Regenerate Indonesia Final day

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Our last day was spent with the winner of The Young International Fashion Entrepreneur 2009 Oscar Lawalata, a cloth maker and designer who has developed research into Ikat from all over Indonesia. Ikat is a traditional weaving technique which is made either by hand looms or on the machine. Traditionally Ikat was made with home grown cotton, naturally dyed handspun cotton and weaving.

Oscar was holding an exhibition which showcased over 100 outfits he had created working within the villages.

The exhibition was truly fascinating and displayed photos and artifacts and ceremonial items from tribes, villages and islands across Indonesia.

The exhibition displayed such a vast array of traditional techniques and creative cultural heritage, belonging to Indonesia.

Our tour of the Indonesian fashion industry had sadly come to a end and I have met some amazing people who I will stay in contact with and develop some interesting collaborations.

The tour had left me with a earge to explore the islands of Indonesia further, therefore I extended my stay to discover more about the industry and culture here, which you can follow on my Regenerate Blog:- www.regeneratclothing.blogspot.com

Regenerate Indonesia Day six

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I start the day with a ride on a lovely bicycle taxi to Kampung Batik (Batik Village), a cluster of traditional batik makers with their own boutiques and workshops located behind their shops (Great Idea). We investigated each process of making the batik, from waxing, to using natural dyes such as indigo, to washing out the wax and the dyes and the use of stamp batik.

I would love to collaborate more with this group who are open minded and want to keep up the tradition of using natural dyes and batik.

We develop our knowledge into batik further by a trip to Batik Danar Hadi a private museum which holds an impressive collection of almost 1000 pieces which were created before and during the Dutch and Japanese occupation.

The pieces created at the time of the Dutch occupation were particularly interesting and told fairy tales through batik design, i.e. stories like Hansel and Gretal in the style of  a tapestry.

Other pieces created at the time of the Japanese occupation had a strong theme of flowers and ornate patterns with rich colors and patterns.

At the back of the museum there are 100s of workers all archiving the traditional patterns and creating the most delicate batik. We sat with them and tried hard to master the art of batik, a skill it would take my whole to master!

We then travelled to The House of Bin in Solo for lunch this place was a magical, serene, peaceful place, and is the HQ of some of her finest workers.

I then travel to PT Tyfonex a factory in Solo that is the first factory to be certified by the soil association and Control Union for producing and spinning organic cotton canvas, corduroy and denim. Organic Cotton clothing for labels such as Monkee Genes, Gap, C&A and John Lewis, in their vertically intrigated factory.

The factory process an astounding 1.5 million pieces a year of organic cotton garments for the European market, which is only 1% of their business.

Raw Organic cotton has to be shipped from India so it can be spun and made into garments as Organic Cotton is not yet grown in Indonesia. We talk about possible collaborations and it would be possible for me to buy fabric and raw cotton off them to spin into jerseys. I am thrilled at this prospect and feel that if there is enough demand from other designer we can work together to develop some interesting fabrics.

Regenerate Indonesia Day five

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We arrive in Solo and travel to The Mayor of Solos residence for dinner, the mayor is himself an entrepreneur and tells us how he exports furniture from Indonesia to Doha, Dubai and across Europe. He is a very forward thinking and has just signed an agreement to help reduce climate change in solo. The plan is to build 1000 or more bicycle taxis, to reduce cars and pollution in the city.

The mayor is a great host and organizes for local producers to come and show us some of the products made in Solo, these included boxes, objects and toys made from recycled paper, dance costumes, naturally dyed batik and pineapple silk.

We then watched an exciting fashion show displaying the local batik and outfits from Solo. The show is a success and contained outfits made from pineapple silk, costumes made for traditional dance and some beautiful delicate draped chiffon pieces.

What a great city and fantastic mayor!

Regenerate Indonesia Day four

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Bandung! I am already impressed by this city, after looking at the crafts and products from across the region at the West Java Crafts Centre, it is clear there is a lot of fantastic varieties of talent.

