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High risk, high reward: Tommy Ambiyo’s experimental fashion
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Pushing the boundaries: Designer Tommy Ambiyo Tedji’s exploration into modular-designed garments as presented at the Dewi Fashion Knight show at the Jakarta Fashion Week in October last year. (Courtesy of Tommy Ambiyo Tedji/-)
From the get-go, designer Tommy Ambiyo Tedji knew he had to do something bigger than just simply creating a beautiful bag.
Negating the need for stitching or glue, Tommy has engineered unique textiles out of repeated interconnecting shapes or “modules”, which weave together to form a richly patterned design, unlike anything else on the market.
There is a distinctly futuristic feel to the clutches and bags created from this mold-breaking textile innovation.
Science fiction has had a prominent influence on Tommy who has long been fascinated with the freedom involved in creating a whole new world.
Soon after graduating from the Bandung Institute of Technology with a degree in product design, he realized he needed to carve out his own niche.
“I couldn’t compete with the best designers in the world and I can’t compete with the biggest mass producers in the world so it was necessary [...] that’s why the need to create something totally different was necessary and strong,” Tommy explained to The Jakarta Post.
After some initial success in 2010 with his first bag collection using Tyvek -- a “crumpleable” but durable paper often used to make envelopes -- he hit a wall. “I was kind of traumatized by the bad sales,” he said.
