Indonesia Fashion Forward

Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan at Jakarta Fashion Week 2014. © British Council.

This year, a number of young talented Indonesian designers have showcased their work on the runway during Jakarta Fashion Week 2014 in Senayan City, as part of this nurturing programme that prepares them to enter the world fashion market.

Indonesian Fashion Forward 2013 selected 12 designers and labels who received personal guidance from a team of experts from the Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), one of London's foremost authorities in business development in the world of fashion. The biggest challenge the designers faced was to prove success in attracting local and international buyers in the Buyer's Room, which opened during JFW 2014.

This collaboration began in November 2011 between Jakarta Fashion Week, British Council, Centre of Fashion Enterprise and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia.

Who are the Indonesia Fashion Forward designers?

Year 1 (2012)

Albert Yanuar, Jeffry Tan, Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan, Barli Asmara, Bretzel, Cotton Ink, Dian Pelangi, and Major Minor.

Year 2 (2013)

Tex Saverio, TOTON, Friederich Herman, Vinora, Batik Chic by Novita Yunus, La Spina by Lianna Gunawan, Nur Zahra, Jenahara, 8Eri, Milcah, Monday to Sunday and Nefertiti (NFRT).

What else do I need to know?

These young designers intensively learn to develop their brands for a period of one year. With this experience, they are encouraged to penetrate into the international fashion market.

CFE experts have supervised various workshops and programmes in Jakarta over the past 18-months with local designers, nurturing and incubating the talent and preparing their businesses for the international market.

The CFE, best known for their work with designers such as Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto, Erdem and Richard Nicoll to name a few, works with new and emerging design talent and helps them to develop a sustainable and long-term strategic approach to business.

Another key activity of Indonesia Fashion Forward is its contribution towards Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW). Through this dynamic, high-level engagement, the British Council aims to support the continued development of a fashion-forward, innovative and sustainable Indonesian fashion week.

What is Jakarta Fashion Week?

Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW) is held annually and aimed to provide directions to the Indonesian fashion industry as well as a vehicle to demonstrate its wealth in talents and creativity. Ultimately, the goal is to turn Jakarta into a major fashion hub in the region and the world.

British Council Indonesia