We stop off at a Distro factory, where they produce thousands of t-shirts for different small independent t-shirt brands across Indonesia.

I explore print and manufacturing techniques at  the 347 factory, who produce a variety of t-shirts, jeans and hoodies, with up to 7 colour prints and embroidery.

Workers conditions were adequate, employees work 8 hours a day and are given a morning quata to complete. I am intrigued by the large amount of garments produced for the street wear market in Indonesia.  Regenerate would easily fit into this level of the market and has the potential to be sold through Distro outlets.

Wondering through the streets of Bandung, I heard rumors of unique subcultures and wondered…. where do all the punk, skater, rock kids hang out?

The answer was at our next stop hanging out in the Bandung Distro fashion cluster, here you will find an array of self-styled Indonesian punk scene youth wearing a self-styled, eclectic mix of skater, grunge and music inspired fashion.

Distro in Bandung started when young entrepreneurs produced there own clothing and started selling them at festivals. The Distro  scene has grown to large that these entrepreneurs have opened up their own boutiques, tour bus shops, skate parks, Distro fanzines and even music festivals.

Distro streetwear labels launched their own unique scene and promote their designs through the Indonesian music scene.

Most Distro t-shirts retail for around 10-15 pounds and Distro could easily look at accessing a more international market through shows like Bread and Butter.

Unfortunately most of the labels I met in Bandung do not have individual websites or online shops, preferring to promote themselves through myspace and facebook. Online shopping is not a common thing here in Indonesia due to the fact that most people do not own a credit card, making it difficult to pay online.

Going forward I feel that the Distro labels here need to develop individual online shops to appeal to a European market, or could develop more online portals like Distroland.com as a collective to promote their ranges.

Amongst this scene I met with Maijir from a eco label called Firebolt, Maijir was the pioneer of eco clothing amongst the Distro scene. His store Firebolt was the first Distro to open in a shopping mall and is filled with organic t-shirts, political clothing and a nice range of mens trainers.

He tells me about the challenges he has faced ‘going organic’ as the fabric is difficult to get hold of and expensive. As the raw organic cotton needs to be exported from India and does not grow here in Indonesia. We discuss possible solutions and are excited by all the possibilities that lie ahead.

I find another ethical designer called Anja Crabb, through Ethical Fashion Forum, she moved to Bandung after living to UK as is developing an eco womenswear line. Anja speaks of the same challenges, and it is clear that if enough designers could create a demand in Indonesia for eco fabrics then prices would be more affordable.

The Fashion Trail | Indonesia, Land of Batik, Bandung and BlackBerries

Indonesian street style in Bandung, West Java | Source: BoF

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Amongst the facts about Indonesia that one finds repeated in tourist guidebooks, country profiles and international news reports are the following: For over 350 years, Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch, and for a few years after that during WWII, by the Japanese. The Indonesian archipelago of 17,000 islands is home to more than 240 million people, making it the world’s fourth most populous country. Indonesia is also home to the world’s largest Muslim population and, of course, was once home to a young Barack Obama.

On the other hand, very little is known about Indonesia’s fashion industry. Unlike other large, developing economies — including Brazil, Russia, and India, which have been actively promoting and exporting their fashion culture to the West for years — Indonesian fashion has kept a mostly low-profile.

So, it was with great curiosity that I embarked on a tour of the Indonesian fashion industry this past week, hosted by the British Council as part of the UKYFE 2010. What I discovered is that Indonesia — perhaps the most creative country in all of South East Asia — has a rich tradition of hand-made textiles and craftsmanship, a thriving urban fashion culture, and a high level of adoption of new media and technologies. It was like a BoF dream come true.

Special thanks to my UKYFE 2010 colleagues for a great trip and for all that I learned from each of you.

… Continue Reading full article on The Business of Fashion

Regenerate Indonesia Day three

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We visited Binus university who have just opened a fashion and marketing department, in collaboration with with Northumbria University. I gave a talk on ethical fashion, sustainability and the environment, which opened up a massive discussion with students and Indonesias answer to Ralf Lauren, Musa Widiatmodjo.

