The Indonesian portions of Borneo boast endless resources and people with a strong sense of culture and creativity, such as this fashion designer and entrepreneur from Samarinda in East Kalimantan.
Fanti Wahyu Nurvita has for the past 14 years been developing her brand ‘Hesandra Indonesia’ (HI). A few years ago, she showcased her culture-based fashion in Kuching at the World Eco-Fibre Textile Forum and Fashion Show. Strong with ethnic designs, her pieces stood out including a jacket that can be paired off with some cool pants.
The biggest fashion event in Indonesia is Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) which took place on April 3 to 17 in Jakarta. After two years of practically no shows due to the pandemic, Fanti took her brand to this highly anticipated event and we spotted her new designs online.
To those who are hungry for fashion news and fresh ideas, here is an interview with Fanti!
What did she present at IDW?
Apparently, she highlighted the Doyo handwoven fabric in a zero-waste unordinary street fashion, using mostly a patchwork form. Her reason was to create awareness of sustainable fashion.
“The cutting is bold and layered, a perfect fit for smart and exotic women. The design itself highlights a Dayak dancer on a three-pieces outfit, which fits the theme that my brand wants to address this season,” said Fanti.
She added that a Dayak hat is used to highlight both the ethnicity and modern look. The combination of the two makes a statement targeted at the young generation that traditional culture is not out of date and can be trendy. Wearing it in a cool way can in fact set off a trend of telling stories of culture and heritage.
Doyo handwoven fabric was chosen as the highlight to fit the major theme of 2022 Indonesia Fashion Week which is ‘The Treasure of Magnificent Borneo.’
We learned from her that Doyo handwoven is a heritage of the Dayak tribe distinct to West Kutai, East Kalimantan province.
The Anjat natural fibre bag carried by the models complimented the design of the Kamala Doyo magnificently.
Kamala Doyo literally means a feminine Doyo. Her theme was not chosen for nothing. It was uplifted as it has always been used only as home-decor or Ulap, a sarong to tighten up the lower part of the body.
Was her fashion concept well-received?
Fanti said, “The audience responded really well in the opening ceremony that was held on April 13. The collection received a lot of appreciation from the audience, and the order for our designs was simply overwhelming. However, small adjustment was needed on the designs to match certain themed events and for a cocktail party.
“I am most pleased that my brand HI has succeeded in introducing the Doyo Handwoven widely, following the questions raised by the enthusiastic audience about the product, which is one of the main goals.”
How is she doing this pandemic with her fashion business?
To survive in the past two years, one of the adjustments made was the creation of an ethnic mask with a touch of embroidery on it. That thankfully was a huge success as it was widely sold to cities in Japan and the US.
The pandemic has changed the shopping habits of most Indonesians. Noting the trend, HI which was positioned in the beginning as a premium ethnic fashion brand, had to resort to innovation and diversion. The result of that was the emergence of Ayesha, Fanti’s affordable brand, exactly a year ago. Ayesha is dedicated to a hardworking middle-class, while still uplifting sustainable fashion.
Ideal for office gatherings and other formal events, the cutting is simple yet bold. Ayesha’s signature mark is the use of batik patches on every design sourced from left-over production of HI and then added with embroidery to make stronger accents.
As the price range of HI is less affordable to the middle class, this approach via Ayesha is ideal in expanding the reach of the business.
The design development and creative innovation is being done continuously to keep Ayesha on track in the hopes of being as globally recognised as HI.
Does she still export or is selling online?
As mentioned, shopping behaviour has changed dramatically during the pandemic forcing HI to apply certain marketing strategies in order to survive in the fashion industry. Focusing on sales through social media platforms and websites is one of the strategies. Shopee, Tokopedia and inacraft have also become partners in boosting sales.
According to Fanti, it is not an easy task for an established offline brand to shift to online selling as specific moves need to be done which are completely different with those of offline stores. Thankfully, all the hard work paid off. The online sales have generated nothing but good results.
HI had exported the iconic masks during 2020 to 2021. When the clothing mask trend ended, no global sales had been made.
In 2022, HI is developing new concepts so that they can start exporting their products around the world once more.
The concepts developed include line maturation, home décor and ready to wear clothing with a little touch of ethnicity to create a more edgy modern look for the world to see.
Website: www.hesandra.com for more information.
