I told one of the Ibu that I want to make something small and she replied that we can recreate kain panjang (long cloth) into a bandana. If you wanna send a big huge package, that becomes a big huge capital, so not yet.Īt the moment, we are offering bandana (check out the amazing bandana in the video on minutes 09:12) But if I want to go with cargo freight, I am not in that capacity yet because they work with a big volume and as you can see batik is all about hand-made. For now, what I can work with is just a small package with an air freight. Shipping for me, at the moment, I cannot really do much about it. That is how I found everybody.Īfter you find them on Instagram, it is pretty much working with the time difference and then I guess the other one (problem) is maybe shipping if you do physical stuff. It is also just a matter of looking though Instagram. Thanks to technology, it is probably just the time difference, but that doesn’t really matter at all. Even though I am in Jakarta and (if I were to) look for an artisan in Java, they are also far. Whether it is far or not, I would say it is just far to begin with. That is where I found all the like-minded people, people who care about the sustainability of fashion, natural dyes, and everything. How do I find and work with them? My friend, Vony, has a really great Whatsapp group called The Sustainable Fashion Indonesia. I am in Singapore and I am working cross-border which is relatively nearer and you go all the way to Vancouver. Maybe you can take us to the process of how you work with artisans because I cannot imagine. Also, looking forward to artisans in each specific region. My plan now is to find like-minded people to be able to form and group together. Tony also has a section on his website called Batikosophy, Batik Philosophy. We have been talking and I have mentioned that it is a huge undertaking to set up that library to be a comprehensive site. I am not doing anything design-related at the moment. I want to do it but, in the meantime, because I am really busy building the background and the foundation of Batik Library, like the website and everything. The Batik Library is actually formed with a sole purpose of wanting to share the story of each traditional motif available in the market.ĭo you still do fashion or solely promote batik? So, I wanna bring these people to North America, probably to sell and to show them that it is all pretty. Well, of course, it is because there are so many people in Jakarta and there is high fashion in Jakarta. It is really incredible how fast it is in Jakarta. I also want it as a comparison between Jakarta fashion and fashion in Vancouver. I want it to be a directory when you go on the website, there is an easy directory where you can click on it and explain the story. For example, what is the story behind parang, kawung, mega mendung, and so on.
![kelir batik kelir batik](https://i.etsystatic.com/26838320/r/il/dc2013/2774302054/il_fullxfull.2774302054_iwzd.jpg)
The Batik Library is actually formed with a sole purpose of wanting to share the story of each traditional motif available in the market. If you can take us along the journey of building up The Batik Library. But I believe that the start is not directly into batik. You started as a fashion designer and, now, started The Batik Library, which is a brand that obviously advocates in selling batik. That is very nice, especially in this pandemic where travel is so restricted. It is due to family circumstances that I have to move here. After that, I moved to Japan and I went to a school called Sugino Fashion College. I started fashion design in Jakarta in Lasalle College.
![kelir batik kelir batik](https://i.etsystatic.com/26838320/r/il/2ed752/2821954423/il_fullxfull.2821954423_tl2q.jpg)
So, you actually studied fashion design in Canada? It is so interesting whenever I go back and I always shop a lot of fabrics. From there, occasionally, I design clothes and it is a journey, discovering new wastra and all the various fabrics. That is when I started to use songket and batik all together in one collection. Probably in 2015, I got back into school and was making another final collection. I come from a fashion design background and in the past 10 years I always incorporate Indonesian traditional textile whenever I design clothes. My name is Bernarda, I am originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. It is really nice to get all the information about batik.īefore we start and discuss further, maybe we can start with a little introduction about who you are, your background, and how you fell in love with batik. I always watch your videos and it is always inspiring. We now would like to find out more about your love for batik and how you want to promote it all the way in Canada.įirst of all, thank you for having me. We talked a little bit about our advocacy on batik and we met through all different groups. I think it goes up to 32 degrees right now. How is it there in Vancouver?īernarda Antony: It is pretty hot in here. Tony Sugiarta: Welcome Bernarda to today’s session of aNERDspective.