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Avant-garde accessories Art, Heart in a Crown
It’s real: A model wears a mask created by designer Alston Stephanus
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It’s real: A model wears a mask created by designer Alston Stephanus. (Courtesy of Alston Stephanus)
Two Indonesian accessory designers have poured their hearts and passion into putting the country on the world map of avant garde fashion.
Wearable artwork makes a great entrance but may not be the must-have item to complete one’s everyday look.
It’s a very different story in the world of entertainment and fashion where two Indonesian accessory designers have dressed up some of its most noted citizens and made their names as international brands through the elaborate designs and the quality of their craftsmanship.
ALSTON STEPHANUS
The most memorable couture creation for Alston Stephanus was the headpiece and sphere for Nadine Chandrawinata when she competed at the Miss Universe pageant in 2006 in Los Angeles, California. The national costume outfit, which was designed by kebaya designer Anne Avantie, ended up taking second place in the dress category competition. That was also the moment that launched him into the fashion world.
“It was the first time I made traditionally imbued accessories with a touch of glamour,” said Alston at a media event on May 3 at The Dharmawangsa, South Jakarta, in conjunction with his company’s 12th anniversary next October.
The creative director of Alston Stephanus Accessories is exalted for his unique wearable artwork, which he defines as “a cross between Victorian glamour and Javanese keraton” that come in varied forms, from necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings to headpieces that range from ornate wearable designs to avant garde runway fashion.
His take on a Queen Amidala original design costume called The Kinjeng Gown ended up as one of 15 selected to compete in the “Best of Star Wars” category at the 2015 Disney D23 Expo Mousequerade costume competition.
Himself a professional costume player and a life-long Disney and Star Wars fan, Alston was honored with accolades for his high-fashion female version of Lord Darth Vader as well as the stylized C3PO and R2D2 in 2014 at an official event, and dressed Tea Falco to walk on the red carpet of La Scala Theater in Milan, Italy, in 2012.
His company is the official accessories designer for the annual Miss Tourism Indonesia pageant and the visiting Miss Earth International, but his most celebrated works mostly come from his imagination of an object or a story.
At the media event Alston brought seven elaborate masks he created for a performance titled The Dance of the Seven Lucky Gods to mark the art exhibition opening of Japanese manga artist Junko Mizuno for her Takarabune collection in the Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra, California, last December.
“In my line of work, the one thing about being a designer is how to make something not real into something real,” said the 30-year-old, who also has the experience of producing and directing a show in a bid “to make his accessories come to life.”
Alston said his main obstacle was that he was always hard on himself about research into an object or a story, finding the philosophies beneath them. “If I don’t have the story, I can’t make the accessories,” he said.
RINALDY A. YUNARDI
Most Indonesian high-fashion designers have taken a chance to work with Rinaldy A. Yunardi who can turn wire into a glamorous sculptured headpiece and who has become a household name for the country’s fashion-conscious A-listers.
His artwork — that’s how he describes his babies — have dressed top American singers Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry.
His most recent example was when American recording artist, dancer, model and actress Cassie stole the spotlight wearing Rinaldy’s Swarovski-encrusted ear cuff at the “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between” Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City.
In his 21-year career, the 46-year-old has worked with various materials for varied designs and sizes — he has even designed a bed headboard in collaboration with an interior designer.
His latest venture is working with resin material used for interior decorative laminating.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said after showcasing his new collection in Jakarta on May 2. “I’ve been looking for this material, which is flexible but tough, it’s shiny and reflective yet very light.”
The high-pressure laminate (HPL) sheets are made of resin-saturated craft paper layered with clear melamine, using a premium line of products called Tiero, which are usually used to cover walls, floors and furniture.
Rinaldy and his team of artisans worked manually to create the 33 headpiece designs from the originally planned 12 pieces to be presented in the show titled “Tiero X Rinaldy A. Yunardi”, that showed how he was impressed with the material.
Male models in all-black outfits designed by Tri Handoko emphasized the unique quality of the material that in one design is springy, but in another looks sturdy.
Rinaldy made the sheets into spirals, tube rings attached to one another, a diorama of skyscrapers equipped with little cars that slowly moved as the brim of the headpiece rotated and a series of headpieces inspired by Trojan soldiers’ helmets as well as the Navajo and Mohawk native-Americans.
“I still have many materials on my list I long to work with someday,” said Rinaldy, who is currently preparing for his own solo exhibition later this year.
“As a self-taught designer I learned a lot from fashion designers and fellow accessory designers. After all this year I’m still eager to explore my creativity more freely. But I don’t do it for the commercial value of it. I do it for art.”
