When dozens of kid and teen models walked down the catwalk, they became part of history — Indonesia’s batik met iconic Disney characters.

Posing in stunning batik lines with Mickey Mouse and friends, the young models presented the Disney-Keris collection by Batik Keris.

A little girl stole the show while posing in a smiling Mickey dress on paisley, a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of vibrant blue sky, yellow and orange, and a pair of short jeans. The wrinkled sleeves, a Mickey handbag and an orange headband added the perfect finishing touches.

Batik Keris proved that even a classic truntum design — a traditional knife-shaped motif — could be a perfect match with a fully drawn Mickey Mouse in his famous red pants and yellow shoes.

A green shirt, adorned with a bright brown color and the Mickey character, was presented onstage by a boy who was wearing it unbuttoned with a white T-shirt inside along with Mickey-on-rollerblades print jeans.

A girl came forward, showcasing her beautiful pink dress bearing a batik sulur motif and Minnie Mouse character. The dress was equipped with a drawstring on the lower waist that formed a short skirt, making the dress look like a two-piece item.

Apart from casual dresses and shirts, the collection also provided T-shirts for kids and teens in different colors and characters, including Goofy and Donald Duck.

For adults, Disney-Keris also presented its collection of comfy T-shirts in summer colors fit for casual activity or holidays.

A bright yellow T-shirt with printed Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck was combined with an artistic truntum flowery motif and then matched with white short pants.

For the boys, an iconic angry-faced Donald Duck in his blue sailor suit and hat was printed on a flashing red T-shirt with a touch of mega mendung, cloud-shaped pattern, on Donald’s suit and the hat.

Batik Keris president director Lina Handianto said she was glad to be eventually able to produce batik with an international flavor in collaboration with Disney. For the collection Disney-Keris showcased 32 items.

She said the idea for the new collection actually came up about three years ago when batik was already booming.

But they wanted to do more since batik is known as a style familiar for adults or worn at formal events.

“At some point at that time, we decided to start digging more out about batik in various colors and giving it a modern touch. Batik itself is a specific work of art, which is very much related to Indonesia. But we wanted something unique,” Lina says.

After a year-and-a-half of research and workshops, the company eventually found a perfect formula for Disney-Keris.

“Now, we are focusing on Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and ‘Gober Bebek’ [the Indonesian version of Scrooge McDuck] for this collection,” said Lina, adding that children and teens were the main target for the new collection.

“On those items, we merged the Disney characters with paisley, mega mendung, sekar jagad, sulur, truntum and parang motifs,” Lina said of the collection’s batik patterns.

 “We use the printing technique on smooth and soft cottons, so the kids will be comfortable wearing them. Some designs apply silhouettes of the characters but others are in full figure.”

Combining the Disney characters with batik patterns was a bit tricky.

“We had to be careful because if we got it wrong, the result would be a mess,” she said.

Disney’s representative, Fun Creative International general manager Mochtar Sarman, said the collaboration with Batik Keris would be a long-term commitment.

“We’ve had this idea in mind for 12 years. We eventually got the chance to make it happen now, with Batik Keris,” said Mochtar, adding that the collection might have a chance to go international. “We have to make sure that our products are flawless, and the rest will come along the way.”

— Photos Courtesy of Arselan Ganin