Toward the end of the year, many people wonder what the next trends are. It used to be quite clear-cut and “commandeered” by Paris, Milan, London and New York. Thanks to globalization and the information revolution, fashion has evolved to the point that now a trend can be what a particular designer or paying customer says it is.

Yet some dotes can be connected, so let’s have a look. 

Despite the recent streetwear trend and Suits having aired its final episode, suits will be highlighted next year. Deconstructed, in prints, and likely to be paired up with ‘70s-style wide-collared chemises. Indonesian designers Ai Syarif and Wilsen Willim are offering some sharp suits worth checking for next spring.

One print that will keep making headway is polka dot. There is a reason this month’s Uniqlo x Marimekko winter collaboration sold much faster than its summer 2018 capsule collection — people were ready to go full dotty. At this year’s Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW), Alex[a]lexa clashed polka dot with brushstroke pattern 

Neon colors may prevail, as daring as yellow and green. SeanSheila’s electric tosca green cargo pants aren’t for the fainthearted, yet mustard and marigold hues by Toton Januar, Jii by Gloria and MajorMinor would flatter most skin tones.

Boho fringes also resurfaced on international runways, with Novita Yunus here tweaking the fringes into large artful patches for her NY label’s Tundra collection. 

Flirty: A model presents BIN House’s collection at Jakarta Fashion Week 2020 at Senayan City, Jakarta. (Courtesy of GCM Group/Dachri Megantara)

E-Commerce

Say the market likes the trends, where will they shop? Google’s e-Conomy SEA 2019 report shows that not only has Southeast Asia’s internet economy hit the US$100 billion mark for the first time this year, but Indonesia and Vietnam are leading the pack with yearly growth above 40 percent.

As the majority of the population is under 40 and internet providers are reaching toward rural areas, the digital economy has indeed soared in Indonesia.

Most Indonesian designers who went retail in the past decade are either on e-marketplaces or selling directly via social media networks such as Instagram.

It doesn’t mean that physical stores are dead. It is interesting to note that one of the early e-marketplace platforms, Berrybenka, opened its first physical store in 2016 and now operates more than a dozen in Java.

People’s preference to see, touch or try on things before purchase is also tapped by the recent flourishing of multibrand stockists and curated pop-up markets in Indonesian metropolitans.

How much will the market shop? Economic projections for 2020 vary in what they see the United States and China agreeing to this month. Indonesia’s projected growth for 2020 hovers around 5 percent, as this year, so consumption may not experience a significant jump.

Milestones: The 10 Langkah Ria Miranda exhibition highlights the designer's 10-year career. (Courtesy of Studio One)

Modest Wear

A category that could still be growing healthily is modest wear. The pendulum has been swinging toward conservative Islamic identity, leading to a rise in demand for anything labeled as such.

Many women who just started wearing the hijab felt the need to change their entire wardrobe, hence the rising demand for modest wear. I don’t have a sociology degree to forecast when the pendulum will reverse, but my business degree tells me that modest wear’s lifecycle curve shadows that social pendulum quite closely.  

As new designers keep entering the modest wear category, brand identity is becoming pivotal.

At the 13th Fashion Nation this year Etu and Kami showed how well they listened to customer feedback by presenting collections made of tropic-friendly fabrics suitable for urban living.

Jenahara, known for bringing her rock ‘n’ roll upbringing to the catwalk, is now utilizing her workout routine to collaborate with Nooresport, a local brand targeting hijab-wearing sports enthusiasts.

Featuring a female climbing champion and other athletes at a panel discussion at Muslim Fashion Festival (Muffest), both Jenahara and Nooresport enthusiastically attempted to dispel the lingering notion that hijabi women cannot lead a physically active lifestyle.

Noore X Jenahara (Courtesy of Muara Bagdja team)

The 4th Muffest this year did give platforms to the aforementioned concern of active lifestyle and the issue of the environment. Nooresport held a premium spot at the venue, while other hijab-appropriate sportswear brands peeked out of the sea of headscarves in the bazaar area.

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), the Indonesia-based producer of viscose rayon, rose to prominence during Muffest by introducing what they claimed to be a more environmentally friendly fiber.

A score of designers also put together collections to show how versatile and comfortable viscose rayon fiber can be once turned into fabrics.

Also tuned-in to the heated sustainability fashion debate is IKYK, which sent models down the JFW runway in a collection built on unsold export-grad fabrics. 

On the other hand, Ria Miranda, a 10-year stalwart, seemed less concerned with the environment. Just celebrating its 10th anniversary with much fanfare, the brand issues a minimum of eight collections annually and commands 5,000 members of Ria Miranda Loyal Community (RMLC) nationwide.

So fierce is this loyalty that Cotton Ink’s capsule collection with Ria Miranda earlier this year was sold out within hours. Eight collections annually means a collection every six weeks, on par with the fast fashion cycle.

The designer said the brand now wanted to bring more goodness — why not review their business plans and start designing with the environment in mind? With that many loyal customers nationwide, Ria Miranda can champion the sustainability issue in the modest wear category through RMLC fashion events.

Hijabi chic: Designer Ali Charisma utilizes streamlined styling choices with gathering details, made prominent through APR's viscose-rayon. (Courtesy of MUFFEST)

Fashion Shows

Which brings us to the aspect most considered glamorous in fashion: the events. The shows. Anyone who’s someone tends to throw a fashion show these days, but well-organized annual events are in a league of their own due to the sheer number of brands and media crews lumped together within the span of a few days. 

As costs have ballooned up and the environmental issue no longer stays in the back, fashion events are due for adjustments.

Fashion installation, an option that gives the audience more time and better viewing to appreciate a collection, is becoming a valid option.

Sejauh Mata Memandang has held a public exhibition annually, taking ocean trash as this year’s theme.

Flower mode: A model struts down the catwalk in Maggie Hutauruk-Eddy’s label 2Madison Avenue at New York Fashion Week Spring Summer 2020 in September. (Courtesy of Muara Bagdja team/2Madison Avenue)

The newly renovated Gelora Bung Karno sports complex has had the pleasure of playing runways for Jenahara’s modest wear, Wilsen Willim’s contemporary wear and Kelly Tandiono’s swimwear. If all goes well, finalists of the Asia NewGen Fashion Award (ANFA) including Kelly Vallerie, winner of the ANFA 2019 grand final, will throw a show at an MRT station in January 2020

Didi Budiardjo, a fixture in the heritage textile community, has maintained his path and become the only Indonesian designer presenting a collection at World Ikat Textiles Symposium earlier this year in Jakarta — an avenue less traveled by the fashion community but may just be the growth it needs, where members of the heritage textile community stand as equal partners beyond fabric purveyors.

The economy may not readily soar high to the sky next year, but as a whole the Indonesian fashion scene still holds quite a few in store. Ready now to put your most fashionable foot forward into 2020?