Words Yuliasri Perdani Photos Jerry Adiguna

It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s not the case for designer Alvin Tjitrowirjo, who has been a breath of fresh air in the country’s design scene by combining his modern design with Indonesia’s finest craftsmanship and materials.

In the midst of his artistic ascent, Alvin found himself facing an uphill battle, with the value of originality often given short shrift in society.

Following a tip from a client, Alvin visited a restaurant in Jakarta and sat on one of the chairs — illegal reproductions of a chair from his namesake furniture brand, alvin-T. The only difference was the ripped-off chairs came in a different shade.

“Monday to Friday, I work as a designer. Saturday to Sunday, I work as a design police officer. Sad […],” he tweeted upon discovering the fake chairs.

He posted a photo comparing his product with its imitation on social media. The restaurant owner quickly responded, claiming that he had no idea that the chairs, which were ordered from a workshop, were copies of alvin-T’s product.  

Since establishing alvin-T in 2006, Alvin has distinguished himself from other furniture designers with his choice of materials and his appreciation of centuries-old local heritage.  

He collaborates with local and international brands, such as BMW and Toto. With Toto, he created the Toto Toja sanitary collection, which includes a rectangular toilet bowl instead of the usual circular toilet design. He has also made award-winning furniture designs for restaurant establishments.

In childhood, Alvin dreamed of being an automotive designer. He planned to study design in Pasadena, California, but it became impossible when the 1998 monetary crisis hit the country.

Instead, he enrolled as a design major at RMIT University in Australia.  

“At first, I was still pursuing the dream. But then the [campus] automotive studio closed, maybe due to lack of students. There was one other studio that caught my attention: furniture design.”

Upon graduation, Alvin’s “Bell Chair” was selected to be exhibited in the world’s leading furniture fair, Salon Satellite in Milan.

Alvin returned to his hometown of Jakarta, and set up Alvin-T in 2006 before continuing his product design study at IED Istituto Europeo in Madrid. For six months, he interned with celebrated Dutch designer Marcel Wanders in Amsterdam.

“People see it [designing] as hobby or decoration. But it so much more than that. Many say that design is like a way of life,” he said.

“You want to be a designer because you want to be a problem solver.”

MADE IN INDONESIA

In many ways, alvin-T is Alvin’s endeavor to solve problems in the country’s furniture industry and many Indonesians’ negative perception toward the quality of local products.

“The brand came out of my frustration toward Indonesia, which has abundant resources but it is international brands that are taking the most advantage from it. Our motto is [creating furniture] made from Indonesian material, made by Indonesians and enjoyed by Indonesians, too.”

Through his distinct approach toward using local materials, such as rattan, Alvin attempts to change the public’s perception that local furniture is low-quality and therefore cheap.

“We cooperate with workshops that appreciate originality and desire to make something high quality. We use the finest rattan and explore many other materials, too,” Alvin said, explaining that he used quality rattan from Borneo and Sumatra.

The rattan is assembled by skilled craftsmen. They engage in a long but rewarding traditional method of manufacturing, which involves bending the rattan core by hand and burning it slightly to provide flexibility to form it into shapes.

Just like unique fingerprints of people, each rattan product has its own characteristic. Imperfections, which invariably occur in the process, lend personality to each piece.

Whether with rattan or synthetic rattan — mostly used for outdoor products — Alvin has playfully showed the various interesting things that he can do with Indonesia’s homegrown material.

He filled the space of the Indonesia Pavilion at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany with Linger, a wavelike bench made of natural rattan. Alvin also created a 7-meter-long undulating installation for the launching of BMW Gran Turismo. It is made of manau rattan, sourced from sustainable plantations in Kalimantan.

Mingle, a synthetic rattan sculptural bench for three, is a unique approach toward interaction. When a person takes a seat, the bench sends a movement that can be felt by other people sitting on it.

“This bench is specifically designed just to attract attention and promote rattan as a material with a personality.”

Aside from alvin-T’s love affair with rattan, it also conceived furniture items made of solid wood, steel and granite with a touch of traditional culture. At the center of its showroom in Senopati, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, is a dining table made out of solid marble inlaid with different types of marble and granite, forming a Banjar songket pattern from East Borneo.

Alvin has expanded the business into interior design, initially to help his clients place alvinT products in rooms.

“I design based on idealism, so at times it looks out of place,” he said. “The clients would say, ‘My house has a classic mirror, [an alvinT product] would not match with that.’ They had no idea how to arrange the furniture. Therefore, I decided to start designing interiors in the hope to educate the market.”

His interior design service quickly caught the attention of commercial establishments.

Alvin adorned Dapoer &100 Bar in Senayan with batik-inspired patterns and brought a cheerful Japanese fish market atmosphere to Sushi Groove Market in Kota Kasablanka Shopping Mall, South Jakarta.

His design for dessert and bakery shop Colette & Lola in Kebayoran Baru also won the best Restaurant and Cafe design from Style and Decor Indonesia.

POLICING THE JOINT

Once again, success brought the problem of others flagrantly stealing his ideas. Alvin saw that Colette & Lola’s bespoke stool was imitated by another chain of dessert stores. The owner claimed that he had no idea about the theft of the design and agreed to change the stools in all his outlets.

It is every designer’s nightmare to find out that their product, which they painstakingly worked on, has been ripped off and sold at a fraction of the cost. In Indonesia, it’s a recurrent reality. Alvin says copied furniture items is to be found everywhere: at restaurants, online shops and even major furniture retailers.

“Once, I saw a store in Kemang selling fake products. I commented on its Instagram account, ‘Please don’t sell ripped off items’ and then I got blocked from the account.”

Of course, a designer can try to register the intellectual property rights of their design. But as Alvin noted: “By the time the designer completes the year-long process, his product has been illegally reproduced multiple times.”

It is also easy to evade intellectual property theft claims, Alvin said, by changing the design’s color or altering its design slightly.

“My dream is that all commercial establishments do not use fake products anymore,” he said.

Alvin envisions making his products more affordable in the future.   

“At the time being, we have limited production capacity, thus our products are quite pricey. We hope we can cooperate with governmental institutions, workshops or companies that enable us to create products that can be enjoyed by many.”

And there is still one more dream in waiting: that childhood wish to design a car.

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