books

In preparation for my MA application I am reading like crazy. Being in Indonesia doesn't make it an easy feat, as there is no decent library around where I can get the books I need. I have 3 books here that I have completely absorbed and frequently use for reference : Y. Chouinards "Let My People Go Surfing", K. Fletchers "Sustainable Fashion" and D. Goleman's "Ecological Intelligence".

I do praise my internet connection, and when that is down due to tropical storms, Wifi in cafe's are quite reliable. I intend to add a list of my fave websites soon, upon completing my papers and would now like to share where I am buying my Christmas books from (can't wait for more inspiring literature!!):

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

They sell second hand books, (similar to Amazon marketplace, however Amazon doesn't like shipping to Indonesia) so this saves them from ending up in landfills, PLUS they donate a percentage to the world literacy fund.  scientia potentia est ... Reading brings knowledge and knowledge is power.

Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" (1962) and "Crade2Cradle" by McDonough and Braugart will be my next purchases on the website, inspired by this article http://www.greenatworkmag.com/gwsubaccess/02mayjun/eco.html.

Merapi - "the firey one"

Merapi, the most active out the  20 active volcanoes on Java has been erupting for a couple of weeks now with the last violent explosion on Thursday.   Surono, chief of Indonesia's Volcano Mitigation and Geological Disaster Agency, told the Australian newspaper Friday."The eruptions haven't stopped, the tremors are getting stronger, and one big explosion could be the result."

Indonesia is in fact the seismically most active country in the world with 17,500 islands sitting along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Anglindo's 2nd season collection will be donating a percentage of our profits to the Merapi Relief Fund. We are based on the same island as Merapi, in Bandung which is some 400kms away.

Photographs courtesy of the national geographic.

I need a new dress... sooo....

... I make one. Not from scratch this time, but from a shirt a friend of mine gave me (cheers, Bry!). In tune with my principle of trying to consume less in all areas of life to tread more lightly on this earth, I have indeed not been clothes shopping in ages and ages. Conveniently for me, my friend has decided to bide one of his cotton work shirts farewell, as he has been working out lately and now many of his clothes are to big for him; he's really tall as well, so it's perfect dress-material for little me.

 

There are endless of ways of customizing shirts; they are one of the most satisfactory thinks to alter, as usually dress fabrics are nice. If you want to make one yourself, this is how I did mine: 

1. detached sleeves and collar, cut a strip from the sleeves to sew together with collar to create belt

2. cut deeper neckline, front and back. make cord channel with strip from sleeve. insert cord, tack at back to fix rouching

3. detached and re-attached pocket to lower position

4. detached cuffs, reseamed them, buttoned to sleeves as detachable epaulets

5. finish armholes

6. take in side seam under the arm holes and finish side seam

7. attach belt at side seams; rouch at back waist for regular gathering

Transformation completed!

... or almost... I still have a little bit of material left from the sleeves. Now, I am against waste of any sort. So either I will use this to lengthen the hem a bit (more suitable to moslem Indoland) or make rosettes for decoration. Ideas?

I am starting to customize another (short sleeve) shirt in a sunny yellow, as the other one looks lovely. First thing is changing the neckline, although I'm liking the sleeves so far (you can't see if properly on the pic but they are gathered on the top and left to drape underneath.

Tarum means Indigo; visiting a natural dyes workshop

Near Ubud, Bali, by driving along windey roads through little kampungs (villages) towards the coast, Tarum natural dyes have their workshop. Mr. Iwan, the owner, was kind enough to show me around their lovely (really, it was, and mostly open air) workshop, explain the different dyestuffs and techniques they use and show me samples of work the have done previously.

Mr. Iwan Triadi and Mr. Made Arsana, the owners first started experimenting with natural dyes in 1998, predicting growth of the area in the next 6 years. The prediction has been fulfilled and a steady but "organic" growth of the business has taken place.

