The past few years in Indonesia have seen the rise of local fashion brands for women that sell affordable, fashionable, ready-to-wear pieces at pop-up markets throughout the city or on the Internet.

Small to medium in size, these enterprises are mostly run by women in their 20s who do it all by themselves, from providing capital to hunting for fabrics to design, to tending to their booths.

The labels typically sell women’s clothing at affordable prices, usually from Rp 50,000 (US$4.50) to Rp 200,000 for tops or bottoms and up to Rp 300,000 for dresses.

With prices lower than those of local brands at Goods Dept. and pop-up market Brightspot Market, the pieces are typically sold offline at fashion bazaars at convention centers or shopping malls or online, through retailers such as berrybenka.com, pinkemma.com and scallope.com.

Most also have online shops on social media such as Facebook or Blogspot or dedicated websites.

The target market is women aged from 16 to their early 30s, ranging from schoolgirls to office workers.

However, some people behind the local labels have been worried after H&M, the international major fashion retailer from Sweden, recently opened a store in Jakarta.

Tiara Yunas, designer and co-owner of Binca, said that she felt the heat after seeing H&M’s massive campaigns featuring prices not to different from hers.

Five 13: Labels such as Five 13 typically sell fashionable and hip women’s clothing at affordable prices. (Five 13)
Things grew warmer still when Binca booked unusually low sales at a bazaar organized by Go Girl magazine at a Gandaria City on the same day that H&M opened its branch at the mall last month.

“Later, it turned out that my overall sales outside at that particular bazaar were steady,” Tiara said.

Binca, established in 2011 by Tiara and four friends, sells their line on berrybenka.com, pinkemma.com or at pop-up markets, local retailer Goods Dept. and some concept stores in Jakarta and Bandung.

Separately, Eva Buntara and Vivi Sulaiman of Ramune (ramuneshop.com) and Gladys Sastra of Five Thirteen agreed that H&M was a company that might shrink their sales, although so far those fears had yet to materialize.

“We are confident that we are unique and not so commonplace as H&M,” Vivi said.

The entrepreneurs said that Japan’s Uniqlo and Forever 21 from the US, both of which have been in Jakarta longer than H&M, have also not affected their sales, despite competitive prices.

Another entrepreneur, Helen Bellina of kiveeshop.com, said that she welcomed H&M as a new benchmark that would prepare the market for new styles.

Helen said that she would be more daring in releasing pieces that followed the latest trends if H&M had done so first.

For these entrepreneurs, inspiration can come the fashion weeks in New York, London and Milan, from fashion icons on Instagram — and also from their direct competitors: international fashion retailers.

“The existence of those stores makes us more creative,” Eva said.

Gladys and Tiara agreed their optimism also came from a calculation that the local market would be getting larger. Not only were more people shopping in Indonesia, their purchasing power was also greater.

The past few years in Indonesia have seen the rise of local fashion brands for women that sell affordable, fashionable, ready-to-wear pieces at pop-up markets throughout the city or on the Internet.

Small to medium in size, these enterprises are mostly run by women in their 20s who do it all by themselves, from providing capital to hunting for fabrics to design, to tending to their booths.

The labels typically sell women'€™s clothing at affordable prices, usually from Rp 50,000 (US$4.50) to Rp 200,000 for tops or bottoms and up to Rp 300,000 for dresses.

With prices lower than those of local brands at Goods Dept. and pop-up market Brightspot Market, the pieces are typically sold offline at fashion bazaars at convention centers or shopping malls or online, through retailers such as berrybenka.com, pinkemma.com and scallope.com.

Most also have online shops on social media such as Facebook or Blogspot or dedicated websites.

The target market is women aged from 16 to their early 30s, ranging from schoolgirls to office workers.

However, some people behind the local labels have been worried after H&M, the international major fashion retailer from Sweden, recently opened a store in Jakarta.

Tiara Yunas, designer and co-owner of Binca, said that she felt the heat after seeing H&M'€™s massive campaigns featuring prices not to different from hers.