Costume designers Trek in a new direction

Trisha Sertori , Contributor, Gianyar | Thu, 06/19/2008 9:59 AM | Surfing Bali

Way back in 1966, the Starship enterprise took to the heavens and went boldly "where no man has gone before".

Designers Khellar Crawford (from left to right), Mitchell Kulkin and Elijah Sound work with staff from the Sama Sama garment factory in Ubud to produce costumes for the 2009 release film Star Trek X1. (JP/J. B. Djwan)

Forty years later, costumers of Star Trek X1, which is scheduled to be released in 2009, went where few costumers had gone before and made "galactic Star trek costumes in the jungles of Bali," says Mitchell Kulkin of the EION 2013 label, one of the three costume designers for the latest Trekkiespace pirates.

That leap from Hollywood's magic-making machine to a garment factory on the back blocks of Ubud's remnant jungle is almost a case of fact being more extraordinary than fiction -- a rags-to-shared-riches story for the costume designers and the factory. A bit like having aliens tapping at the door around midnight and taking you for a joy ride in their spaceship.

Mitchell, with partners Elijah Sound and Khellar Crawford, have been making alternative clothing for the past 18 months. Their designs, with influences ranging from the romantic periods to road warrior and pauper prince, found a ready audience with the new agers seen at Burning Man, Confest and other new-age festivals.

Their designs also caught the attention of the costumers for the latest Star Trek film, Star Trek X1, in a classic Hollywood fame fantasy.

"We were discovered in Melrose Flea market on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood," says Mitchell. Yes, that Melrose Avenue made infamous in the 90s teledrama, Melrose Place.

Still unpacking their stock for the day, Mitchell says he was wearing the jacket that turned the EION 2013 designers' lives around.

"We were hanging our clothes at the market. I was still getting things out of bags and this man and this woman started grabbing at my jacket saying 'what have you got here' ... then he started opening bags and said this looks like Space Pirates for a new movie," says Mitchell, adding he and Elijah did not give much thought to the episode because "everyone (in Hollywood) is making movies".

In this case, the man and woman really were. An unexpected phone call from Paramount studios just three days before the Christmas break and the boys were signing on to design and make a couple of hundred costumes in a six-week period.

"We had been using Sama Sama in Ubud for all our designs -- they knew exactly what we needed. Two weeks after signing we were back in Bali," says Elijah, adding Sama Sama was calling in seamstresses from other villages and that their pattern maker, Pak Oleh, was "a super hero", creating patterns for the more than 200 garments -- no two of which are the same.

Elijah stresses their designs are very "hands on", with a range of techniques that can only be achieved through hard labor.

"It would be impossible to have this done in the States," says Elijah. He points out during the creation of the garments there were "dozens of women rubbing the fabrics with rocks".

"We all worked like mad with Sama Sama, basically non-stop."

For most young design labels, a break like this would have the designers pushing their company onto the mass market, but for Mitchell, Elijah and Khellar it is an opportunity to share wealth and develop their Sew it Forward organization that seeks to "bring people in fashion to donate to the education, health and welfare of the Balinese," says Khellar.

He adds Sew it Forward looks to develop sustainable manufacturing with an eye on the environment. "A bundling of the rock star clothes, the environment and feeding back to local communities through that."

And given the background of EION 2013's three members, this community sharing of wealth is another step on their existing alternative road.

Mitchell says he was an "anticapitalist" circus performer, Khellar was a Hollywood art director until he fell in love with Bali, and Elijah had been in fashion for a decade -- a heady mix for a design label.

"I was kind of resistant to clothes because I was an anticapitalist circus hobo," says Mitchell, adding he now understands that money can actually do some good.

"From the very beginning we wanted to find some way to give back to the community. That's how Sew it Forward was born."

Into the future, Mitchell says he hopes to establish a free school that "empowers inner-city students". Elijah hopes to continue in film while Khellar will continue to develop Sew it Forward.

All three plan to push the boundaries, and like good Trekkies everywhere, pilot their own Starship Enterprises into the future.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |