“Indonesia ranks third in the world’s integrated textile industry –below China and India- covering from upstream to downstream in terms of fiber, thread and textiles, to fashion design,” said Elis during her presentation at the webinar.

She went on to say that the national textile industry is not dependent on imports, as we are actually capable of fulfilling our own needs. Even during the pandemic, she said, the performance of Indonesia’s textile industry was still in the top-five among other industries.

However, according to Elis, more textile products are being exported compared with those made for the domestic market. This is due to many reasons such as the volume of cheap imported products flooding the Indonesian market, and a mindset that international products have more prestige than locally made items.

The government, together with creative industry players and workers, is attempting to address this issue in several ways.

These challenges aside, Elis pointed out that surprisingly, local modest fashion brands were successful at meeting the country’s demand.

“Modest fashion consumption saw 3 percent yearly growth in 2013, 2016 and 2018, and we are in the top-five of the world’s modest fashion markets,” said Elis.

As well as catering to the local market, Indonesia also has the potential to penetrate into the international market for modest fashion. In terms of ready-to-wear products diversity and designer creativity, Indonesia’s modest fashion currently has a 1.9 percent share of the international market.

As a testament to the thriving modest fashion industry, modest wear brand Kami –which celebrated its 11th anniversary this year- acknowledges that its business is going well, sales performance is satisfying, and it is also well-received in foreign markets.

Annisa Hanifati, PR manager of Kami, told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on Wednesday that Kami fortunately had a strong digital presence, and its online marketing initiatives, as well as collaboration with a strategic partner, namely Disney, had also helped keep sales at a profitable level.

“Our online marketing initiatives [such as presenting new collections on the Instagram Live platform], have resulted in good sales,” said Annisa.

Although Kami experienced a sales decline during Lebaran, it has picked up again as it has launched new products, including more basic items and its highly sought-after loungewear range, following customer demand.

This good news from the modest fashion sector, however, should not stop our fashion and textile industry in general from proceeding with innovations and breakthroughs.

Elis said that all stakeholders had to unite to keep leveraging Indonesia’s fashion industry and to strengthen its position on the international stage.

“[Fashion] brands have to collaborate with Indonesian designers, as we cannot walk separate ways [to beat the competition],” said Elis.

She went on to say that sportswear was a new market that could be explored, and that Indonesia itself was capable of manufacturing all materials needed for sportswear.

“Use local materials, choose a market to focus on, because not everyone has to flock into modest fashion. If you want to take part in modest fashion, create what has never been created before, […] and once your brand is established, maintain the quality,” Elis advised.

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