Denny Wirawan

Tired of your same old fashion style and want something different? The latest designs from Indonesian designers may give you a fresh idea.

How do you define an edgy look, something new and unusual, different from the typical glamor? Or something that evokes something bold?

Renowned designers from the Indonesian Fashion Designers Council (IPMI) — Stephanus Hamy, Denny Wirawan, Barli Asmara and Adesagi Kierana — recently shared their thoughts on edgy style in a show, which is a part of the Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival.

The annual festival, held since 2004 at Sentra Kelapa Gading from May 14 to 29, carries the theme “Inculturation”, featuring dozens of Indonesian fashion designers with their latest creations.

The four aforementioned designers developed their signature designs, displaying their latest take on fashion with an “edgy style” as the main theme.

Senior designer Stephanus Hamy — widely known for his commitment in developing and preserving traditional fabrics, especially tenun (woven cloths) — still sticks to his path by creating ready-to-wear pieces out of tenun woven fabric.

He used tenun from Bali and East Nusa Tenggara for his second-line Earthnic by the Hamy collection themed “Goes to Tenun”.

Different from his Hamy Culture collection, which boasts more couture yet intricate designs, these outfits were much lighter as he combined the traditional cloths with modern items such as skinny jeans, micro skirts and mini shorts.

“I want to educate people on how to mix and match a tenun cloth with other fashion items. The outfits are more cosmopolitan and suitable for people in metropolitan city,” Hamy said.

Hamy was in the mood of playing with studded obis, pairing them with tops, tenun jackets, micro skirts, shorts and skinny jeans.

He toyed with accessories, from ethnic belts, wedge shoes and funky white boots to ballerina flats, pretty much representing today’s modern women’s style.

He also offered men’s wear in the form of loose tenun shirts, casually teamed with blue jeans pants.

Through his collection, it seems like Hamy wants to show that edgy-look outfits are wearable, something that you can wear daily.

While Hamy chose to use tenun, Barli Asmara came up with the Makassar traditional fabrics, popularly known as sutera bugis (Bugis silk) or lippa sabe, which are colorful and have distinguished yet unique motifs just like zig zag bombang patterns, portraying sea wave-like motifs, tie dyes or even plain cloths with a lovely color gradation.

These kinds of fabrics tend to be more glossy so they are more solid and not easily tousled.

Barli transformed the fabrics into a series of chic mini dresses, including tulip skirts with details like ruffles and frills, resulting in a fresh yet sophisticated look.

Next up was Adesagi Kierana who took the stage with a collection inspired by the dancing swans in “Swanderland”.

“While swans are usually depicted as white, I want to showcase swans colored gray and black,” Adesagi said.

Adesagi translated the idea into ultra feminine mini dresses in various silhouettes: Fur jackets and coats with flowery applications on light gray, dark gray and black fabrics.

Houndstooth or broken-check patterns were all over his collection, as well as platform shoes.

Denny Wirawan closed the parade with his stunning Gothic collection titled “The Illusion”, which was a combination of details and ornaments usually found in a church and heavy metal ambiance, which used to “conquer” the global music scene at the end of the 20th century.

The mix of the two core elements brought in a mystical yet sacred feel of a church and the wildness of rockers in the era.

Denny used lots with black as the main color, while using a shock of color like fuchsia on the layering part and beads.

The outfits ranged from one-piece to three-piece dresses, set against taffeta silk, chiffon and wool and adorned with details like plaited ribbons, frills and fringes.

He, for instance, paired a gleaming bustier with a fringed long dress and solid jacket. Another item was a black dress full of beads and fringes teamed with a beige double-breasted knee-length coat.

Denny went all out as he suited the models’ hair styles, which flaunted punk rock looks, strengthening the Gothic feel.

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