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span class="inline inline-left">JP/P.J. Leo Designing exclusive wear such as glamor haute couture items is not her thing — instead 29-year-old fashion prodigy Kleting Titis prefers prêt-à-porter collections that allow her to cater to fashion lovers with broader tastes.

When we met, Kleting looked stylish but understated in a pair of creme high-waist pants, a white blouse and matching platform shoes, and wearing simple makeup. Her hair was tied in a simple ponytail.

The makeup, however, could not chase away her fatigue. Hiding behind thick eyeliner, the woman, who had just come back from Singapore for a Blueprint exhibition and trade show recently, still looked weary.

“I have been sleep deprived lately, as I have been busy arranging things for my show; Blueprint. I haven’t eaten today either,” she said, while walking with The Jakarta Post to a café nearby her clothing store KLÉ situated on the first floor of Grand Indonesia shopping center in Central Jakarta, which is home to the boutiques of some of the most talented designers in town.

After ordering some munchies, she shared her stories about how she began to make her way into the Indonesian fashion scene.

Kleting discovered her passion for fashion design when she was in the fourth grade of elementary school, drawing sketches of women dressed in various outfits.

Thanks to her grandfather, who introduced her to the arts, including drawing, Javanese cultural arts such as wayang (leather shadow puppets), as well as traditional dance and theater.

Her name, Kleting Titis Wigati, was given to her by her beloved grandpa. The name derives from the character Kleting Kuning from the Javanese folk tale Ande Ande Lumut, which tells the story about a young good looking man named Ande Ande Lumut who while searching for a wife meets Kleting Kuning.

“My schoolmates told me that I could be a fashion designer. And by that time I already knew that I wanted to be a  designer when I grew up,” says Kleting, who was born in Jakarta on Nov. 16, 1981.

She continued her hobby of sketching at junior high school. Her hobby soon became the talk of her classmates, who began requesting that she design outfits for them.

“They usually asked me to draw a sketch and they would take that to their dressmaker. I also did the same thing for me because at the time I had not yet learned how to sew,” she said.

After graduating from high school in 2000, she studied at the ESMOD design school in Jakarta for a year, during which time she bagged an award for best interpretation design.

Later on, she flew to the fashion capital of the world — Milan, Italy, to study the basics of fashion, from sketching, pattern-making and sewing to styling, at the Instituto Marangoni fashion school for four years.

Why Italy? “I’m a wild child, you know. My parents would not allow me to go to New York, for example. They had no idea what it would be like if I went to New York,” says Kleting, the youngest of three siblings.

Studying in England was not a choice since as it was too costly, and she decided against France because she felt the language was too hard.

“My parents allowed me to study in Italy because we had relatives there. They worried less knowing that I was not all alone in Italy.”

On holidays, she usually went home and worked as a fashion stylist for some local fashion magazines.

She was also a freelancer for some printed local media, regularly reporting on music and fashion events from Italy.

After four years in Italy, she returned to Indonesia and became a fashion editor for a magazine for a while, before getting a job in Hong Kong in 2005 as a product developer for an Italian company that owned fashion labels Miss Sixty, Energie and Killah.

She considers her two-year stint in Hong Kong as her master’s degree in fashion, as she learned many things she had never learned at fashion school.

There she learned about washing techniques, stitching and printing, how to communicate with others, manage people at a factory, inspect products and find accessories.

“My boss trusted me to handle everything. I was once sent abroad to check product samples and told to solve problems without any supervision,” she said.

“Even though those were all not included in my job descriptions, I did not complain. I was happy doing all of them. That [experience] was the best teacher. I felt like I was getting a master’s degree, but being paid.”

It turned out that all of that work was a kind of test preparing her for what was to come.

After almost two years in Hong Kong, Kleting decided to return to Indonesia in 2007.

“Working in Hong Kong is good for you because you can learn a lot of things there, but at that moment, I felt like I had to go home,” she says.

Her sick mother was also one of the reasons that she returned, and not long after she returned to Indonesia her mother passed away.

Her life went on. She then worked for an Italian-HK motorcycle wear company called Berik and was given the responsibility of design and doing sampling in Jakarta.

She also once was contracted to design uniforms for department stores and other companies.

Two years after she left Hong Kong, she finally realized her dream, which is every designer’s dream — of establishing her very own label, called KLÉ Divisione Donna. The name KLÉ is taken from her nick name.

“It seemed like God had shown me the way. If I had stayed in Hong Kong, I might not have established my label,” Kleting says.

Simplicity with a twist — that’s the main concept of her women’s wear collection, based on wearable designs and constructive tailored patterns.

Her designs are simple and minimalistic, with details and curves added here and there to give a full-bodied rich feeling.

The line give the formal and casual wear edginess, style and creativity that bring out the character of the wearer.

She has adopted the elegance of traditional European taste, while at the same time incorporating fun Asian fashion themes in her designs.

“I offer ready-to-wear outfits with different cuttings and details. They’re not too edgy, but they are wearable,” she says about her newest line.

“I think the market for ready-to-wear lines is pretty good. People are now starting to appreciate local products.”

Asked whether she intends to move into haute couture designs, she replies, “No, that is not my thing. I will stick to ready-to-wear.”

Having her own label and leading a team of staff in her workshop in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, have been amazing new experiences for Kleting.

“Becoming a designer is not only about drawing sketches. You have to be able to design, have public speaking ability, and know about accounting, manufacturing and marketing. Five things into one. That’s so difficult,” she says.

She could not be more grateful because she has already fulfilled many of her life targets in the last two years.

In 2008, Hard Rock FM Jakarta named her as one of the most inspiring people under 30 years old, while a year later she took home the Cleo young and talented designer award at Jakarta Fashion Week 2009.

Kleting, however, does not now want to sit back and relax. She hopes she can take her brand international and participate at Singapore’s Blueprint.

“I have had the chance to meet a lot of buyers and international media there. That’s a new experience for me — working with people from other regions in Asia,” she says, adding that she also wishes to design menswear in the future.

Although such success will be difficult, and will require sacrifice, Kleting has proven that she has what it takes to succeed.

Kleting tries to find a balance in her life between her passion and her family and friends. She manages to find time to hang out with her friends and play with her three nieces.

“My nieces like sketching. They say they want to be fashion designers. They sometimes play in my studio and I usually introduce them to things like textures and colors,” she says.

How about shopping?

“I don’t shop anymore. I wear all of my own clothes all the time. I still shop for cosmetics, though.”