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Jakarta Post

Lombok'€™s majestic '€˜tenun'€™

Top Indonesian designers Barli Asmara and Dian Pelangi, as well as newcomer, Zaskia Sungkar have showcased their work utilizing the exquisite tenun woven fabrics of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, for the first time to Indonesian audiences

Niken Prathivi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, July 4, 2015

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Lombok'€™s majestic '€˜tenun'€™

Top Indonesian designers Barli Asmara and Dian Pelangi, as well as newcomer, Zaskia Sungkar have showcased their work utilizing the exquisite tenun woven fabrics of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, for the first time to Indonesian audiences.

The three designers displayed their collections for fashion enthusiasts at Senayan City in Jakarta after bringing their work home from Couture Fashion Week in New York in February.

Barli said that they had been offered a place at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in February of next year.

With years of experience behind them and influenced by their signature drawings, Barli and Dian displayed trendy looks designed for the Fall/Winter 2016 season.

Targeting European and American markets, Barli, who is the owner of Barli Asmara, Barli Asmara Couture and Barli Asmara Muslim Wear, injected winter-friendly colors like grey, dark green and black into his collection. He also infused the repetitive geometric and floral motifs of Lombok woven fabrics into long coats, blouses, pantaloons, sweaters and volume dresses. To make Barli'€™s kind of modest fashion wearable to everyone, Barli chose bucket hats to substitute for headscarves.

'€œI accessorized the looks with hats and gloves instead of layered headscarves to nail that feeling of familiarity [among Europeans and Americans] for fall and winter,'€ he said after the show. '€œI'€™d like them to understand that this kind of modest fashion is wearable even for those who don'€™t wear headscarves.'€

Barli said that he found himself falling for Lombok'€™s tenun, especially those from the Sasak tribe.

'€œThe craftsmen take quite a long time to make a piece of Lombok'€™s tenun. We'€™re doing our best to help them in making tenun more attractive to the world,'€ added the 37-year-old.

Dian Pelangi, known for her dramatic drawings in bold and bright colors, has confidently brought her signature designs into the Western world. For this collection, Dian applied color blocking '€” green, blue, orange, red and yellow '€” to go side by side with the vibrant motifs of Lombok tenun.

Dian used classic cuttings like long coats as well as long dresses, in addition to modern ones like blouses and trousers for the American market.

'€œLombok tenun is perfect material for the collection, especially for an American audience, as the woven fabric is thick and therefore suitable for winter. The tenun also doesn'€™t wrinkle easily and won'€™t cause trouble when you wash it,'€ said the owner of DP by Dian, DP Bride, Gallery Dian Pelangi, DP Hajj, D-Men and DP Kids.

To make her collection approachable, Dian picked turbans to replace headscarves.

'€œBesides promoting Indonesian culture, especially the culture of Lombok, to the world, we'€™re also promoting modest Islamic fashion,'€ she said.

Introducing her new skills to the crowd, Zaskia Sungkar, who is also an actress married to actor Irwansyah, displayed a collection in pastel colors. In her work, Sungkar seemed comfortable with A-line long dresses that carried Lombok tenun motifs.

'€œIt is an honor for me [as a newcomer] to sit with Barli and Dian, and introduce Indonesia to the world through our work,'€ said the designer, who launched the HF by Zaskia Sungkar brand. The brand, which was founded in 2005, has presented its work in a series of couture and luxury fashion shows in New York City and other selected cities.

'€œWe had successful shows. Hopefully, we can carry on.'€

'€” Photo by JP/Jerry Adiguna


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