Vancouver Fashion Week

Presenting a fashion look wrapped in the natural color fabric is not only seen from the beauty side. It should present the ‘good’ side of how the color and motif are present in a natural way that is harmless to our environment. Utilize what we may have from mother nature wisely, and environment-friendly process. Hence presenting a feminine theme in her new collection, Entin Gartini uses the playful eco-print fabric with feminine cut and details such as ruffle, ribbon, and lace. Overall this collection is a blended sweet jar between feminine style and natural beauty.

For this “Le Charme de la nature“ collection, Entin has an amazing collaboration with 2 UMKM brands (UMKM stands for small and intermediate business, in Indonesia). They are Basemah Pagar Alam under Rahma Munto Via Ningrum tutor, an eco print enthusiast and activator, and also chairwomen of GOW (Gabungan Organisasi Wanita = women’s organization) that is established in 2020. The other UMKM is a woven women’s bag from pandanus (screwpine), Tas Pandan Tasik (@taspandan_tasik) with their “Ballantic Collection” as a chic complement for Entin’s modest outfit in Vancouver Fashion Week 2022 (VFW 2022).

To walk the show in VFW 2022 itself Entin gains full support from ITPC (Indonesian Trade Promotion Center) Vancouver. Robby Handoko, Director of ITPC Vancouver and Hendra Halim, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Vancouver, give their full support not just because they want to introduce the authentic product of Indonesia so it will be known globally, but also the product that will be shown is environment friendly and applying ‘sustainable’ value. This is legit proof that Indonesian fashion contains natural goods with potential from A to Z.  

The eco-print itself can be found in any form of fashion, but some eco-print has a distinguished style that we just cannot found it anywhere. And what makes it ‘oh so Indonesia’ signature is the shape of a leaf that we could only find in Indonesia. Some of the leaf motifs are three-leaf caper, wisdom tree, Spanish cherry, teak leaf, red jarak leaf, ketapang, eucalyptus, white cotton bark, kenikirr flower and leaf, and marrygold flower.

Natural coloring processes also created an amazing earthy color ambience such as white, cream, brown, green and terracotta. You might be wondering what it takes to create those beautiful colors, then here’s the combined formula. To create vivid green, they use tegeran and indigo. And for more soft green like lemon-green, they use tegeran fixation tunjung. The cream scheme color is created from tea tannins or coffee. Secang and chalk for fuchsia red, gambir fixation tawas water or super pale tohor chalk water for yellow, gambir mix tingi fixation chalk will create a blend of golden-brown. Last but not least, gambir fixation tunjung or jolawe with fixation chalk will create grey or dark grey.

Each leaf has a unique shape. When it paste and applied in a piece of cloth we’re satisfyingly see amazing reflections of the beauty of nature which is Entin’s biggest inspiration for this collection. She loves anything from nature yet exotic and beautiful places. Creating artwork through the eco-printing technique is obviously because we want something authentic, yet we get the perfect natural color as a result during the process. The natural process in a sheet of fabric that reflects nature.

What diverse is this collection from Entin’s previous collection? First, the ‘super-star’ material eco-print. Secondly, the tone color, and thirdly, amazing details that blow away the feminine aura. In the previous collection, Entin often applied bold colors, or the ‘color blocking’ concept. Besides, if we take a look at it’s cutting style, Entin uses plenty of asymmetrical cuts we barely could not find any feminine characteristics like what we find here in this “Le Charme de la nature” collection; multi-layering ruffle trim, silhouette mini dress, ribbons, and lace. “I’m pretty much sure that this combination between eco-print and the pattern design brings out the essence of spring,” Entin said.

The signature style of this collection just like mentioned in the first phrase is layered cut and ruffle that we can find in almost every outfit. Long sheer dresses and mini dresses will dominate the total look. Because the purpose of this collection is to catch and put down the romantic side of a woman in a lovely jar. A delicate mix between eco-print and other fabrics such as satin, silk, organza, tulle and suede, will create mild and light feathery. A fine look that will fly away perfectly.

Entin has a firm hope to revive the Indonesian economy from the fashion industry point of view after it falls down because of the pandemic. Hopefully, this collection will rise eco-print so people around the world would recognize its beauty, and when they buy, it will also increase the UMKM income. “As an Indonesian fashion designer who lives in Canada, I want to be their (Indonesian) extension to help their brand and product known globally,” Entin said. Afterward, she added, “If I can perform a fashion show (abroad) and revive the Indonesian economy at the same time, why not? And furthermore, if I have another opportunity to hold a fashion show, I will introduce Indonesian tourism as my main inspiration,”.

One more simply important thing why Entin created this collection is because she wants to encourage everyone to be more concerned about ‘protecting’ our environment. If we did not start it from ourselves, then who did? As we all know, in the past decade fashion industry has set the drive mode to the sustainable road. In short, sustainability has become a major focus of fashion brands. This of course fashion industry will not contribute to the biggest pollution and horrible waste in the world.

fashion designers start to use innovative ways by using innovative materials that are eco-friendly, organic, sustainable, or zero waste in using fabrics, that all of this way could reduce ocean pollution by up to 50%.

People need clothes. Fashion is a beloved industry that’s part of our identity and economic growth despite its environmental and social flaws. But in order to treat the environment and people who live here better, the industry has to step up. As a company that enables fashion store owners, we’re taking responsibility for the impact our business has on the world and working to help our customers’ brands become more sustainable.

With eco print, Indonesian can make fabric by themselves with their community without a machine and cost less, which means no need to import fabric from another country. At the same time, Canadian people are simple and conscious of the environment, they support sustainable fashion and appreciate affordable prices for everyone.

Creating eco-print outfits along with wearing eco-print is an act of applying sustainable fashion in our daily life. The coloring technique uses natural ingredients, and the waste is harmless to the environment, unlike textile waste or chemical waste which can damage our environment, more than our health.

“With this eco-print fabric it will surely help raises the natural wealth around us, maintain the life balance, and turns out it can be processed into something beautiful and useful,” Entin explained.