The fashion architects

Trisha Sertori ,  Contributor ,  Nusa Dua   |  Sat, 10/10/2009 11:22 AM  |  Lifestyle

Still life: APPMI’s fashion tendance 10 brought together fashion designers, architects, product and interior designers to create a fashion show that had elements of a contemporary art exhibition.

The lines between fashion, art and architecture were blurred last Saturday by Bali’s sizzling hot design crowd at the APPMI (Indonesian Fashion Designers Association) fashion tendance 10 group show.

In a collaboration between some of the province’s best architects, fashion designers, interior and product designers and graphic artists, fashion was placed firmly in the art basket in a show that was an amalgam of art installations with fashion its media.

The classic catwalk was not altogether thrown to the dogs at APPMI’s brilliant show; the hundreds-strong audience was wound up with a stunning runway show by APPMI’s guest Norwegian designer, Epsen Salberg’s “Firmato Espen Salberg” collection.

His collection of day and evening wear in silk jersey-like fabric draped and rippled like water with every stride of the leggy models, drawing appreciative applause.

It is no surprise Salberg’s collection knocked the socks off the crowd; he was in the game in Italy for 17 years before settling in Bali, designing and producing the gowns worn by Jennifer Lopez in the film Shall We Dance?.

Oka Diputra

From the sinuous Salberg collection, the crowd was spun into the world of Oka Diputra, whose gowns push the boundaries of fashion into the sphere of contemporary art. Arriving at the catwalk in a hotel baggage trolley, the models used almost kabuki-like movements to highlight the geometry of Diputra’s avant garde collection.

Diputra’s works prepared the audience for what was to come; entering the art space created at The Laguna Resort and Spa’s ballroom was more like entering a gallery than a fashion show.

Garments in “still life” installations with themes such as railway stations, hotel lobbies, the lost city of Atlantis found, ancient Balinese legends and the jungles of Kalimantan staggered audiences with the sheer scale of the talent and vision of Bali’s creative community.

Designer Ika Mardiana said the show highlighted the fusion between fashion and other art forms.
“This is very good because the show tells both sides, interior design, architecture and graphic designers have collaborated with the fashion designers and I feel that is marvelous. Also the government is trying to promote the creative community [of Indonesia] so this is a big step,” said Mardiana.

Highlighting the relationship between art and fashion was self-taught fashion designer Agnes Caroline from Kalimantan, in collaboration with product designer Veny Lydiawati.

Caroline’s beautifully wrought garments, featuring origami-like folds and streams of ribbons, tell of her history in the jungle.

“The idea of my clothes is of a modern woman in a modern city remembering her home in the forests of Borneo,” Caroline said of her reconfigured corner of the jungle.

“The hanging ribbons are the branches of trees and the triangular folds in the fabric represent
the scales on crocodiles. Veny also designed the Venus Fly-trap lamps to work with the installation. We worked together on this for many months.”

Where most of the fashion art installations were in the form of still lifes, designer Dewi Suarjani, in collaboration with graphic designer Ayip, turned to the 17th century tableau vivant to interpret Suarjani’s Miss Centhini notion.

Based on the Javanese Centhini legends, Suarjani’s garments are inspired by 19th-century Javanese dress. The graphic and fashion designers placed their models amid Balinese dancers, whose exquisitely slow movements highlighted the unbroken link between Indonesia’s past and present cultures, expressed here in fashion.

Jakarta-based model Sheila Shulze, who presented Salberg’s and Diputra’s gowns on the catwalk, said she was deeply impressed by the APPMI fashion and art collaboration.

“This is really very interesting, especially because there is a mix of Jakarta- and Bali-based models. We can see the Balinese designers are really very creative. I have never seen a show like this. It’s fantastic,” said Schulze.

Indonesian designers, such as those from APPMI, face certain restrictions since the introduction
of the government’s new strict

pornography laws, but they also have a wealth of textile history at their fingertips.

Several of Bali’s designers, such as Oka Diputra, dismissed the pornography law in their design process, embracing rather the nation’s traditional culture through its newly heritage-listed textiles.

Diputra, who developed his fashion installation with renowned architect Putu Edy Semara, said via email that the pornography law was “cooked up by people who have more time on their hands than brain cells in their head”.

Batik, on the other hand, is one of his passions. “I always try to incorporate batik or traditional textiles in my collection because in my humble opinion, if it’s not us who puts them in the limelight, who else?”

Fashion designer Eny Ming said via email the use of traditional textiles is “important to preserve our culture. Traditional looks can become so fashionable if we put the perfect touch on it.”

Textiles allowed her to skirt the porn law. “It depends on how well we can mix and match certain cloths that are considered sexy to create a new acceptable look.”

Whatever the look, APPMI’s Fashion tendance 10 show has set the benchmark high for fashion shows in the province, which may help broaden the focus of Indonesian fashion in the future from Jakarta to Bali and beyond.

— Photos by J.B. Djwan

FASHION TENDANCE PHOTO COLLECTIONS:

Photographed by Laksana Eka Lanus, can be seen at Yoka Sara Blog

Photographed by Laksana Eka Lanus, can be seen at  Yoka Sara blog

COLLABORATION DISPLAYS Photographed by Ade Adinata, Tiga Grafis

“Miss Centhini” by Dewi Suarjani + Ayip

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Atlantis Once Upon A Time” by Monika Weber + Muji Ananta

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Day Dreamer” by Agnes Caroline (Fashion Designer) & Veny Lydiawati (Products Designer)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Dinner with Dwi Iskandar & Eko Prabowo” by Dwi Iskandar (Fashion Designer) + Eko Prabowo (Product/Graphic Designer)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“CONTAINER OF HOPE : Our Futuristic Wonderland” By Eny Ming (Fashion Designer) + Vicky Trinita (Architect-Interior Designer)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“NOZOMI” By Angeliqa Wu ( Fashion Designer) + Heri De Jong (Accesories Designer)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

COINCÉ ENTRE DEUX (STUCK IN BETWEEN)” By Putu Aliki (Fashion Designer) dan Yoka Sara (Architect)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“TROPICAL PARADISE” By Ali Charisma (Fashion Designer) + Made Kebath Bendesa (Painter)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“TRAVELLING LIGHT IN STYLE” By Oka Diputra (Fashion Designer) + Putu Edy Semara (Arsitek)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“MAYADENAWA MOMENT SPACE” By Tude Togog (Fashion Designer) + Iwan Sastrawan (Architect)