Musa is an established designer who works with women in the community, developing there skills fashion in textiles. These women have no prior experience and need to create an income for their families Musa trains them to sew and gives them an opportunity to create a living for themselves.

Musa Widiatmodjo uses end of roll fabrics and recycled glass and plastic beads made from smashed plates and bottles. I felt his calm, intelligent, composed temperament admirable and hope we can collaborate in some way in future.

It was clear from today that there is a massive gap in the market for eco fashion at that when we started an initial dialog at Binus, people were astonished at my bamboo dress and loved touching the fabric. This was followed by ‘where can I get this fabric’, then ‘where can I buy your dress’. Bamboo grows all over Indonesia it is something that can easily be developed further here.

After the presentation I was thrilled to meet a lady from Bandung who works for the ministry of industry, developing sustainable textiles. She was wearing a hard cased bag made from actual coconut, they were developing a variety of materials out of natural materials.

I also met a printer from Bandung who produces over 300,000 units a week for all the Distro labels. As well as running his own childrenswear line called Parental Advisory. He was very excited about the prospect of using eco friendly inks and fabrics in his business and keen on collaborating.

Bandung seems like the key place in Indonesia for small independents, fabric/t-shirt production and organics those three combinations get me really excited about our trip to the city tomorrow.

Regenerate Indonesia Day two

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First off the busy Tanah Abangmarket, an air conditioned indoor market filled from top to toe with wonderful batik, silks and colours, from all around Indonesia. we even came across silk made from pineapples.

A perfect place to come, once you have researched in to different forms of batik from across the region. It was clear to see how traditional fabrics could be translated in to western textiles to make attractive hand crafted products. I urged to see the original fabric being produced if the villages and learn more about batik.

Endro (from British Council Indonesia) planned this trip perfectly well as the next visit was too The Textile museum, where we were took on a guided tour of batik from around the country, as well as various techniques. This museum is an essential place to visit if you are interested in traditional Indonesian heritage, the museum also has a natural dye garden where you can learn about which trees natural dyes are made from and even take a course in natural dyeing and batik. I managed to buy a lovely batik making set to develop and my personal batik handwriting.

Alun-Alun was our next stop, which was the highlight of my trip so far the space was filled with fashion and lifestyle products, which have been designed by an array of creative designers who mix there design skills with traditional Indonesian crafts, which makes it a fantastic lifestyle store.

I managed to meet the Alun-Alun designer and product developer who spends 3 weeks visiting the villages and working with women in order to create unique and hand crafted products.

Next up was a trip to Bin House, a famous Indonesian designer who has dedicated her life to research and develop her own style of batik and is hugely successful. Her pieces can take up to 5 months to make and include white on white batik silk and batik on Kashmir which is made using a special technique which does not burn the fabric.

Bin was a passionate, hilarious, aristocratic, eccentric, who gave me a fabulous book and wrote: -

‘To my dear May, carer of the people and the environment’ which brought a tear to my eye.

48 hours in

We needed a good starting point and that is exactly what we got when
visiting the Ministry of Trade, an energetic and inspiring group of women who impressed by their passion and commitiment to the creative economy where they firmly believe the future of Indonesia lies. With this in mind they understand the importance and value that traditional skills and culture have and while it is imperative that this is not lost there is a need to bring things up to date to meet the needs of the modern world.  It was inspiring to see such a forward thinking long term view in emerging economy with many other pressing issues. The ever present question of IP was of course raised, interestingly the Ministry were anxious to voice their concerns that Indonesian products and designs which are communally owned such as batik were not credited to Indonesia and the IP was then claimed by the individual utilizing it. They acknowleded the converse and that many copies of branded goods are openly on sale  - an issue that they are trying to address with varying degrees of success.

