ESMOD graduate fashion show 2010 Jakarta

Museum Nasional Jakarta

On my quest of hunting down the eco designers of Indonesia, I contacted Esmod Jakarta (esmod = a reputable group of fashion schools originating from Paris with schools all over the world). A few weeks later I receive an ethusiastic e-mail from a student, Anna Schmidt (coincidently a fellow half-German, her other half is Indonesian), happy to have found a fellow eco fashionista on the archipelago. We met for the first time last night, as she kindly secured me a ticket for her gratuate show, which I was very keen on seeing. What do the fashion designers of tomorrow in Indonesia have in store?

Modern Moslem

Anna Schmidt (front) and Angela Jessica Hadi (behind)

Angela Jessica Hadi

Pinky Andrea Purnama

Indo-Ethnic

Velika

Christina Geta Maria Pangaribuan

Superfuture

Soraya

Sherry Kandou

Priska Herlambang

Geek

Clarice

Rizqya

Tyas Pradninta

Warrior

Aan Ira Michelle

Zico Halim

Goth

Endriani

Yevi Yunita

They have a lot in store for the fashion world; I was particularly impressed by the high standard and large variety of styles and concepts. Unique is the influence of muslim and local culturemixed with influences from western culture which is getting more exposure and is more accessible in Asia through media and the internet. The comme-de-garcon meets Bernhard Wilhelm designs of Ryzqia stood out to me as being orginal and brave, using a short, pudgy model to accentuate the playfulness was clever and caused a reaction from the audience. The posted pics are just a selection my personal highlights the fantastic show, which took place in the national museum which I will visit tomorrow to learn more about this amazing country.

Congratuations to Anna who won two prizes that night: best women's wear and the Swarowski Crystalized award! Fantastic! Speaking to her later showed again how difficult it is here in Indonesia to source sustainable fabric, so that she compromised to use natural fibres for her collection rather than organic ones; hopefully in the future we can collaborate to make sourcing of sustainable materials easier. She expressed her concern about the lack of concern for environmental issues but believes once the trendsetters in Indonesia can be convinced of eco fashion, others will follow.

Thanks to Anna and her family for taking me under their wing for the night- very kind of the Schmidts! I am looking forward to see what up-and-coming eco-designer Anna Schmidt will get up to after graduating... we will see, maybe some Anglindo collabs...

Behind the scenes... Anglindo photo shoot...

Scenery behind the warung where the first half of the photo shoot took place.

This week has been very exciting indeed. The collection was complete after months of hard work and the photo shoot followed. The theme was Tea Creatures with a dazed, summery feel, 2 girls chasing, dancing, teasing, dreaming in the plantations.

We left the city at 6AM for clear air and blue skies on our quest to find the perfect spot in the tea plantations of Ciater, about an hour away from Bandung. Theo and Amanda were to be my creatures for the day, Sapta was in charge of the click-flash-focus, and Anya and Iyey backcombed hair and powdered noses.

Sapta photographing the beautiful creatures.

Amanda with make-up artists Anya and Iyey.

The rolling hills covered in the thick-stumped short tee trees with the long wispy trees poking out, peppered on the plantation gave us a stunning backdrop . We stopped at a warung (kiosk) to have a strong sugary coffee or Bandrek (local all-healing-drink with ginger, cardamon, coconut shavings, brown sugar and magic spices) and voila!, out the back door we found our shooting venue. It all went pretty smoothly, despite bloodthirsty-mozzies and we even managed to get in the car and head home 10 mins before a tropical rainstorm crashed down on us.

Anja-Anglindo herself with the pretty ladies.

And most importantly, of course... the photos... well, see for yourself...

For all pics, have a peek on the website.

Studio Anglindo

Lovely people,

I would like to introduce you all to Studio Anglindo.

Studio Anglindo is a fashion label by

Anja Crabb. Anglindo is based in

Bandung, Indonesia and

offers uniquely

beautiful

clothing

which

is

made with

sustainability

in mind. That

means no sweatshops,

a zero waste policy and it

even has an organic cotton range.

