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Lifestyle
Glam Halal | July-august. 2020
By Yosi Winosa
How are Indonesia’s modest
fashion brands surviving the
COVID-19 pandemic?
At the industry level, Ali
Charisma, chairperson of the
Indonesian Fashion Chamber
(IFC), told Salaam Gateway that for starters,
fashion weeks had moved online.
The upcoming 13th Surabaya Fashion
Parade, said Ali, will be held either fully online
or comprise a small portion, about 20 per cent,
of a catwalk show “in real life”.
“Recently, we participated in the Business
of Fashion (BoF, an online trade publication)
roundtable meeting with representatives
from 24 countries. It included Indonesia,
Malaysia, Japan, South Africa, South America
and Europe. We agreed to hold virtual fashion
weeks until the end of the year,” said Ali,
adding that a minimal component will be
offline.
“This will become the new standard
format for fashion weeks (until the pandemic
is over). IFC is also preparing our upcoming inhouse
fashion week, Muslim Fashion Festival
(MUFFEST) in February 2021.”
On the ground, five brands we spoke to
share the strategies that have kept their
businesses alive through the lockdown and
into the “new normal”.
IjaKroeng
Khairul Fajri, owner of the IjaKroeng brand
that specialises in sarongs from Aceh told
Salaam Gateway that during the fasting
month of Ramadan, from the end of April to
the end of May, he sold 10 times more pieces,
1,000 in total, compared to the 100 or so that
the company moves typically.
The entrepreneur did it by pushing his
brand with face masks, which he says were
the “entry point” for his main products.
“Before the fasting month, from around
March to mid-April, I pushed my team to
produce masks, but with customised designs.
I have three tailors, and they can produce
around 110 pieces per day. I sold around 5,000
masks in one and a half months,” said Khairul.
IjaKroeng’s face masks go for between
285,000 and 300,000 rupiah ($21), and most
were sold to corporates, NGOs and individuals
as wedding souvenirs, said Khairul.
“Surprisingly demand is strong in Aceh
since we have a custom here to give the
sarong as gifts to family, parents and so on.
I sell sarongs from 335,000 rupiah to 340,000
rupiah and my buyers come from Aceh,
Medan and Jakarta,” Khairul added.
Creativity
sells
Five Indonesian modest fashion companies thrive amid pandemic
Surprisingly
demand is
strong in
Aceh since
we have
a custom
here to give
the sarong
as gifts
to family,
parents and
so on. I sell
sarongs
from 335,000
rupiah to
340,000
rupiah and
my buyers
come from
Aceh, Medan
and Jakarta.”
– Khairul Fajri
Konsep
Phillips Iswardono, the owner of Konsep, said
during the pandemic the sale of his batikprinted
clothes with the famous lurik pattern
increased by 50 per cent to 150 pieces a month
from around 100 pieces per month typically.
Konsep also sells fashionable face masks,
that start at 30,000 rupiah ($2.10). The company’s
premium batik luriks are priced between
500,000 rupiah and 1 million rupiah ($70).
Philipps said that so far, he has sold more
than 25,000 masks to local and overseas
buyers, which include in Australia and Malaysia,
and the Peranakan Museum in Singapore.
“In the first and second week of March
(when Indonesia started large-scale social
distancing), I was still running production
from previous orders before the pandemic hit
us,” said Phillips.
“After that, I got zero orders, but I stayed
calm and did not panic, for instance, selling
things like snacks.”
Phillips started to contact his 300 customers
via WhatsApp, with 75 per cent based in
Jakarta.
He reached out to his customers with gifts
of face masks and his latest product catalogue.
“The response was quite positive. Two
out of 10 customers I sent gift hampers to
converted to sales.
“The key is to not to panic and keep
making new collections, showing them to our
customers, but with a soft selling approach
amid the pandemic situation,” said Phillips.
Maison Gadiza
Rosie Rahmadi, owner of Maison Gadiza,
did not get any new orders for a month after
attending Muslim Fashion Festival, or MUFF-
EST 2020, in February. Her sales in March
nosedived, and her boutique on Margonda
Road in Depok stayed empty while her products
piled up in the warehouse.
“I looked at my product portfolio carefully
and redefined them to adapt to the current
condition,” said Rosie.
She decided to focus on one product only,
her jacket, the Sazia Outer, and modified it to
look like personal protection wear.
“I posted it on IG stories, and the response
from customers was surprisingly good!”
“The demand is high. I sold more than 1,200
pieces per month since then, as most of my
customers are employees that commute from
home to office and vice versa. They would buy
two outers each day, one for travel and one for
the office,” Rosie told Salaam Gateway.
“Going forward, I will collaborate with one
of the famous jacket labels to make unisex
PPO and focus on this segment.”
Maison Gadiza’s outers went viral with the
help of an influencer, Dr Tirta Mandiri Hudhi,
an activist for large scale social distancing
and face masks, who posted Rosie’s designs
on Facebook and Instagram.