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Jakarta aims to become regional fashion city
Colorful parade: Fashion designer Tities Saputra (right, front) joins the models who showcased his designs inspired by the late fashion icon David Bowie
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span class="inline inline-center">Colorful parade: Fashion designer Tities Saputra (right, front) joins the models who showcased his designs inspired by the late fashion icon David Bowie. The collection is a part of the “Glitz and Glam: Tribute to Legends” show organized by Grazia fashion magazine at Jakarta Fashion Week 2017 in Jakarta on Sunday. The fashion festival will continue until Oct. 28.(JP/Donny Fernando)
Jakarta Fashion Week 2017 (JFW 2017) is bigger with more countries taking part in showcasing future trends, spurring the confidence of the city government to look forward to when Jakarta becomes the fashion center of the region.
“Jakarta Fashion Week has shown consistency in developing the creative industry with its multiplier effects on the economy. We will be proud to see Jakarta as the fashion center of Southeast Asia in 2018,” Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said at the opening of the festival on Saturday.
It won’t be an impossible mission, judging by the fresh looks offered by participating designers and by the enthusiasm of fashion-conscious Jakartans attending each show.
The ninth installment of the annual festival is to run until Oct. 28 at the Senayan City shopping mall, South Jakarta — in a makeshift hall in the mall area, or in the mall’s atrium — where hundreds of designers from local and international brands are taking part in more than 70 shows exhibiting their latest collections.
India, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the UK and Australia are taking part in the festival in collaborative shows with renowned designers including Korean Lie Sang-bong, Japanese designer Suzuki Takayuki and Brit designer Richard Malone.
Indonesian Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) chairman Triawan Munaf said the festival organizer had set a modest target of 35,000 visitors in total this year.
“This festival is an important event that has gained world attention. The government will facilitate the event and the designers to reach our target of entering the world retail market in two to three years and to have at least one Indonesian label becoming a global brand in five years,” he said.
The highlight of the festival is Indonesia Fashion Forward, sessions that present the works of selected designers who have been mentored a full year on business planning, branding and marketing strategy by the London-based Center for Fashion Enterprise (CFE).
In its fifth year, the program, which was supported by the British Council and Bekraf, picked five designers to add to the 40 alumni. They are Tommy Ambiyo Tedji (with his B-Y-O label), Yelly Lumentu and Konny Lumentut (Day and Night), Rani Hatta, Surya Paulina and Ratna Katarina (Paulina Katarina) and Michelle Tjokrosaputro (BATEEQ).
“This fifth generation of Indonesia Fashion Forward is good as they bring something new to the industry,” said Svida Alisjahbana, founder and chairperson of Jakarta Fashion Week.
“Compared to previous years, we notice that it’s easier to work with sponsors and that more and more designers bought a slot in the festival, which are good signs of how this event has grown in importance for all stakeholders in the fashion industry.”
Previous Indonesia Fashion Forward participants, such as Lotuz, Peggy Hartanto, Tex Saverio and Major Minor are also exhibiting their latest works, while Muslim wear designers Restu Anggraini, Dian Pelangi, Ria Miranda and others are setting next year’s trends.