To celebrate Anglindo's launch, we have a promotional offer

... to see what this offer is, check out the voucher below

and

please forward it to anybody who may be interested...

Please visit our website & online boutique :

www.studio-anglindo.com

Connecting People : Ethical Fashion Indonesia

Image courtesy of May Cortazzi

Because it's literally impossible to find any information on the internet on ethical fashion in Indonesia.

Because being here shows me that people living in the same city interested in the same thing need don't know of each others existence.

Because promoting ethical fashion will support ethical businesses and allow them to grow.

Because people are ignorant of the environmental and social impact of the garment industry.

Because THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

Oh my, I am getting very emotional about this topic. From meeting new people I am talking to eco fashion about almost every month, it seems to have accelerated to every week ... if people are not already involved, I am getting a response of interest,of curiosity.

Together with May Cortazzi of Regenerate, with whom I have been brooding about these forums and groups since we met a couple of weeks ago, we have finally done it. May is a fantastically motivated and engaged designer and owner of an ethical casual-wear brand based in Nottingham. I met her when she was in Indonesia with other finalists of the UK young entrepreneurs award.

Here they are:

Ethical Fashion Indonesia on NING
Ethical Fashion Forum an International network of ethical designers.
http://ethicalfashionforum.ning.com/group/ethicalfashionindonesia

Ethical Fashion Indonesia on Linkedin

Ethical Fashion Indonesia on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106918886021994&ref=ts

and Yahoo group coming soon.

Just for an example: today I met with a supplier of natural dyed, organic cotton from Bali, they also have organic cotton jersey. How long have I been searching to find just that! Do they have a website? Nooooo. Does she have facebook? Well, of course, she has the facebook application on her blackberry! So, join the group, young lady and get some orders in. Fantastic.

What will the fashion industry look like in 2025?

An initiative by Forum for the Future, this is a call for a sustainable fashion industry. On this website you can find a heap of resources like the complete report including thoughts by fashion experts from all around the world. Be sure to check out the animations showing 4 scenarios!

Cleaning up Batik

Since my last entry, so much has happened! Good things, lots of them, inspiring people and places.

Time to share 'em.

This entry is dedicated to the Clean Batik Initiative.

I read about it in the Jakarta Post article and immediately made contact with the organisation responsible for it : EKONID , the German-Indonesian Camber of Industry and Commerce, (ah, my fellow Germans!) and met them just a few days ago in Jakarta.

The popularity of batik has only grown since UNESCO added the technique to its World Heritage list. This has sparked the project after it became known that small to medium sized enterprises in batik produce the highest amount of CO2 among their sector (oh dear).

I discussed this initiative which is 'cleaning up' batik with the project officers, Anne Dih and Adnan Tripradipta. They explained how this programme that has only been launched at the beginning of this year is aiming for more efficient water&electricity consumption and waste management by providing free workshops (funded by the EU). This 4-year programme will face major challenges as a certain fear of change prevails despite the huge financial savings that can made and considering that the end-product will be the same as produced through the traditional, more environmentally-harming methods.

The lovely lady on the left is Anne Dih, whom I spoke to.

In conversation it became apparent that although producing more environmentally-friendly textiles is a growing trend, developing a certification for the cleaner batik and taking the next step of using sustainable fibres such as organic cotton is something to be pursued at a much later date.

The second phase of this programme aims to "green" the demand side of batik through free marketing, promotion and consultation programmes. Being a member of the Ethical Fashion Forum made me realize how important and helpful it is for designers, suppliers and other players in the industry to have a platform to exchange and communicate. Maybe something along those lines can be introduced for Indonesia, as I myself would appreciate one myself right now! (Oh Indonesian organic textiles, where art thou? Somewhere for sure, ... will keep on looking.).

As an ambassador of ethical fashion, it was inspiring and interesting to exchange throughts with clean batik initiators in person; it is a h u g e step in the right direction. I am looking forward to getting involved somehow and will report back regarding this topic. Time to clean up!

