Inside Jakarta Fashion Week | Vogue Business

Reinvention, digitization, being positive – these are recurring themes as fashion weeks around the world struggle to maintain momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Next up is Jakarta Fashion Week, featuring both men’s and women’s clothing, which will take place from 26 to 29 November. This time the organizers have radically rethought the annual event: the program has been reduced to four days, each show is pre-recorded and a complete digital program has been devised.

Svida Alisjahbana, president of Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW) and CEO of GCM Group, insists that the show must continue: “If this year has taught us anything, it is that we cannot take things for granted and take for granted that we can simply stick to the ‘usual’, when everything is now unusual. “

Now in its thirteenth year, JFW is determined to maintain its status as a major event on the fashion calendar in Southeast Asia. Physical shows are staged in Senayan City, one of Jakarta’s best-known shopping complexes for high-end fashion and a longtime partner of JFW.

The launch of JFW.TV, a microsite that will stream the entire event live, is backed by strong social media coverage. JFW this year will pay a special tribute to Indonesian designer and star of fashion week Barli Asmara, known for his ultra-feminine clothes, who died in August this year at the age of only 42.

The digital shift could prove to be a clear move. Event planners are looking to tap into Indonesia’s significantly younger population of tech-savvy consumers. With an average age of 28, they turn to online channels like TikTok, Twitch, and Instagram Live for news and entertainment.

As in many countries, the retail landscape in Indonesia is undergoing massive changes in the wake of the pandemic, with retailers and brands rethinking their business strategy. Indonesia’s long love affair with department stores and malls has been frozen for much of 2020. Instead, consumers are turning to e-commerce in record numbers, adopting new shopping habits faster than expected. A GlobalWebIndex estimates that as many as 90% of Indonesian internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 have purchased a product or service online.

Indonesia is a very significant market with strong growth potential: the population is projected to increase from 273 million to 319 million people by 2045. The apparel and footwear market alone is currently worth over $ 10 billion. 10% more than its neighbor, the Philippines.

But the country’s economy had a difficult 2020; contraction of 3.49 per cent in the third quarter in addition to a contraction of 5.3 per cent in the previous quarter. The economy is on track for its first economic downturn since the 1998 financial crisis.

JFW’s Svida Alisjahbana remains positive. For this month’s event, it puts the emphasis on the digital innovation agenda. In addition to screening a series of “Road to JFW” lectures and presentations on Facebook Live and Instagram Live, this year JFW collaborates exclusively with TikTok, making this the first major fashion event to be held live on its platform.

Reflecting this year’s theme “Inspirational Creativism”, JFW has secured an impressive array of local talent, including around 100 designers who reflect Indonesia’s melting pot of cultures and traditions. They include renowned batik designers such as Iwan Tirta and Bateeq, elegant Lurik draperies by Lulu Lutfi Labibi, based in Yogyakarta, a contemporary take on modest clothing by Rani Hatta and eco-friendly designers such as Lekat and Sejauh Mata Memandang who specialize in using recycled fabrics obtained from pre-consumer waste.

Being a vast archipelago of thousands of islands, Indonesia is renowned for its cultural richness. Alisjahbana says: “We are proud to say that we have always tried to be inclusive of minorities when we present JFW, whether it be highlighting the little exposed traditions of the Indonesian archipelago, or working with designers and models with disabilities.”

A local champion of sustainable and eco-conscious fashion is designer Rinaldy Yunardi, who marks 25 years in the industry this season. The accessories and millinery maker has launched Refounder, a new line of handmade and remodeled women’s casual shoes and footwear.

“The younger generation has arrived in a world where information is available at the click of a button,” explains Yunardi. “As a result, they are more in tune than ever with our impact on the environment – which is why upcycling and reselling have been so successful here.”

Rizal Rama, the male model who was selected as this year’s JFW icon, adds that the large Indonesian population of Gen Z and millennials is bold in self-expression on social media, adapting global cultural trends to the local context. “From trends to culture, Indonesia can be part of the world conversation by defining its own characteristics in the global market.”

No matter the pandemic: JFW opens on November 26 with its usual air of expectation. Svida Alisjahbana expects a few optimistic days of creative energy: “Indonesians are proud, creative and sight-oriented people; and we also stick to the belief of “gengsi”, the impression you give from your appearance “.

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