.
The uniqueness of Sutanto's designs lie not only in his clever
pattern cutting but in the application of beautiful Chinese coin-
motifs, either in black and gold thread or similarly colored
beaded appliques. These large appliques appeared boldly on the
bodices of simple, black evening wear shifts and on the sleeves
of beautifully-cut collarless black suits as well as on the
various linen aprons and drawstring trousers.
The overall effect realized a sleek aesthetic vision and a
sophisticated cultural appreciation. It is what Asian design
should strive for: a balance between individual style and local
traditions.
The other finalists made fine attempts at this ideal, but fell
short of the aim. Their designs were beautiful, yet looked too
similar to most other mainstream contemporary collections of
layered chiffon dresses, palazzo pants and linen suits. Giorgio
Armani's simple shapes seems to have been the paragon of
esthetics. Yet if every color-blind "victim de la mode" adopted
this "elegant look", won't it cease to be "elegant"?
The colors were also not very radical. A beige suit may have
many virtues and outlast decades of fashion trends, but hundreds
of beige suits does not a wardrobe make.
Fashion industry
The world of fashion is often regarded as shallow and
inconsequential. But a successful fashion industry has great
economic, social and even political implications. France's
fashion designers contribute more to the national economy than
most other industries. An influential Indonesian fashion
industry, combined with the supporting textile industry, could do
the same.
Yet, presently, Indonesian design has not been able to capture
much international attention. Its products benefit from cheap
labor but have yet to gain the quality nor the individuality that
is sought by the international market.
Susan Budiharjo, organizer of the contest and a successful
designer, remarked, "In order to enter the international market,
we must refine the 'Indonesian touch'."
"In the past, Indonesia has entered design competitions in
Paris and Singapore," she continued, "but has never gotten much
recognition. We realize now that they want an Indonesian element,
that, even in Singapore, there was always special characteristics
of their own culture present in the collections, however little."
"Why try to imitate the styles of other cultures?" she asked.