INDONESIA: INDONESIA'S LEADING BATIK MAKER KOMARA AND HER TEAM AT BIN HOUSE SHOW OFF THEIR LATEST COLLECTION

Record ID: 753634

  • Title: INDONESIA: INDONESIA'S LEADING BATIK MAKER KOMARA AND HER TEAM AT BIN HOUSE SHOW OFF THEIR LATEST COLLECTION
  • Date: 29th October 2003
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DESIGNER AND OWNER OF BIN HOUSE JOSEPHINE KOMARA, ALSO KNOWN AS OBIN, SAYING: "I think wearing something traditional in a modern time sometimes there's really no limit. There is no difference between traditional and modern and I don't think it is what you wear. It is how you wear it, isn't it?"
  • Embargoed: 13th November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVACHGYUH3HLWBI46RQLR2WWFZUB
  • Story Text: Indonesia's leading batik-maker has shown off her latest collection.
    The latest collection showcased Bin House's signature batik designs--combining stich-dying, woven textiles, embroidery, patch-work and smocking with traditional batik-making techniques.
    True to her one-of-a-kind style, Josephine Komara -- owner of the famous fashion house -- still favoured the use of lightweight and soft-hued fabrics over heavier materials used in traditional batiks.
    Batik is a process of printing fabric in which parts not to be dyed are covered by wax.
    Known as 'Obin' or simply 'Bin', 48-year-old Komara and her team at Bin House have again succeeded in creating contemporary batik designs without losing its traditional characteristics.
    Hundreds of fashion aficionados, including Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, turned up to see the latest creations Off-beat kebaya tops, another signature work of Obin, transformed the otherwise formal Javanese blouse into a more casual and contemporary look.
    Obin, however, downplayed the concept of modern versus traditional.
    "I think wearing something traditional in a modern time sometimes there's really no limit. There is no difference between traditional and modern and I don't think is what you wear. It is how you wear it, isn't it?" Obin said, adding that her new designs gave more emphasis on colors with traditional Javanese motifs from Solo and Cirebon dominating the show.
    "And then, this year we've found new way of creating how to take a traditional motifs and then putting it together with really vibrant colors and with the now colors. But basically the now colors are colors which were there about twenty-thirty years ago and everybody forget about it and now it's just come back," she said.
    Bin House employs more than 2,000 weavers, batik-makers, dyers, tailors and seamstresses -- all of whom she called 'artisans' -- in villages across the island of Java.
    Each cloth that appeared on the catwalk has undergone a long and laborious assembly-like process through the hands of Obin's artisans.
    This alone separates Obin from mainstream fashion designers.
    It may take more than a year, for example, to gather the right amount of tubers, flowers or other natural ingredients to achieve and produce a certain colour for the dye.
    Starting her business locally two decades ago, Obin now owns more than 30 retail outlets worldwide, including outlets in Japan, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United States and Europe.
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