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ndonesian fashion designers aim to bring the sarong back from the grave and take it to the global level.

Wear a sarong on the streets and people might ask you if you were just circumcised or if you joined the ronda neighborhood watch.

Sarongs used to be one of the primary items of clothing for Indonesians many years ago. Now sarongs are mostly known as house clothes , blankets for the elderly or something used by Muslim men for daily prayers or for special occasions like circumcisions.

In many big cities, sarongs have lost their charm as they are often associated with low-class people or those living in villages, which is sad, since Indonesia has a wide array of sarongs and these have long been an inseparable part of Indonesian cultural life.

“All woven cloth always come in the form of a tube sheath. Then people sew the two sheets together into a sarong. A long time ago, people wore sarongs as daily clothing,” fashion designer Dina Midiani said.

Sarongs, she added, were not only made in Indonesia, but also other Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Yemen.

“As for Indonesia, we can find various kinds of sarongs in every corner from west to east, such as South Sumatra’s Palembang, Java, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi’s Makassar,” Dina said.

But today, in the drive for modernization, many Indonesians have overlooked sarongs and prefer to leave them on the racks of their closets at home.

This situation seems all too familiar, as this is what happened to batik, whose fame has risen in the last few years, followed by its recognition as an intangible element of Indonesia’s cultural heritage by Unesco in 2009.

Batik, which has been in the public domain for centuries, was used as formal wear or loose house dresses for a long time.

It was not until some local designers launched batik collections, marking new trends in batik, expanding and exploring the fabric and adding modern touches and brighter hues, that it became a must-have fashion item.

“Negative comments on batik are gone now. I hope sarongs will experience a similar revival,” designer Musa Widyatmojo said.

“We should not despise sarongs or give negative feedbacks to people who wear them. Give positive comments to those who dare to use it on public.”

Dina and Musa were speaking after a discussion on sarongs in the run-up to Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW), which is scheduled to be staged on February 2012 and themed “Colorful Indonesia”.

Fashion designers, experts, boutique owners, officials from the Trade Ministry and media participated in the event to give some pointers on how to bring the sarong back and how to take it to the international level.

On the sidelines of the event, designers Oka Diputra and Deden Siswanto showcased how to style sarongs, twisting and cinching them into modern yet stylish bottoms.

“We want to show the application of sarongs into a wearable yet simple contemporary outfit, not just something ethnic,” said Deden.

On a woman model, Oka skillfully transformed a sarong into a pretty skirt, while he created a modified denim-based sarong into a fashionable bottom for men. It took less than 1 minute to make each of the creation.

“See, this is very simple. You don’t have to become a designer to do this. And it does not have to be a sarong made from batik or woven cloths. You can use sarong from any kinds of fabrics and motifs,” Deden said.

This is not the first step taken to promote sarong. The management of Borobudur Temple, for instance, has obliged visiting tourists to wear batik sarongs when they enter the temple and prepared 10,000 sarongs for visitors.

Even though the program is mainly aimed at preserving and increasing the appreciation of Borobudur Temple as part of Indonesia’s cultural heritage, wearing sarongs inside the temple has also undeniably become a tourist attraction.

Moreover, Dina knew that for the sarong industry to continue, it must be developed and introduced to young Indonesians.

The changeover to sarongs for daily clothing, Dina said, would create an increasing demand for sarongs among the general public.

And the growing love of sarongs would stimulate merchants to develop more and more sarong-making businesses.

Moreover, Dina said that the sarong industry had been up and down and it usually earned most of its revenue during the Idul Fitri season.

“It’s a matter of how to make sarongs a never-ending trend which can be worn up and down during any occasions, not just as a decoration or seasonal piece,” said Dina, who is also the IFW’s director.

“We want it to be a global fashion trend. We also want to give some input on how to create sarongs so you can even wear it as an evening gown.”

This revival project, she said, would not run for only one or two years, but would be a long-term program.