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Indonesia’s Olympic costume draws global attention despite criticism
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Team Indonesia arrives during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
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span style="background: transparent">Indonesia's Olympic team had the world do a double take as it proudly strutted its sort-of batik costumes at the opening ceremony on Friday.
The parade leaders included some wearing Balinese kebaya, traditional gold-emblazoned Lampung costumes and similarly traditional Papuan costumes. The rest of the Indonesian team donned white blazers adorned with a large Garuda batik in the front, with additional accessories of udeng (headpiece) for the men and scarves for the women.
While the traditional Balinese, Papuan and Lampung costumes looked regal and garnered somewhat expected praise from the global audience, the white blazer with its enormous batik motif was not popular in Indonesia, especially in social media.
Designed by Prima Suci Ariani, who prefers to be called a culture and batik enthusiast due to her lack of design background, the Indonesian team's uniform has been under fire since it was unveiled in July. Many have questioned why the Indonesian Olympic committee did not opt for a professional designer and instead appointed a non-designer figure to create the nation’s team uniform for the opening ceremony.
When Indonesia has Tex Saverio, Biyan, Lenny Agustin, Sebastian Gunawan and many other senior fashion designers, why Prima Suci Ariani???
— alpian (@alvianoszta) August 5, 2016
Who is Prima Suci Ariani and why some pecinta batik with no fashion design background is designing a very important uniform?
— Lily M. S. (@lilymarp) August 5, 2016
Social media users also compared the US-appointed well-known designer Ralph Lauren, Britain’s Stella McCartney and Cuba’s Christian Louboutin to Indonesia’s unknown name in design.
Seragam Olympiade 2016 tim Cuba paling keren, desainernya Loubotin. Canada juga. Indonesia? Nggak bagus. https://t.co/p1Q0Qfk04f
— Paramita Mohamad (@sillysampi) August 4, 2016
Some others compared the design to candy wrappers and uniforms worn by probiotic drink saleswomen.
Seragam tim olimpiade Indonesia. Desainer kita bukannya banyak yg bagus-bagus ya? Ini bungkus permen atau apa sik? pic.twitter.com/7f1IxqoJYS
— Joko Anwar (@jokoanwar) August 5, 2016
Amid harsh criticism over the past few weeks, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nachrawi tried to stay positive. “We are proud to showcase the rich Indonesian heritage at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics, where the world watches,” he said at the Maracana Stadium, Brazil, Friday.
(Read also: Weightlifter Sri Wahyuni wins Indonesia first medal at Olympics)
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Olympic team’s costume garnered praise from media around the world. USA Today ranked Indonesia eighth in a total of 17 best costumes worn by country delegates at the opening ceremony. The Wall Street Journal’s Ahmed Al Omran tweeted how impressive he found the Indonesian team’s costume.
Indonesia wins the most impressive outfit so far #OpeningCeremony #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/G92ckOakND
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) August 6, 2016
The Boston Globe’s sports editor, Matt Pepin, also voiced his appreciation via Twitter.
Indonesia No. 2 on my favorite outfit list
— Matt Pepin (@mattpep15) August 6, 2016
Indonesia’s Olympic team is not the only one sparking controversy over its costume design. Ralph Lauren's design for the US Olympic team was criticized for its 'slight resemblance of the Russian flag'. Meanwhile the Chinese Olympic team's vibrant red and yellow colors were said to 'bear too much resemblance with a tomato-filled omelette'.
