2015—2016 were the years when Penta got lots of pictures of people wearing clothes made from traditional Indonesian fabrics—batik and woven from various regions in Indonesia—at every fashion show in Jakarta. He intends to document and create a book on the theme of ethnic clothing.
The first two years (2015-2016) Penta was quite happy, because it was not difficult to find people wearing woven clothes and batik. However, entering the 2017-2018 Penta cameras had more hanging on his roro4d shoulders. He is increasingly having difficulty finding people wearing woven and batik clothing at events such as Jakarta Fashion Week and Indonesia Fashion Week.
I haven’t seen him for a long time. There is also no news about the fate of the book he wants to write.
Based on Penta’s experience, we can assume that people are starting to get bored of wearing clothes made from traditional fabrics which don’t seem to have changed much from an aesthetic perspective. Or maybe it’s not comfortable because the material tends to be thick and hot, as several people I met admitted. Or maybe those of you who are reading this article have other experiences and reasons to complement it.
Related to this, what is also interesting and what people often say is that very few young people want to wear clothes made from traditional cloth, except for special occasions, whether traditional events or formal events that require wearing clothes made from traditional cloth.
This is the challenge we face. The reality that is before our eyes is that traditional fabrics—regardless of whether we are proud of them or not—are required to adapt to the challenges of the ever-changing fashion industry. Like it or not, like it or not.
What’s the way out?
First, historically traditional Indonesian cloth is closely related to the cultural traditions of the community, and is used on a subsistence basis—for personal clothing—not a trade commodity like woven cloth produced since the era of the Industrial Revolution in England.