Tarum uses leaves instead of roots, bark and wood as the tree can keep on living and regrown the leaves which is a sustainable harvesting method. The dying method is inspired by traditional pre-chemical dyeing. Most of the natural blues, reds, blacks, purples, and browns on traditional Indonesian textiles come from two vegetable dyes: indigo blue, from the shrubs Indigofera tinctoria and suffruticosa, and morinda red, from Morinda trees. Mango is used for yellow and orange. The plants are locally (in their back yard or in Singaraja, north Coast Bali) grown except for the Secang which comes from West Java because it is not sufficiently available in Bali.

Leaves for dyeing grown in the back yard

Harvesting Leaves to be boiled down to the dye stuff

Indigo leaf

Colours

Tarum also have a spinning and weaving facility; a wonderfully airy, spacious, light room. I mentioned to Pak Iwan that this is a much nicer working environment compared to the stuffy garment manufacturing factories I have seen in Indonesia; Pak Iwan however laughed and said one of their companies biggest challenges is in fact to recruit workers as the young people would rather work in mobile phone shops, can you believe it!

Weaving studio

Hand loom

Being dying professionals, Tarum are constantly expanding their repertoire on dying methods and have some in stock which are looking very interesting to Studio Anglindo... 

The story of stuff- where it comes from and where it goes

Fishing for plastic

My close friend Caro Sparrow in Manchester has referred me to her friend who has approached a uni fashion project in a unique and appealing manner using new technologies. 

This inspires me to go plastic fishing in the highly polluted rivers of Bandung and make beautiful trash couture out of my catch. In this country disposing of waste in rivers is common and acceptable; it gets washed away and out of sight (some of it does anyway). That plastic is non-biodegradable is not common knowledge at all. And when you think the smoke from the side walk is form incense, it's actually probably someone burning rubbish (including plastic and rubber); the other common way of disposal.

From ecouterre article:

"Sculpted from recycled and reappropriated plastics, including shower curtains, Bowler’s “Fusion” collection marries the poles-apart aesthetic of the traditional Japanese straw coat and the classic British macintosh. The Royal College of Artgraduate’s process is completely stitch-free, a combination of industrial techniques such as heat-forming and ultrasonic welding. (The latter method involves high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations to bind materials together.)

At the core of Fusion’s high-tech engineering is Bowler’s belief that recycled products can be luxurious, innovative, and desirable. “Fusion is designed to make plastic fantastic for longer,” she says. “[And] to create a garment that the owner will be reluctant to throw away.”

Bowler believes that recycled products can be luxurious, innovative, and desirable.

In keeping with Bowler’s mantra of reduce and reuse, even the rubber molds she had made are designed to be used again. The result is a series of space-age slickers in burnished metallic hues like gold, bronze, and titanium.
Fusion will be on display at the Royal College of Art’s Upper Gulbenkian Gallery, as part ofLondon Design Week, from September 23 to October 7.

Press

Slightly belated entry due having to entertain some guests- my boyfriend's family came to visit us here in Indonesia and we went to Bali/Lombok&Gili Islands for a week! Internet-abstinence did me good but there's a backlog now I am still catching up on almost a week later.

Sunset at Gili Meno, Lombok
paradise desert island 

It was also during this week off that Anja Anglindo was featured in the national Indonesian newspaper "Kompas". The journalist interviewed me at the STDI ethical fashion event. The article is a well-rounded piece (apart from not mentioning STDI which isn't quite fair) including a definition of ethical fashion (I had given him a translation in Indonesian). So I hope it has raised some awareness in a country where the knowledge  of the environmental and social impact of fashion is practically non-existent.
A big *Makasih* goes to Phae form Parental Advisory for his enthusiasm and translating my presentation; it was so challenging doing it in bahasa (my language skills seemed to decrease with increasing exhaustion)!

Anglindo in Kompas newspaper

Here's the article although it's a really bad shot of me, ugh! Was seriously tempted to pixelate my visage. Will add some more pics as soon as I find my camera cable, promise. Have some inspiring detail shots and some pics form my visit to Threads of Life in Bali.

Batik workshop at STDI : Hand-batik ("canting")
 It's much more difficult than it looks! 

Shops are back online :)

Visit Anglindo online boutique:

www.studioanglindo.bigcartel.com

Hold your horses! ... online shop issues...

