Running until Oct. 9, the Pasar Tiban Karya Anak Negeri (Incidental Market by the Locals) bazaar presents batik fashion from her personal brands, Anne Avantie Atelier and Anne Avantie Heritage, as well as small and medium business (UKM) batik producers in Yogyakarta, Solo, Kudus and Pekalongan.

The event was kicked off with a fashion show featuring 100 models, public figures and celebrities, such as Indra Bekti, Julia Perez, Indra Herlambang and Melanie Subono. The runway showcased women’s collections by anneavantiemall.com and men’s collections by local designer Ai Syarif.

Anne Avantie told The Jakata Post that she had dreamed of creating a bazaar that gathered the works of many batik producers. “I saw that most fashion exhibitions feature the same products or brands, while there are many batik producers who create a great collection but don’t have the opportunity to join such events,” she said.

(Read also: Looking at the other side of batik)

The Anneavantiemall.com brand itself aims to cater to UKM owners who want to promote their products. “I collected the sample products from producers that have registered to us,” Anne said. If the products are good, she buys them with cash or through a consignment system.

During the occasion, Anne also stressed that fashion enthusiasts should not look down on block-printed batik. “People tend to underestimate the block-printed batik. However, I personally think both hand-drawn and block-printed batik deserves the same place,” she said, adding that we need to understand that there are many people whose livelihoods rely on block-printed batik.

“For hand-drawn batik users, don’t be too arrogant,” said Anne.

Pasar Tiban Karya Anak Negeri is set to be held in other provinces and will be part of the designer's solo exhibition next year. (kes)

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