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n avid social media user can easily find online communities built around certain products, mostly branded fashion apparel shaking up the virtual world.

Indonesian fans of retro-style products by US-based Authentic Fossil are no exception, with at least seven Facebook communities existing around the brand.

These forums — Fossil Addict, Fossil Lovers, Fossil Indonesia Addicted, Fossil Vintage, Fossil*Forever, Fossil Only and Authentic & The Lover Fossil — have tens of thousands of members, predominantly women.

Via the online forums, they exchange information on the latest releases and trade new and second-hand products.

One of the collectors, entrepreneur Nila Kusumawati, 47, initiated for the second time an offline gathering across the forums in Jakarta on May 7.

The event was attended by more than 420 members flying in from as far as Lampung, Central Java, East Java, Makassar, Kalimantan and Papua, besides members from Greater Jakarta and Bandung, West Java.

This year’s number of attendees was twice that of the first national gathering in September 2015.

“We organized the gathering as a place for members to meet each other in person and to build a sisterhood among us as collectors and fans,” said Nila, better known by her online name Brenda Lylla, the founder of the Fossil Lovers community.

Sponsored by Fossil Indonesia, the sole authorized distributor in the country under Time International; courier company JNE and Lamour Skin Care; the attendees enjoyed an enthusiastic gathering at the Omah Pawon restaurant in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

Donning yellow shirts provided by the organizer and brandishing their favorite collectible items, they took part in fun games to win Fossil products, such as bags, purses and wristwatches — some of them giveaways from fellow Fossil fans in the US, Australia and European countries — besides the jewelry charms from Fossil Indonesia in the goodie bag.

Nila, who has collected 115 purses and 99 bags since 2013, including many rare items, said that each of the members, who come from various walks of life, has more than one Fossil product.

“The retro image of the products is the main reason why we love them and are eager to collect old items that are no longer available in stores,” Nila said.

Second-hand items, according to one of the members, Rosa Rehatta, could be worth more than new ones, which are commonly priced between Rp 2 million (US$152) and Rp 3 million.

“Especially if the vintage item still has the tag attached,” said Rosa, the online seller, who was also part of the organizing committee.

Rare vintage items, Nisa said, were usually purchased through eBay from suppliers and collectors in the US, Australia and Germany.

“We can tell original products by the leather quality and texture, the stitching and colors. There are also some codes in small print we can Google to check the authenticity of the products,” she said.

It is amazing to see the sacrifices die-hard bag collectors make to get their dream bag. A Hermes fan in Hong Kong recently forked out US$300,168 for a Hermes bag made from Himalayan crocodile leather and diamonds, making it the world’s most expensive handbag.

Back at Jakarta’s Fossil gathering, Time International representative Teti Ruyati was surprised about the enthusiasm of the brand fans attending the event.

“I hope it means we can have a national gathering every year,” she said.