T

he message in Indonesian fashion today is loud and clear - in the right hands, the most traditional of fabrics can become the epitome of cutting-edge modernity.

The sarong goes punk. Tartan gets hip. Woven fabric gets sexy. All this is part of the fashion trend of rediscovering and re-imagining traditional fabrics. And part of the beauty of this trend - in addition to the clothes themselves - is that young designers are embracing it, turning traditional attire into contemporary ready-to-wear clothes.

Exemplifying this spirit were the designs by finalists in the 2009 Fashion Design Competition, which sent models down the catwalk in clothes exploring the competition theme of "Indonesia Fabric Creation".

Bethania Agustha Tamsir, a 19-year-old student at ESMOD Jakarta, who finished third and was named the favorite designer, released the sarong's inner punk. Inspired by punk styles, Bethania turned the conventionally old-fashioned checkered pattern into a tartan-like miniskirt and shirt, paired with jeans and boots. She also made a voluminous skirt and dresses out of the fabric.

"The sarong is usually worn by elderly people," Bethania said. "Through my designs, I want to show that young people can also wear the sarong with style."

Designer Sebastian Gunawan, who headed the panel of judges, said Bethania had managed to pull the traditional look of the sarong into something modern and international, for the checkered pattern was similar to Scotland's tartan.

Another finalist was 29-year-old Interstudi graduate Kursien Karzai, who used lurik bayat for his Save the Forest theme. Taking second place, Kursien turned the dim-colored traditional fabric into kimono-style jackets paired with shorts and skirts. His feminine designs got masculine touches through the use of hard elements, such as stone and wood.

The winner of the competition was Vinora Ng, 20, a student at ESMOD Jakarta. She featured simple designs made from North Sulawesi weaves. Vinora's designs consisted of mini dresses or miniskirts paired with a shirt. She combined a layered one-shoulder shirt with tight pants, as well as a one-shoulder mini dress with a shell-shaped shoulder pad.

Because the fabric she used already had an intricate pattern, Vinora only added three-dimensional embellishments made from the same fabric. On one dress, she twisted a small portion of the fabric into an oval-shaped ornament, while another dress had a circular flower-like ornament made from long strands of fabric.

"I tried to bring out Bunaken's underwater life in my designs," she said. "I want people to accept traditional fabric. Therefore I made dynamic, simple and modern designs."

Designer and jury member Taruna Kusmayadi said Vinora's designs were simple, but since urban people were usually already burdened by the hustle and bustle of city life, the simple designs became the most-wanted luxury items.

The seven other contestants also featured interesting designs. Albert Garry Yanuar, who combined crochet, tie-dye and embroidery, designed a skirt that could be worn as a knee-length robe, while Reviansyah Al Hamidi, who used Papuan and Jepara weaves as his inspiration, layered the woven fabric with black sheer fabric.

The Kalimantan-style tie-dye sasirangan fabric was featured by Elizabeth Myra Juliarti and Imelda Kartini. While Elizabeth used the sasirangan fabric to create dynamic dresses, Imelda combined it with Sumba weaves to create Chinese-looking dresses.

Galih Prakarsa took Bali checkered and prada (golden) patterns for his ruffled dresses, while Vonny Chyntia Kirana's designs were a combination of tie-dye, striped, checkered and abstract patterns, and Denise Kristi Trisna used Garut batik to create structured and layered dresses.

Sebastian said the criteria used to judge the designs were creativity, including strong concept and wearability, fashion knowledge, and how the dresses looked when worn by models or during the fashion show.

Femina magazine chief editor and jury member Petty S. Fatimah said although it was a design competition and finalists were allowed to break all the rules in the name of creativity, the jury decided to pick the winners out of the wearable criteria.

The competition has been held by the Femina Group since 1979 as part of its attempt to bring young talented designers to the fore. Designers such as Edward Hutabarat, Denny Wirawan and Sally Koeswanto are some of the household names who emerged from this competition.