Ready-to-wear parade

The vividly colored, ready-to-wear collections coming from the hands of designers Kleting Titis Wigati and Barli Asmara are hard to resist.

Kleting is not a new name in Indonesian fashion industry. After graduating from the ESMOD design school in Jakarta, she flew to Milan, Italy, to study fashion at the prominent Instituto Marangoni fashion school for four years.

She then gained important experience in Hong Kong, working for nearly two years as a product developer for an Italian company that owned labels like Miss Sixty, Energie and Killah, before returning home to establish her very own label, KLÉ.

Kleting displayed her latest work in a show titled “Move”, presented by a motor corporation alongside Danny Satriadi and Imelda Kartini at Jakarta Fashion Week, showcasing a complete dynamic and sporty look, using vibrant color schemes like fuchsia, orange, lime green and shocking pink.

The latest KLÉ pieces definitely showcased the spirit of fun yet fearless women. Kleting’s work celebrated the cheerful side of a city life, playing strongly on an upbeat mood.

Sport jackets, shorts, shirts, hooded tops, loose shirts, and primarily, colorful sneakers brought out the sporty factor of the collection.

Kleting dauntlessly contrasted one vivid color with another. Take a violet bandeau which peeped out below a dusty blue loose shirt and fuchsia pants.

She also smoothly injected some feminine touches in the form of shirtdresses, flowing maxi skirts, micro minis, sheer asymmetric tops and printed scarves.

The collection reflected KLÉ’s core concept, simplicity with a twist, based on wearable designs and constructive tailored patterns.

The models seemed to have a good time on the runway, leaving behind more formal statuesque looks for playful attitudes, waving and smiling to audience, making faces and playing with their hair.

Barli, known for his detailed womens- and menswear, got out of his painstaking and complicated haute couture designs for a while, and had some fun with prêt-à-porter with lots of color accents.

Barli’s work featured much simpler, yet wearable clothing than is usual for his designs, without neglecting his powerful use of detail and draping.

While Kleting work exploded with a burst of candy colors, Barli featured the more subdued palette, flaunting muted colors such as peach, beige, dusty yellow and coral.

One-piece dresses — long, mini and pencil — were all over the runway, while two-piece creations included shorts, loose trousers and pencil pants matched with shirts, vests and other blouses.

Jumpsuits, long tube dress, and trench coats, teamed up with shorts and shirts for appearances on stage.

Although Barli was born into artistic family, his family did not support his dream of becoming a designer. His grandparents wanted him to be a businessman, a profession they considered as much more manly.

He took business marketing at a public relations institute while continuing to pursue his love of fashion.

His dream came true when he finally established his own label in 2000, and since then he has turned into one of the most reputable young designers in the Indonesian fashion scene.