For fashion lovers, bags are their most trusted friends.

Baqita by Igna uses leather fabric as its main material. Yet, it beautifully mixes with qualified Javanese batik garments plus colorful applications to make pretty and artsy bags.

A piece of Baqita'€™s premium collection, priced at Rp 3.5 million (US$306.59), has a casual yet exclusive look.

'€œThis is our top item. The bag is made of almost-all suede leather, which is a premium, export quality one,'€ said owner and artisan Igna Najoan, adding that she also puts colorful ornaments on the bag to make it more playful.

Igna also makes a leather bag with a mix of batik cloth, which is produced in Serpong, Tangerang.

'€œI only use the best batik fabric, mostly from Java,'€ said Igna, who loves to hunt for luxurious pieces of batik cloth and keep it inside a closet until she finds suitable leather material.

She also loves to create beautiful bags with an artistic touch.

'€œWe apply a pure hand-made process for all of our bags. So, we also treat the batik cloth carefully. I won'€™t allow the batik cloth to be randomly cut just to produce more bags, no,'€ she says.

Igna reveals that she needs to look at the pattern carefully before doing the cutting and applying it to the leather bag.

'€œFirst, I collect the different materials of the bag, including the [plastic-made] small decorative ornaments, before making an item. So, the duration for producing one bag is really tentative,'€ said Igna.

It only takes her four hours to sew together all materials into one bag. It only takes more time when the material isn'€™t complete.

Igna says that all materials are obtained locally, especially from Central Java.

'€œWith so many details in the process of making the bags and the premium quality of the materials, my bags certainly carry an artistic value. My target market is Europeans and those who can appreciate the difficulty in making it,'€ she adds.

DI Studio makes plaited hand bags from mendong, or swamp grass, and eceng gondok, or water hyacinth. Prices start from Rp 275,000.

Farida Jusina, one of the craft makers of the Bandung-based DI Studio, got into the business with several of her friends out of a passion for handicraft. They produced several craft and souvenir products, including plaited bags with ribbon embroidery.

'€œThe ribbon embroidery is our signature. The bags are originally from Tasikmalaya,'€ she says.

Farida, who has been in the business for more than four years, says that plaited bags are never out of the fashion radar. '€œTherefore, we continue to take them to the national and international stage, but with constant innovation, including the ribbon embroidery.'€

The ribbons, she said, are always planted, not only glued. '€œPlanted ribbons make the bags more beautiful, and it certainly differentiates our products from others.'€

DI Studio'€™s plaited bags are for everyone, says Farida. '€œWe'€™ve received some orders from overseas, like the US, the Netherlands and Malaysia ['€¦] Yet, it also steals some attention from the local market.'€

Kias Leather with its authentic look of vegetable tanned leather bags stole some attention in the recent Jakarta International Handicraft Trade Fair (Inacraft) in Jakarta.

Young women to middle-aged men come to shop or to simply admire Kias Leather'€™s collection.

Jakarta resident Jaja had not planned to shop but ended up buying a sling bag for himself.

'€œBut, I don'€™t know, when I stepped in here [Kias Leather booth], I saw great local bags made from leather. I love the design, it'€™s very raw, and the price is quite OK,'€ said Jaja, who planned to check the brand'€™s website for future purchases.

Kias Leather, a leather bag producer from Yogyakarta, focuses on sling bags '€” both for men and women, including suitcases, camera and travel bags.

Although the brand comes from Indonesia, Kias Leather applies international looks to its classic vintage design, which usually captures the attention of buyers from Europe and Japan. Raw colors on its bags brings both a current fashion ambiance as well as a nostalgic feeling.

'€œWe do all the designs,'€ says owner Felix Ferdian, adding that all of his bags are produced hand-made with local leather.

Felix, who took over the business from his father in 2007, admits that his products are targeted for markets in Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the UK and Japan.

As for local market, he said Jakarta is the only city that can handle his bags.

'€œAgain, the design is quite specific. I learned that Jakartans tend to like these kinds of designs, and they usually buy the product as soon as they see it,'€ says Felix.

His products are priced from Rp 350,000 to Rp 2.5 million with orders came for up to 600 pieces per month from international market. '€œThe quality and designs are suitable for those markets.'€

'€” Photos by Nurhayati