The UKYFE10 tour is supported by several organisations not least of which is Femina, the preminant
lifestyle magazine group in Indonesia. Femina support the increasingly successful Jakarta fashion week and they also run a competition for young fashion designers which is a springboard for up to 80% of designers so they are pivotal in this industry. At present there aren’t too many local design brands but with such a vast local market of over 240 million the potential is huge. Indonesia is a very modern Islamic state and they belive that their USP is to bring modern Islamic wear to the worldwide market.

A day of contrasts from the bustle of the huge wholesale market Blok A to the serene sophistication of the beautifully curated Alun Alun, a shop selling the best of Indonesian craft.
We have a photographer – Muhammad, who is documenting the tour. Femina also sent a photographer for part of the day so our arrival at the market in a blaze of flasbulbs caused quite a stir, locals thought that they had better take photos too just in case we really were famous, OK for Mrs Beckham but not usually what happens when I go shopping. The star of the show was Justin and with his distinctive look he attracted much lively and undisguised attention which he dealt with in typical good humour.

Flagging and jet lagged our spirits were revived by the tour de force that is Josephine Komara of Bin house. A truly inspirational woman and quite a character who self deprecatingly describes herself as a cloth maker belieing the truly beautiful and innovative fabrics she produces. She rallied everyone with her manifesto for a better world run by a community of artisans rather than politicians.

A word about the food. We have recieved a truly warm welcome in Indonesia. Everywhere we go we are met with a generosity of time and unbelivable hospitality. This often manifests itself in the provision of delicious Indonesian cuisine, such a variety of dishes that I am not sure that we have had the same thing twice and we have sampled plenty. We haven’t stopped eating and in the brief respite between meals we are offered amazing snacks and ever more complex fruit juices, a far cry from tea and stale custard creams.

Karen Kindley – British Council

Regenerate Indonesia Day One

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First stop!

An official meeting with the Ministry of Trade, this was a very insightful meeting, where I discovered 47% of trade in Indonesia is fashion.

Traditionally garments are designed aboard from large high street suppliers and sportswear brands around the world, then samples are made and production is organized in Indonesia.

Over the past 3 years Indonesian designers have had more influence. through the support of Femina whereby Indonesian designers are promoted through Jakarta Fashion week.

Indonesian designers collaborate with artisans, using natural dyes in batik and traditional weaving, in order to develop this work to more of a commercial fashion based product.

Many Indonesian designers are leaving to work in a more western market, which has left the government working towards making them stay by promoting the use of traditional techniques worldwide.

The ministry of trade are keen to work with British Designers, in order to collaborate by creating products that are attractive to a European market and promote Indonesian heritage.

Another challenge is the use of Intellectual property rights, which must always be referenced.

I think its also important to add here that Indonesian patterns have symbolic meaning so its important to also respect the culture and find the story behind the design, in order to promote the local heritage and avoid disrespecting culture.

The Ministry of Trade emphasized the importance of promoting Indonesian designs to a worldwide market through, creative public spaces, which are limited out here and needs more supported from the government.  I left the meeting full of lots of ideas and with a better incite into the market here.

After visiting Fashion First Store it was clear that people are starting to work together to promote fashion, key designer that inspired me where Priyo Oktaviano, (SPOUS), Jeffry Tan and Nikkio homme, who all have unique handwriting that could easily be promoted and sell well across Europe.

We finally payed a visit to Esmond School of Fashion and saw the fantastic work from there fashion students, who were all confident and keen to use traditional prints, weaving and batik techniques, mixed with creative pattern cutting.

Regenerate Indonesia the big arrival

The first supper

After 18 hours the smells of cloves, cardamom fills the air, with vivid greenery outside the airport, I feel excited that we have finally arrived in Indonesia.

We meet Femina and Endro from the council and head to the hotel, the first thing that strikes me is the uniform that are worn by waiters, policeman, football fans and officials. Small details like the variety of badges on a airport security blazer, the traffic controls black n white steal toe capped boots and the multi-coloured stitching on our waiters uniform.

We eat a variety of exciting food from around java and beyond; I am certainly getting a taste for Asia.