Unfortunately due to living in SE-Asia and my bank account being in Europe, there have been some compliations which have lead to my online shops being FROZEN! Until I an defrost them, please just send me your orders via e-mail and the money can be transferred via bank transfer for now.

Other than that, I am very excited to be going to Bali on Saturday where I will be visiting producters of organic&naturally dyed cotton. Did I already mention, I'm VERY excited...! Anja Anglindo will be posting about this...

Also excting: presentation about ethical fashion at STDI Bandung... probably the first one ever here!

New colours for Anglindo Flowflow necklace & Paudrey dress

As these are the most popular Anglindo items to date and the good news is that means more colour options have been added!

A custom order for resulted in the red/black/grey flowflow necklace whereby the red rose is made from salmon leather which is not only a sustainable skin but is a left-over from an (eco) leather clothing designer in Iceland. I like enjoy working with different textures and with this new combo you have the scaly leather complemented by the smooth grey silk and matte black cotton rose.

The reversible Paudrey batik is by far the best-seller of this Summer. Maybe it's due to the fact that you can wear is as a boldly printed fun dress on picnics and then slip into the toilets once the the sun has set to turn it inside out for the post-garden cocktail party in town. Or maybe it's the unique back detail or the rather cute knotted necklace bit. In any case, as stated on the website the batiks are limited stock prints; the original one is already long gone but I have found 4 more stunning batik motifs that suit this dress.

Ethical Fashion presentation at Sekolah Tinggi Desain Indonesia in Bandung presented by Ompei Parental Advisory; Maizir Firebolt and Anja Anglindo. Pop by!

popomomo = post-post-modern-movement

"POPOMOMO stands for post-postmodern movement. Instead of floating in relative perspectives and endlessly reworking the past, Popomomo focuses on the new and true; creating idea — as opposed to trend — based pieces."










A label I came across not while researching eco labels but I just loved their concept and they just happen to follow a sustainable philosophy as well. In love.

It's nice somehow that their ethics aren't used as a marketing strategy but just part of the packet. It would be even nicer to think that one day the reality would be that every company has a code of ethics they make public and adhere to work sustainably. In Europe we might be getting closer to that utopic idea, as evironmental awareness has been present for the last 30 years... but in developing countries like Indonesia the reality is somewhat different. The behaviour of the people has not changed much; however technology, the materials and technology have... suddenly and rapidly. Only 20 years ago most food was served on banana leaves that you could throw into the rivers. Now with the very large presence of plastic, it is still commonly asumed that when plastic bags are thrown into rivers, they are taken care of (some magical rivers huh). In fact it takes 500 years for them to decompose. (Keyword: plastic beach. Also the title of the new Gorillaz album addressing environmental issues. Imho, no where as strong musically than the first album but lyrics to make you think).

While I am preparing for a presentation I am giving at a design school about ethical fashion, I am also wondering just how much of this information will be processed when the basic background knowledge or even interest in our environment and the attached issues...The truth shall be revealed at question time.

Weirdly wonderful.

What we do not know, DOES harm us.

Fffound image here.

We don’t know where many of our purchases, for example our clothes come from. Maybe the label on your new t-shirt claims it’s eco-friendly because it’s made of organic cotton. Do you know why organic cotton is better for the environment? It isn’t what one could call friendly to the environment, being the most water-consuming crop (less when it’s organic though) it is just friendlier, a step in the right direction. But have you thought about how far it’s travelled before it landed in your (plastic?) bag? Was the cotton harvested by a 10-year-old in Uzbekistan? Then sent to China to get knitted into jersey to then sewn in Bangladesh in a sweatshop where people don’t earn enough to live off? … But then, how can we even worry about it if we don’t know? We should know (if it’s anything that is worth marketing and selling, don’t worry, we’ll definitely be informed in that case). Transparency is a key point at Patagonia, a California-based outdoor brand; I am impressed at the effort and thought put into the traceability of their garments online and their HONESTY.

