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RI brands in Paris Fashion Week confusion
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Controversy erupts from uncertainty of on- and off-schedule events.
From Feb. 28 to March 8, Paris held its Fall-Winter shows with designers like Chanel and Givenchy showcasing their latest collections. Celebrities like Georgia May Jagger and fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni attended, taking their places in the front rows.
Considered as the Mecca of fashion, Paris Fashion Week (PFW) has always attracted fashionistas from around the world, including from Indonesia. But this year in particular, PFW went viral on Indonesian social media as Gerakan Ekonomi Kreatif (the Creative Economy Movement), shortened to Gekraf, was announced as joining the Paris Fashion Show at Paris Fashion Week 2022, organized by the Fashion Division.
Gekraf accommodated 10 brands in the event. The brand collaborations that were part of the Gekraf Paris Fashion show were Scarlett x IKYK, 3 Second x Danjyo Hiyoji, Greenlight x Ican Harem, Shade Signature x Kosme Mask, Shademulsk x Dr. Lid, Yanti Adeni x Ayam Geprek Bensu, Brand no Brand and La Sabelle x Em En Hair Design.
While many were ecstatic about the presence of local brands in Paris, some others called out the brands for misleading the public by having Paris Fashion Week in the headline of their Gekraf show, after Gekraf was found not listed as part of the Paris Fashion Week schedule by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), the official PFW organizer.
Looking for clarification, The Jakarta Post tried to contact Maharani Kemala, the coowner of MS Glow — one of the brands that participated in the Paris Fashion Show, through WhatsApp messages. She responded by asking the Post to refer to the statement issued by the company.
In that statement, MS Glow acknowledged that there had been some misleading information circulating in the public regarding their participation at the fashion week.
“We felt it was an opportunity to introduce Indonesia’s local products and culture abroad. However, when the event attracted comments, we realized that there has been some ambiguity in the information,” the MS Glow team clarified on Instagram.
The Post tried to reach out to Rizky Arief, the founder of HMNS Perfume, another brand joining the event, through WhatsApp messages and received no response. HMNS also issued a statement on their Instagram.
"To say HMNS was a part of Paris Fashion Week without clear explanation so that it led to misinformation, in the end, we realize, was a wrong decision," the HMNS team clarified on Instagram.
Official brands
Despite the controversy, two Indonesian brands were listed by the FHCM for this year’s event. Sean Sheila, a fashion brand based in Jakarta, was one of them.
Sheila Agatha Wijaya, the coowner of the brand, noted that Sean Sheila was not holding a fashion show. Instead, it had a showroom displaying its designs. According to Sheila, this was not the first time she held a showroom case in Paris. Sheila had showcased her works in a Paris showroom from 2017 to 2020.
“They’ll look at your branding. Our brand has been working with people with disabilities for our garments. Prior to joining a showroom show, we had won prestigious awards like the Harper's Bazaar Asia New Generation Award and participated at Mercedes Benz Sydney Fashion Week in 2013,” she shared.
“Last November, a showroom called L'Adresse, invited us to hold a showcase [at PFW]. We also received support from the Indonesian Embassy in Paris,” Sheila said. She added that she had to submit a portfolio and had discussions about her designs and achievements as the brand owner with the agency. This year, Sean Sheila along with another brand, Jewel Rocks, were part of the PFW’s Showroom for Indonesian Designers.
For this year’s showcase, Sheila and her partner Sean Loh prepared 23 looks that were inspired by nature, such as embroidered pieces that resembled mushrooms. The brand had to showcase the fall-winter season styles. This year’s collection took two to three months of preparation.
Off and on schedule
According to Melinda Babyanna, a fashion consultant from The Bespoke Fashion Consultant, a consultation platform for young designers, designers could still showcase their brands in the off-schedule calendar. However, designers who were participating on the off-schedule were not affiliated with FHCM.
In order to join the event, brands that meet the prerequisites need to submit their application to the event organizers that arrange the off-schedule Paris Fashion Week events, and they will assess the designers’ eligibility.
“There are on-schedule and off-schedule events during the fashion week. For the on-schedule events, your brand must be listed under the FHCM. However, if an emerging designer is still planning to host a show, they can present their designs through events that are organized by different event organizers,” Melinda explained.
Melinda used the example of Elima, an emerging designer who held a show in Paris on March 5 and was also assisted by the Fashion Division. The show was not part of Gekraf’s fashion show event.
But even for off-schedule events in Paris, though not part of the official Paris Fashion Week by FHCM, designers still have to go through a thorough process. Melinda noted that the procedure was not as easy as people imagine.
The designers and event organizers have many initial preparations. One of which is sending countless mood boards and portfolios for screening prior to the designer's departure for the fashion week.
“When a fashion designer is planning to go to Paris, we help curate the collection and adjust the designs for the right season. Because when a designer is going abroad, they are not only creating brand awareness but also introducing themselves to potential buyers,” Melinda added.
“That’s why it’s important for designers to state which shows they are participating in. For example, if they are on the off-schedule, they should announce that the show is an off-schedule event. This way, there will be no misunderstanding,” she continued.
More than a show
There have been other Indonesian designers who have displayed their collections in Paris — Toton Januar being one of them. He showcased his collection in a showroom from 2013 to March 2020.
Toton and his team went to Paris at least twice a year to present their latest collection. “If you come to Paris only once or twice, I personally think that it does not bring any benefits for your branding,” Toton said.
Toton shared that he was first able to showcase his collection in a showroom in Paris following an incubator program held by Jakarta Fashion Week called Indonesia’s Fashion Forward. “The selection was tough because they want you to be ready not only from a design perspective but also with your business model, which is very important. The business model includes understanding the production costs,” Toton added.
Toton shared his view as to why some designers chose the international market, or thought that it was superior to the local market. “Aside from the prestige that comes when a designer is able to hold a show in Paris, the fashion business is different. In the international market, they will use a wholesale system, while in Indonesia they have a consignment system. Therefore, it depends on the designer, like which business model they prefer,” he explained.
Target market
Lastly, is Paris always the dream for all designers? Wilsen Willim, an Indonesian designer who presented his creations in Paris between 2016 and 2019, said designers should not be focusing on Paris only. He continued that it always depended on what the target market of the designer was themselves.
“I prefer to hold my show in Jakarta. I know who to invite and I am surrounded by the people I’m comfortable with. And I will choose Shanghai or Seoul to hold my fashion show because Asia is a good market for designs made by Asian designers,” Wilsen said.
He shared that the trends in Asia were also fascinating to follow, but it was understandable that for Indonesian designers there was something special about holding a fashion show in Paris because the city itself was known as the fashion capital of the world.
He also shared that one of the main reasons why he had chosen not to hold a showroom case since the pandemic was due to the declining number of buyers and travel restrictions. Wilsen shared that the industry was having a harder time than it looked, especially for emerging fashion designers kickstarting their careers in showroom showcases.
“I have to be realistic, and I don’t want to waste my time and money to go without knowing what I will achieve in the end,” he said.
“Even during a showroom case in Paris, the showroom owner will be very careful with the designers. Because they have their own reputation to uphold, they carefully check the credibility of all the designers,” Wilsen continued.
However, he implied that every designer had a right to hold a show for their collections. Referring back to the recent Gekraf event, he said it was important to make sure that designers and events provided the right information to the public, especially for people who were not familiar with fashion.
“What I want to address is that putting out the right information about a fashion event is crucial. It also should be noted that the designs presented during the event in Paris were not bad. Unfortunately, there was just some misleading information,” he closed.
