The matter of skills and  creativity will ultimately be able to save one’s livelihoods.  If used right, it can make  a large difference to both  the local and global environment around them.

Three foreign-educated Indonesian women have found a unique way to empower women in remote areas of the archipelago.

Du’Anyam — a portmanteau of the Flores word du’ for mother and anyam for the weaving craft — is a unique fashion company in that it was not started solely to enter the fashion industry, but to focus on the multiple socioeconomic aspects of the industry.

Anyam is a weaving craft that uses leaves, primarily lontar palm leaves, to create a variety of items, from baskets, slippers, bags and trays to wallets. The craft has often been overlooked, but for those who have been practicing it their whole lives, it could become an instrument to ensure their survival.

Hanna Keraf, one of the cofounders of Du’Anyam alongside Melia Winata and Azalea Ayuningtias, is in charge of the company’s social and community division. She elaborates on how the company started as a way to address public health issues in far-reaching places in Indonesia, such as her home island of Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur.

All three women are graduates of some of the world’s top universities: Hanna from Japan’s Ritsumeikan APU, Melia from the University of Melbourne and Ayu from Harvard.

Having seen the best of the world, reaching out beyond their comfort zone felt like their calling.

Responding to the health emergencies on Flores, which has one of the highest child mortality rates in the country, Hanna returned to the island with Melia and Ayu to observe the conditions there.

Together, they observed the living conditions of the women and children to see if they could find any correlation. But it turned out that the most fascinating thing they observed was the women’s daily activities.

“They would craft, weave cloths or menganyam [weave lontar leaves], and we saw that if they were able to make more from their skills, surely their economic and social situation could improve,” said Hanna.

By providing a large market for the women’s creations, Du’Anyam claims it was able to improve the economic and social conditions of some Flores women.

“In some households, most of the women that we talked to told us they felt they were contributing more to their families by being able to provide some money, instead of just being dependent on their husbands. They also said their income was now enough for them to feed their children nutritiously like never before,” Hanna said.

Since their relative success in Flores, Du’Anyam has expanded to several regions in Indonesia that also have an ingrained weaving culture, such as Berau in East Kalimantan, Nabire in Papua and Sidoardjo in East Java. Each of these places uses their own distinct materials in their weaving.

For a good cause: By promoting the women’s craft creations to a large market, Du’Anyam aims to improve their economic and social situations.

Du’Anyam retails its products in upscale shopping malls across the country. The company has also managed to penetrate international markets, with fashion items like slippers and bags, as well as decorative items like woven baskets, reaching as far as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Dubai and the United States. The company is still evaluating the market preferences of these countries before it decides to focus on export markets.

It was only after 2016, when it decided to enter the retail industry, that its overall success was seen in a wider scope.

The path into the retail industry was one that required much caution, as the Du’Anyam founders had to consider their weavers’ capabilities, such as how many items they were able to make in a day and the kinds of products they could create.

“Before we got into retail, we mainly tried outlets that catered to the weaving women’s abilities and capacities at the time,” said Melia who manages marketing and sales.

“So the first thing that was developed as something that could be sold on a large scale was woven slippers, and our main target market was hotels,” she said. “Why hotels? Because we knew they would be able to collaborate with us and buy our products on a large scale, so that the women could keep on producing.”

As the retail industry gradually became a possibility, Du’Anyam debuted its products in collaboration with fashion lines like Contempo, offering items such as handbags at the 2016 Jakarta Fashion Week.

Detailed: Du’Anyam woven products come in different shapes and forms, from baskets, slippers, bags and trays to wallets.

As the demand for their products grew exponentially, Du’Anyam CEO Ayu credited the rise to the company’s strong and clear vision on the social and environmental aspects of their craft products.

“Every product is handmade by women in Flores, who are socially and economically benefitting from their own skills. The materials are naturally sourced and biodegradable,” she said, adding that the clarity of its vision had enabled Du’Anyam to collaborate with regional and central government bodies.

A major collaboration that Du’Anyam has secured for the year is being one of the primary merchandisers for the upcoming Asian Games.

Their merchandise, Melia said, were small volumes of quality anyam items such as sunhats and fans. The company has opted to stay away from primary merchandise such as shirts and caps to focus on what they are good at.

“In the end, we want to showcase the best of Indonesian culture, and to do so with the best intentions for the weaving women,” she said.

 Hand-in-hand: Three foreign-educated Indonesian women Melia Winata (left), Hanna Keraf (center) and Azalea Ayuningtias, work together for women weavers.

— Photo courtesy of Du’Anyam