Fashion designer Poppy Dharsono displayed her mastery of traditional fabrics with 10 looks under her '€œRedefining Heritage'€ collection at Indonesia Creative Week Spring/Summer 2014 in Jakarta.

At the show, Poppy'€™s work did the talking. Without the spectacular lighting or blaring music that accompanies most fashion shows, she opened the event with her well-kept standard of elegance.

'€œI prefer to focus on evening outfits, which are grand and more serious, because my young designer colleagues have done a great deal in exploring casual clothes,'€ said Poppy, 62, prior to the show.

'€œI also think that the evening outfits are more representative of the international market, but without forgetting the locals.'€

The use of both batik and songket woven fabrics are mixed with silk and cotton in order to bring international and modern flavor out of its traditional presence. The overall look of the collection is more wearable and favorable for the international audience as the pieces are simply yet elegantly designed.

Poppy explores various Javanese batik motifs from Central Java, including those from Surakarta, in the first five looks of the collection, ranging from jackets with pants to dresses '€” all within various hues of brown, a classic tone for Central Javanese batik.

A sleek batik jacket with high-waist pipe pants was the first outfit to appear on the runway, bringing a very uptown-girl feeling to the classic brown batik.

Dresses came later reflecting Poppy'€™s love for marrying plain outwears or tops with dresses or skirts in batik motif.

Another outfit combined a brown jacket, shaped like a Javanese man'€™s traditional beskap top, with a long skirt in parang motif '€” a perfect, distinctly Indonesian outfit for a formal evening. Simple yet an attention-stealer.

Other looks were a gold knee-length dress with drapery stylized with a batik-ornamented cropped jacket, as well as a long dress with a three-quarter length sleeve blouse.

The overall batik-based collection showed lightness suitable for outdoor and indoor events as well as for short-distance travel.

'€œI'€™m not a batik artisan like Iwan [Tirta, an influential designer in Indonesian fashion], so I work with many batik and tenun makers nationwide who provide the fabrics for my drawings,'€ said Poppy, who is also the founder of the Indonesian Fashion Designers Association (APPMI).

'€œIt'€™s been a privilege for me to work with them because Indonesia is truly a heaven for such traditional richness.'€

The last five outfits in Poppy'€™s collection used songket and tapis woven fabrics from Palembang of South Sumatra and Lampung.

One of these, a structured sleeveless tunic with tenun motif and a pair of plain-colored pants plus a pashmina, was perfect for a simple woman, while a sassy purple dress accented with a cape was a good fit for a stylish one.

Poppy also showed something for those in the mood for some sleekness in a breezy weather '€” high-waist pants, a top plus a long coat with tenun motif.

Poppy also mixed the basic plain black dress with a toned-down tenun cropped jacket plus gold accessories.

The true chic outfit was the last look to show on the runway: a black-and-white songket long coat, a pair of long boots and a black shawl.

The designer said she planned to continue exploring Indonesian traditional fabrics as that would encourage young designers to show off their country'€™s heritage to the world.

'€œThe point is how to produce clothes that carry that modern feeling of being a cosmopolitan woman, but without losing the Indonesian side of her,'€ she says.

'€œIndonesia'€™s unique touch from its rich traditional background is certainly different than other countries.'€

'€” Photos by JP/Ricky Yudhistira

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