“Maybe not only Batik, but other Indonesian Wastra. We are looking for the young talent to be introduced to the world, then we will asked the curator to see”
The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Rome encourages more and more fashion designers to introduce batik and other wastes clad in original ideas to the global community, especially Italy, which has become one of the world's fashion trends. The Indonesian Ambassador to Italy, Esti Andayani, said that the original concept was liked by people in Italy and the international fashion event could be a means of introducing it. This is like what the designer of the Maquinn Couture label did at the Milan Fashion Week 2020/2021.
"Because here we are very happy to find young talents who can be introduced to the original concept. Maybe not only, batik but other Indonesian Wastra. We are looking for young talents to be introduced to the world, then ask the curators to see," he said in a virtual press conference "Maquinn Couture to Milan Fashion Week 20. / 21 ", Saturday. On that occasion, Professor of Haute Couture Istituto in Moda Burgo, Milan, Biagio Belsito argued, the Italian public likes something that makes them special. In his opinion, this is a challenge for designers to be able to discover new things and could surprise many people.
Furthermore, specifically for batik, according to Esti, the Indonesian Embassy in Rome has worked together with design schools in Rome in providing workshops on batik to students there. The students were also asked to design clothes according to their creations.
The idea here is to combine Indonesian culture, one of which is through batik and culture in Europe (east and west), as shown by Maquinn Couture at this year's Milan Fashion Week. Maquinn's party promoted a Pilgrimage concept that was realized through a collection of clothing with a combination of batik and European elements."We have been working with the design school in Rome for quite a long time. I am happy that our efforts in Indonesia are also being carried out. So, we have done our efforts for east meet west two years ago," Esti said.
In the future, he hopes that after Maquinn, other talents will also participate in the demonstration through their respective original concepts. For this, the Indonesian Embassy in Rome is ready to facilitate designers to penetrate the market in Italy, for example, helping to promote their work through receptions held by the Indonesian Embassy, working together to hold fashion shows and uploading Indonesian designer works through their official pages and social media.
"I think we will use this, we can cooperate with Maquinn in our strategy to sell batik culturally, not only materially. If we can, later the Indonesian Embassy can facilitate it. We can penetrate the markets," Esti said.
