Two in one: Alleira Batik's collaboration with Malaysian designer Michael Ong features pieces with two styling options.

Plaza Indonesia’s annual fashion parade returns with a curated lineup of homegrown talent and international brands.

Plaza Indonesia Fashion Week (PIFW), which runs until March 22, features a plethora of major designers and brands from Auguste Soesastro, Rama Dauhan, Toton, Sean Sheila to Aigner.

The fashion week, held as part of the shopping mall’s 29th anniversary, opened with a show by Wilsen Willim in collaboration with the Indonesian Heart Foundation (YJI). The collection, titled “Convoluted Repetition Theory”, features a total of 30 looks split into two phases.

The first presentation featured Wilsen’s latest offerings, utilizing shades of grey and loose, oversized pieces punctuated with floral patchworks on key items.

Wilsen’s signature androgynous silhouettes are still the collection’s main draw, allowing both men and women to rock the outfits influenced by classic menswear pieces, such as coats, blazers, and straight-leg trousers.

Alleira x Michael Ong

Feminine touches are also present, visible in skirts and dresses while still retaining the structured lines of the collection.

The second phase featured the YJI’s vibrant red, although used sparsely as contrasting pieces to the existing grayscale color palette. A recurring styling choice in the presentation is the use of red tights underneath monochromatic bottoms, creating an interesting contrast that also highlighted the wearer’s footwear.

The Terian, a fashion brand by Asia NewGen Fashion Award national finalist Merliza Fire Terian, went with the same general mood of minimalist lines. Titled “Serene at Dusk”, the collection serves up visions of summer sunsets through shades of blue and coral, while silhouettes are kept simple yet structured.

Slip dresses are a focal point of the collection, seen mostly in an asymmetrical cut in combination with a shirt-like sleeve and lapel, cut from contrasting light and dark fabrics for a classic styling.  Along with asymmetry, coats are also a key look, albeit with a more airy, lighter fabric for summer.

Classic black and white with simplified silhouettes seem to be a theme for 2019, as it is very much pronounced in AVA Prologue’s collaboration with Hakim Satriyo. Titled “Vol. II Monochrome: EN ROUTE”, the collection is rendered in black and white as the name implies, interspersed with metallic embellishments to elevate the daytime aesthetic.

AVA Prologue x Hakim Satriyo

Simple, clean silhouettes are key to the brand’s offerings, using surefire versatile pieces such as lightweight vests as well as loose trousers that could work in a number of styles. Traces of menswear are also present, seen in boxy blazers and jackets made feminine through cinching at the waist and strategic embellishment placements.

The other end of the spectrum sees German leather goods brand Aigner, utilizing the logo-heavy aesthetic of the 1990s that is making a comeback over the past few seasons. The Dadaism-inspired collection features the Aigner logo reimagined in vibrant primary colors used in both footwear and handbags, allowing users to create a statement even with a neutral wardrobe.

Also on the more colorful end is the collaboration between Alleira Batik and Malaysian designer Michael Ong. First working together in last year’s Plaza Indonesia Men’s Fashion Week, this year’s womenswear collection served up 24 looks in soft yet effervescent colors like blues, purples and yellows.

Titled “Two in One”, Ong designed the collection to be able to provide two different styling methods for one garment, working in the niche of day-to-night dressing that can be done in a pinch.

Serene: The Terian, a fashion brand by Asia NewGen Fashion Award national finalist Merliza Fire Terian, goes minimalistic.

“The collection is specially made so that career-oriented women can attend evening functions without needing to go home and change,” says Ong, noting the pieces’ multifunctional styling.

He may have designed the clothes for the working woman with a full schedule, but the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race come to mind when the presentation involves the models transforming the look mid-stride on the runway.

A full length coat in black batik with purple and orange details detach horizontally to reveal a strapless mini-dress underneath, while a midi-length coat for a formal daytime look transforms into a cropped jacket that compliments the lightweight gray lace dress underneath.

Not all of the garments have dramatic reveals, with some having tearaway pieces obfuscating small details such as Swarovski crystals or metallic fringes underneath.

Still, the notion of two-in-one looks is quite an interesting concept to behold, and might make an impression as one saunters into a room, be it business meeting or RuPaul’s workroom.

Grayscale: Monochromatic color palettes still dominate the catwalk at Plaza Indonesia Fashion Week, which runs until March 22.

— Photos courtesy of Magnifique