INDONESIA EAGER TO BECOME MUSLIM FASHION CAPITAL by Fardah

 Jakarta, July 24, 2014 (Antara) - Domestic Muslim fashion industry has been growing rapidly in Indonesia, which is the world's largest Muslim majority nation, with a population of about 250 million, of whom 85 percent are Muslims.  
"The domestic Muslim fashion industry is extremely creative, and its products have immense market potential," Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestushe said in Batam, Riau Islands, last June 2014.

        To boost the domestic Muslim fashion industry, the minister has called on every region in the country to tap their creative resources and abundant cultural heritage.

       "Indonesia is seeking to become a global hub of the Muslim fashion industry by 2020," she said.

       The ministry has organized Muslim fashion festival every year in Jakarta to help promote the domestic Muslim fashion at a global level.

       In addition, the government had sponsored three noted Muslim fashion designers, including Dian Pelangi, to participate in overseas exhibitions, the minister said.

       "We had brought it (Muslim fashion design) to London and received an extraordinary response," she remarked.

       The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pledged to support and promote Muslim fashion products in the global market.

       The foreign ministry in Batam, June 2014, had gathered Indonesian ambassadors to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, where Muslim fashion and culinary from Indonesia are believed to have large potential.

        "The ambassadors had discussed the potential of Indonesian fashion and culinary in order to find more effective ways of promoting our creative products and expanding our market globally, one of which was by bringing our businessmen to meet potential foreign buyers," the foreign ministry's Expert Staff of Economy, Social and Culture Wahid Supriyadi said in Batam recently.

        Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey Nahari Agustini, for instance, was optimistic that the domestic Muslim fashion has market potential in Turkey, which has Muslim majority population.

        Nahari Agustini noted that the trend of wearing Muslim fashion apparel in Turkey has been increasing over the last ten years, particularly among the young people.

        "Moreover, the Turkish government has developed Istanbul as one of the World's center for fashion, exhibition, and trade," she said.

         She encouraged Indonesian fashion businessmen to take part in the fashion exhibition to be held this year by the Turkish government.

        "I do not know yet whether Indonesian businessmen will participate in the exhibition, but if they are interested, we are ready to help," she stressed.

        To win the market competition in Turkey, Nahari suggested the fashion businessmen in Indonesia to manufacture simple, yet elegant, clothes according to the season.

        "Turkey's Muslim women tend to wear soft and neutral colors, such as white, pink, and tosca," she said.

        "Also, they do not like to wear flashy accessories. They prefer to mix-and-match their clothes, with scarfs, shoes, and bags in similar color," added Nahari.

        Recently, Indonesian Muslim Fashion Week (IMFW) was organized in Bandung, West Java, on July 18-20, 2014, featuring the latest works of 28 Indonesian Muslim fashion designers.

        "The theme of IMFW 2014 was "From Indonesia to the World." IMFW is expected to become a world Muslim fashion hub in the future," IMFW coordinating committee chairman Pradito Rukmana said.

        "This is an opportune moment because it coincides with Ramadan fasting month. Now, we see that hijab has become a lifestyle," Rukmana said.

         The 28 designers participating in the fashion week include Dian Pelangi, Jenahara, Ria Miranda, Ria Baraba, Ghaida, Acha Septriasa, Irfan Hakim, Zaskia Adya Meca, and Nuri Maulida.

        Some designers are optimistic that Indonesia will become the global hub of Muslim fashion.

        "I am very much optimistic that Indonesia's target of becoming the global hub of Muslim fashion by 2020 will be achieved, given that the industry has currently been flourishing rapidly," Chairperson of Indonesia's Hijabers Mom Community, Irna Mutiara, said in Bandung during the IMFW.

         Businessmen managed to meet the high demands for clothes that completely covered women's bodies in accordance with Islamic laws, she said.

         Indonesia is a huge market for Muslim fashion products. Overseas markets such as those in Malaysia, Middle Eastern countries, Europe, and America are also still wide open.

          According to a study by the Pew Research Centre, published in January 2011, Islam has 1.57 billion adherents. The global Muslim fashion industry is estimated to be worth US$96 billion and is rapidly growing.

         The tourism and creative economy ministry in collaboration with the Indonesian Fashion Entrepreneur and Designer Association (APPMI) earlier stated that they would support Indonesian Muslim fashion industry through the development of the larges and the fastest e-commerce market in South East Asia.

         Indonesia, according to Diajeng Lestari, CEO and Founder of Muslim fashion website HijUp.com, is expected to be the Muslim fashion trendsetter. "Our market will not be limited to only Indonesians," Lestari told the media.

        The marketing through websites had boosted Muslim fashion product sales and contributed in making Indonesia a world's Muslim fashion capital by 2020.

        "Indonesia's fashion industry has huge potential to drive the economy of the public. It has contributed Rp164 trillion or 28 percent of gross domestic product in 2013. It has also increased employment by 32 percent or 3.8 million workers," Minister Pangestu said recently.

          According to Muslim's religious beliefs, "women must dress modestly and draw their veils over their bodies" (Quran 24:30-31). That, however, does not mean that a devout Muslim adhering to religious suggestions cannot look fashionable.

        "We can be the trendsetters," said Mari Pangestu, the tourism and creative economy minister. "We have the vision and mission that Indonesia can be the world's capital of Muslim fashion," the minister added. ***2***
(f001/INE/a014)