JP/DON

Held at the brand'€™s newly opened gallery at Galleria Grand Hyatt in Jakarta, the Iwan Tirta Private Collection displayed at least eight fresh looks out of 30 designs from the January collection.

'€œThis collection basically carries drawings that are adapted from our previous collection, which was inspired by Hasta Brata '€” an ancient Javanese philosophy on leadership,'€ Iwan Tirta Private Collection creative director Era Soekamto told The Jakarta Post, referring to the glamorous and heavy previous collection, which was released in October.

Hasta Brata consists of eight natural yet powerful elements. They are Bhumi (or Earth, which represents wisdom); Surya (sun, which represents the source of life); Chandra (moon, which represents motivation); Angkasa (sky, which represents sincerity); Maruta (wind, which represents justice); Samudra (ocean, which represents coolness and care-giving); Dahana (fire, which represents assertiveness and integrity); and Kartika (star, which represents role models and guides).

The Hasta Brata-inspired items carry various imagery, including underwater creatures, birds and natural elements.

'€œ[The January collection] is a ready-to-wear set. Therefore, I simplified the drawings from the philosophical Hasta Brata concept,'€ said Era, adding that light and non-philosophical drawings are more suitable for collections that are released at the beginning of year.

The creative director admitted that choosing simple designs for the brand, which is known for its complicated and meaningful drawings, is a business strategy in order to approach potential buyers.

'€œI like people to know that Iwan Tirta Private Collection is not always about heavy, formal clothes full of imagery.

'€œ[Through the January collection], I show people that outfits with some parts that are plain are actually also batik clothes because we do batik technique on them. Such batik is known as batik terang bulan,'€ said Era.

Blue and black long dresses with draping accents on the front are among the batik terang bulan outfits in the collection.

Era said that the draping was inspired by a condition that forbids her to cut cloth.

'€œIt is always in our mind to never cut cloth. There'€™s a method in designing: draw from scratch and add some layout before you can call it a design.

'€œWith those dresses, we do the layouts and put up some draping art into it,'€ she added.

The blue dress applies a white floral motif with a red accent, while the black one is designed with golden sogan imagery.

The two dresses are exquisitely perfect for both day and evening events.

A stunning blue sack dress with sleeves speaks beauty for itself. Its floral motif represents elegance, while its dynamic cutting symbolizes modernity.

The brand also provides batik terang bulan dresses in shorter versions. The blue one with black obi and wonderful floral motifs on its bottom part is a catch for those who can fall in love with classic cutting.

In the men'€™s division, the show revealed three classic long-sleeved shirts '€” two in blue color, while the other is in brown.

On drawing two-tone outfits, for example the blue-and-white men'€™s shirt, Era said that she wanted to simplify the design.

'€œWe need some platforms to approach people [to wear batik]. We do have designs with complicated motifs and three-plus colors, but we also have a simple outfit with only two tones, like the blue-and-white,'€ added Era.

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