Sorry about that rant, it just kind of burst out of me! The little wheels in my head haven’t stopped turning since starting  Daniel Goleman’s “Ecological Intelligence- How knowing the hidden impacts of what we buy can change everything”. Admittedly a read that also makes me feel helpless, as I DO want to make the perfect garment that is both beautiful and also doesn’t hurt the planet or the people that make it and I WANT to live that way too but it feels like a feat impossible to accomplish one-hundred percent. So I’ll read on, get inspired, learn and do my very best. And then keep on improving.

Many of us in Europe are quite aware of green-washing and are starting to question the impact of our purchases, even or especially the ones labelled as “green”… However, many Indonesians aren’t even aware of environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry, any industry at all in fact or why they shouldn't use lots of plastic bags. Therefore, Anglindo has made it their mission to raise awareness in Indonesia. This is a nation of over 234 million people (4th largest population in the world after China, U.S. and India). Therefore, I have been researching general facts on ethical fashion (Kate Fletcher's "Sustainable Fashion & Textiles is being a huge help but I am frustrated to find some contradictory facts on the www) in preparation for a talk at Sekolah Tinggi Desain Indonesia (a design school in Bandung) on that topic. A talk I am doing with 2 out of the only 3 other eco fashion designers in Bandung* for educators and students alike with the aim of getting some wheels turning also in their heads...

I shall be documenting some of my findings on this blog. My mum read watched the vid on organic cotton and told be how shocked she was; she had no idea, in fact she thought by buying a natural fibre such as cotton, she was doing the environment a favour. A common misconception and to be honest what I thought when starting my collection until I started researching and opened that tin of worms...

* Maizir from Firebolt stocks a range of organic cotton tees with prints to raise environmental awareness. I bought some organic jersey cut-offs from him actually, to be used in the Anglindo Winter collection; they are knitted here in Bandung

And with Phae from Parental Advisory. He owns a 'distro' (independent streetwear shop) selling punk-inspired kid's clothing (well cute!) with a skate ramp in the back yard for his intiative called "Adikaka' for low-income kids, providing them with toys, skating&printing workshops to encourage them to finish their school education (amazing, will do another seperate post on that!). 

National Museum Jakarta

The national museum (or Museum Gajah) in Jakarta I visited after the fashion show is definitely worth a visit to catch up on background information of the many cultures inhabiting Indonesia or for an overview of the many ethnicites on these islands. The spacious but dark museum houses a large variety of artifacts with explanations in English (if quite vague but not so badly translated to distort the meaning which cannot be taken for granted). I appreciated being able to examine the of the different cultures of Indonesia under one roof, looking at different techniques and materials and mentalities and comparing them to one another. After my first Indonesian fashion show, it made me think about from which backgrounds these students came from and which aspect of their unique culture influenced them in their designs.

What made me giggle to myself as well as shake my head in doubt was the photograph of a native Sulawesi lady with her bare breasts that had been censored. That photograph, I noticed afterwards, is the only one of a bare-breasted woman, although the traditional costume on many islands only covers the lower part of the body for both female and male; exhibiting these photographs has obviously been avoided although they are only documenting historical facts. History is being censored or avoided due t the ‘pornography legislation’, I assume. Also the grounds upon which a famous local singer of a boy band here has been send to jail for making private sex videos; him and his partner in crime have been banned from Bandung, the city where I live. A screaming reminder of living in a country with a different culture than my own; a reminder also of not taking the rights in Europe for granted. I also wonder if that photograph would have been censored in Sumatra or Bali.

Aaaaanywaaayy, back to the positive aspects of living in Indonesia, which DO outweigh the bad, by a ton of human teeth on a necklace.

Wood fibre cloth “serat kayu” was worn in many areas before cotton was imported. I was ignorant to the significance of this fibre, as the current batik trend seems to flooding textiles over all other traditional textiles. Below some piccies and also one of an ikat weaving device.

 

And please, ladies and gentlemen, would you take not of these hats! It made me want to get into the art of millinery! Is that an idea light bulb on that red hat? 

By the way that woven pig one IS a hat, but only special occasions of course. And the last picture shows adornment to be worn in your ear lobe.

 

And just for good luck, as it is this object's task....