The regional fashion extravaganza is livestreaming from Nov. 26 to 29 on JFW.TV, a microsite on the event’s official website (jakartafashionweek.co.id), as well as on video-sharing app TikTok (@jfwofficial).

“As we are going 100 percent online, the outreach of digital platforms is borderless,” CEO Svida Alisjahbana of GCM Group said at a virtual press conference last Thursday, alongside and Gumilar Ekalaya from the ministry’s Jakarta office.

GCM Group organizes the event that has been dubbed the largest fashion show in Southeast Asia.

“Tourism and the creative industries have been severely affected by the pandemic, but we should continue working by utilizing technology. Virtual events could restore public enthusiasm for being able to [attend],” Edy Wardoyo from the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry said at the press conference.

The JFW made the switch to a virtual event in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which also prompted the organizer to pick “Inspiring Creativism” as the theme for this year’s event.

“We would love to present the people of fashion who did not stop creating despite the pandemic, and has in turn inspired others,” said Svida.

A total of 60 designers are showcasing their collections in 15 runway shows that will be aired as prerecorded videos or livestreamed on the JFW’s social media accounts as well as its event partners’ websites.

Lazada Indonesia, which has been an official partner since last year, has lent its e-commerce platform for participating designers and fashion labels to promote their creations in online stores.

“We set up the ‘See Now, Buy Now’ button feature to enable people to buy the fashion items [...] in real time while watching the runway shows,” said chief marketing officer Monika Rudijono of Lazada Indonesia. She added that the company’s mobile app facilitated secure financial transactions.

The platform is also livestreaming the events it has sponsored, as it did with two shows in 2019 on its in-app channel that were viewed by more than 30,000 users.

“We will air eight shows this year, including Wonderful Indonesia and Dewi Fashion Knights runways,” said Monika. “Hopefully, we can livestream more [shows] in the future.”

Virtual catwalk: There would be a total of 60 designers to showcase their collections in 15 runway shows at the 2021 Jakarta Fashion Week. (Courtesy of JFW 2021/-)

Indonesian cosmetics giant Mustika Ratu, the fashion week’s sole partner for makeup and hair, created a new color palette especially for the JFW themed “Gorgeous In Glow Out”, which uses products made of locally grown ingredients that have natural skincare benefits.

“We are also bringing along three winners of the Puteri Indonesia 2020 to the runway of designer Albert Yanuar,” said Mustika Ratu marketing director Yuniastuti Kusuma Putri.

The three guest models are the pageant’s winner Puteri Indonesia 2020 Ayu Maulida Putri, environment titleholder Putu Ayu Saraswati and tourism titleholder Jihane Almira Chedid.

JFW has also partnered with electronics company Panasonic Gobel Indonesia, banking service Mandiri Private and fast-food chain KFC Indonesia in product support for the livestream production as well as to collaborate with participating designers and labels.

The live production and filming will take place on location at Senayan City shopping mall in South Jakarta, the event’s official venue since 2013.

The JFW 2021 lineup of fashion designers and labels includes Albert Yanuar, Amot Syamsurimuda, Bateeq, Batik Chic, Calla The Label, Cotton Ink, Jenahara, Kami, Lekat, Rani Hatta, Restu Anggraini, Tities Saputra, Wilsen Willim and Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan, as well as Rinaldy Yunardi with his footwear line, Refounders.

This year’s JFW has also collaborated with nine international partners on special video presentations and the virtual discussion series #JFWTalks: the British Council, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Thai Trade Center in Jakarta, Erasmus Huis, Institut Français d’Indonésie, Istituto Marangoni, Japan Fashion Week Tokyo, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London. (ste)

– Visit jakartafashionweek.co.id or follow the official JFW accounts on Facebook (Jakarta Fashion Week), Instagram (jfwofficial), TikTok (@jfwofficial) and Twitter (@JKTfashion) for schedules.