Yvan Rodic: Style Spotter

The Jakarta Post -- WEEKENDER   |  Thu, 01/29/2009 9:05 PM  |  Profile

Seasons come and go, as do the trends that adorn the catwalks year after year. But what does it really take to remain stylish all year round? Residents of Jakarta, a city not exactly known as a fashion hub, need not be disheartened, according to Yvan Rodic, aka the Face Hunter. The blogging fashion photographer tells Nikeeta Lakhiani that it doesn’t matter which part of the world you come from or what sort of weather you have to deal with – great style always comes from within.

Yvan Rodic sits behind his Macbook in a quiet corner at Kemang’s Casa, an untouched plate of lasagna cooling in front of him. Just like the laid-back, quirky exterior of the café, he is dressed simply and amicably. The Swiss-born street fashion photographer now based in London has become hugely popular among those with an eye for what’s hot in the world of fashion and style.

What started out as a walk around Paris snapping shots of fascinating people now earns him 30,000 page views a day.

“I just took many pictures and after a few weeks I thought I’m meeting so many interesting people every day and people might be interested to see that. Maybe I can start a blog and see what happens,” he says in his heavy accent.

“I didn’t have any vision or expectation or plan … the kind of project that just happened.”

Having traveled to North and South America, through Europe and now to Asia, he is attracted to cities that are hungry for creativity. So what brought him to our distant neck of the woods?

Of his first visit to Singapore and Jakarta, Rodic says without hesitation that Jakarta is 10,000 times more inspirational than the urbane Singapore. It all boils down to the nature and green surrounding the city. While Western cities are strategic and structured, there’s always something new to expect in a city that’s still developing and oozing with character.

“It’s getting bigger and better and there’s an excitement about things and the people who try new things. So far the people I’ve met were quite interesting. People here are able to mix some kind of functional, local sort of aesthetic. It’s not that common. Most countries in the world are either stuck in the past and tradition or Western boring international standards,” Rodic says.

“But being able to keep your identity, it’s beautiful to see that. For example, I was really impressed by the necklace culture you have here. It’s really colorful and nice to see.”

While in most Western cities, stylish people gather in certain areas – such as Fifth Avenue in New York City – in less developed cities, the young and fabulous tend to hide in their caves.

That makes them difficult to catch without venturing out on a scavenger hunt. Nevertheless, Rodic makes even the most difficult task seem easy when it’s a labor of love.

But how exactly does he decide who’s blog-worthy or not?

It’s not about carrying a Balenciaga or Chanel, nor is it about wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “Prada”, he says. It’s a mixture of the person that you are, the life that you lead and what truly represents you as a person.

“It’s just a feeling that the person that you see has a personality – a mixture between creativity, elegance, charisma. It’s the whole package. I guess it’s also what I get when I’m talking to them – usually they have interesting lives. They’re doing something creative. Not just working in a bank and thinking life is boring.”

After a week exploring Jakarta and Bandung, Rodic says that he has been on a quest to find people who are out of this world – young, experimental and playful. While he may not consider himself a strictly fashion person, the notion of exploring the social culture through a specific territory such as fashion photography should teach us all that style is about dressing well with even the most conventional materials such as batik worn with a twist.

“In Jakarta you will feel the energy, there’s something more authentic,” he says. “It’s more extreme as well. It could be much better or way worse. It’s alive. It has its own buzz. And that’s fashion!”

Yvan Rodic’s fashion finds are at http://facehunter.blogspot.com

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