Charming ladies

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Two fashion designers based in Bandung, West Java, Malik Moestaram and Harry Ibrahim, are stepping out of their comfort zone.

Recognized for his use of bright colors, Malik has opted for something cooler in his latest designs, toning things down by going with blue, green, amber and grey for cocktail and evening dresses.

Embellishments such as studs, sequins and tassels were all present at a show at the recent Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, creating a flashy mood on the stage.

Take a look at a high-collar studded asymmetric dress, a mini a-line dress with a bolero or high-waist skirt with a simple rumpled blouse, all perched on platform shoes. Malik added gold chokers to the latter to enhance their glamor.

Pencil-cut dresses were presented with either high-collar sequined boleros or coats. Some dresses revealed eye-catchy armor-like elements, which on the whole made for a fine piece.

“This [collection] is pretty much influenced by Chinese culture – the ancient Chinese – where the warriors went into battle,” said Malik.

An armor-like vest with tassels in burnt orange, for instance, was teamed up with a skirt and see-through fluttering outer garment.

Sheer chiffons were joined on the dresses, resulting in a flowing effect every time the models strutted on the catwalk.

While Malik injected tons of application, Harry Ibrahim infused some color-blocking with a more mainstream appearance, using less applications than usual.

Instead of toying with shiny embellishments, he was more into detailing, such as origami, as he embraced a futuristic look.

With the images of triangles, geometrics and curves as the background of the stage, Harry wanted to evoke a dynamic mood, contrasting a splash of strong hues with a dab of subtle tones for his latest outing.

This combination produced an outfit as body-hugging as a fitted pencil dress and as alluring as the origami accents on some parts of the outfits.

Light hues are Harry’s favorite things, but now he tried something new by giving bolder color palette a try.

In the first sequence, though, Harry still brought in champagne tones — some with a dab of bloody red and blue on the hemline, followed by a string of turquoise items, all in satin, while blue met nude on aerodynamic items.

High split curvaceous evening gowns later appeared on the runway, going side by side with mermaid silhouette, capturing the curvy lines that created the hourglass shape for the users.

“You may recall that my offerings are usually full of sequins, this time around I reduce the use of them,” explained Harry, adding that he dared himself by bringing in something in red.

For the finale, Harry showed his all-red collections, combining tulle and satin into an outer-space effect pieces with an emphasis on the check and neckline. Funky hairpieces adorned on some of the models’ head strengthened the futuristic idea, creating a more dramatic look.