Mister van Noten, can I interest you in clean batik, yes?

Colour Lovers

Quick one: I came across Colour Lovers on Mudpie's LinkedIn forum (another good resource for ppl in the fashion industry), as I too am a lover of colour however, I get indecisive. Naturally, with the endless possibilities the combinations and shades provide you with! Colour Lovers has just helped me out BIG time as I was stuck on my colours for the range I am working on. You can search for palettes by entering 3 hues for example and then a very very long list appears. Well structured website, too. Anyway, back to work, now that I've got my colours sorted :)

Ksubi eyewear

ah meh zing.
and well good styling.

Wool, paints, plastic & the gang : T.A.A. Manchester

The T.A.A. in Manchester was ...

Temporary; the building was a primary school which will be torn down in 2 weeks

Autonomous; strictly speaking it was a squat and well, yeah it was a squat

Arts; in the widest sense going from painting walls to poetry, unicycling, pagans and knitting with plastic-bag-yarn (plarn) for the junk fashion show

Although this was on during my work hours and I could not spend every day all day there; cycling through estates in typical Mancatraz cold drizzle rain after a tiring day was worth seeing how a bunch of creative, enthusiastic people can turn an unused building into whatever they want. In this case there was hardly an inch of wall space without paint, poster or any other colourful material. There was poetry reciting, independent film showings, a junk fashion show (that I missed, boo!) and a big Cabarave to end it with a spectacular bang.

I contributed in Obermaier's Junk fashion and crafts corner, doing origami (erm with a little/lot help from my friends) until being infected by the "but I want to make that .... and that! .... and everything!" - virus... knitting, jewelry making, sock monkey making, and upcyling in every form took place. All materials were donated and all participants volunteers. What felt good was creating things that was the opposite of what virgin products do and did it feel good to be making fashion in that otherwise consumerist and profit driven world.

And was it inspirational. ... to be less conventional in work and life. Knit some plastic! Paint on the walls! I'm no punk or painter but it's strangely liberating.

Forbidden Arts Manchester

>> Inspired by London collective ‘Random Artists’, over the past few years collective groups in Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Brighton have been coming together to create a cultural, interactive, autonomous space where people are free to be, free to create, and free to express themselves.

We want to exhibit all forms of artwork: drawings, paintings, sculptures big and small, photography, installations, designs and more. Showcasing poets and vocalists, films and performance, words and concepts.

Born out of the free party underground movement, these spaces of reclaimed freedom have been making a significant contribution to an alternative art world and Manchester Forbidden Arts are bringing it back to Manchester this NOVEMBER: 4th – 7th 2009!<<

Call 07762 599453 for directions ... it's a pretty awesome space, a school that will be torn down in a few weeks time and easy to get to.

I went there yesterday as I am part of the junk crafts corner; I was appointed to do origami. Janine had seen me make my trademark sail boat and assumed I was a pro... but that is the only one I can do! None the less, I printed out diagrams, collected paper and have already attracted another origami semi-pro at the event who will be my co-origamist. Should be wild.

If you're in Manchester - come, it's well worth popping by and having knit, fold, paint on the wall (so liberating!) or learn to unicycle! Or in the evenings...

THU 5th: Independent film night
FRI 6th: Junk Fashion Show / Interactive Dance & Performance
SAT 7th: Cabaret

Go to the forbidden arts website or T.A.A.R.T. for more info. Photos will follow, will be exciting to witness how the space will grow and develop.

sew do you

I found someone amazing: ...verypurpleperson! I am a purple person making stuff myself and we share the Indo connection: she's an Indonesian living in Tokyo who "just can't stop making stuffs". Came across her on burdastyle.com where a batik dress of hers was featured. Very inspiring, desipte my personal taste being less cutesy. The styling with the bright tights brings out the blue in the fabric and the minty contrast colour shows attention to detail on the second dress. The other printed fabrics she uses, allover tonal cats for example are amazing and Japanese of course. Very personal style, sleek and tastefully presented. She has a shop and blog.