West Java Leather Crafts Gallery: The Outdoors Fashion Show

Quite a few interesting events are taking place in Bandung this past few weeks. One of them is Galeri Kriya Kulit Jawa Barat (West Java Leather Crafts Gallery), an exhibition of West Java's leather craft products, that is taking place this weekend. The event was held in front of Gedung Sate, the West Java Province Gubernatorial Office. The fashion show that I'm featuring today was held as part of the event to show some of the leather products being exhibited. Look at the leather boots the models are wearing. They are made in West Java, Indonesia.

A Watching Eye in The Crowd

I took this photo sometime ago at a fasnion show organized and sponsored by a Paris-based producer of cosmetics and beauty products at Yogya Mall at Jalan Kepatihan.

I think that watching eye in the crowd who are focusing their attention on the fashion show on the stage makes a very interesting photograph.

Blonde Mannequins

These blode mannequins at King's Shopping Center on Jalan Kapatihan look attractive. But then I began to ask questions: Why do they have to be blonde? And white? Is that how they are supposed to be made to look attractive?

But we are brown-skinned and black-haired.

Bamboo Fashions

These bamboo fashions are designed and made by a group of students of STSI or Sekolah Tinggi Senirupa Indonesia (Indonesian Higher School of Art) Bandung. They were exhibited at Paris Van Java at the occasion of the Bambu Nusantara Festival that I reported earlier.

Twelve pieces designed by nine different student designers were in exhibit. I'm showing you two of them here. The one in the top photo is entitled "Warrior" and the one at the bottom is entitled "Porcupine". Both are designed by Afridanessa Chita Dewi.

Perfect Bodies in Perfect Outfits

I took this photo at Pasar Baru (literally: New Market) area.

Pasar Baru is a traditional and semi-mordern market with shops selling nearly all kinds of things: vegetables, fruits and flowers; kitchen utensils, foods; but above all it is well known for its fabric and ready-made clothings at wholesalers' and negotiable prices. Although the name is Pasar Baru (New Market), it is in fact one of the oldest market in the city. It is located at the city center near the Alun-Alun or the city square.

Would not those bodies look perfect in our current definition of a female's "perfect body"? Would not those outfits be just as perfect for those bodies?

They may indeed be ... We must also remember, however, that the definition of beauty and bodily perfection never stay the same at all times and in all places; and there is nothing natural about them. They are culturally-constructed.

Bandung: City of Fashion

According to a recent survey, one of the things that makes Bandung attractive to visitiors is its fashion industry. Indeed, one of the things that one would not usually want to miss when visiting Bandung is the multitude of Factory Outlets (or FO) it offers. Here, visitors could literally shop clothing items and their accessories of all kinds till they - quite literally - drop, that is to say that you will need all the stamina you have to be able to explore the choices you have here, and all for prices that are so affordable to many.

The fashion industry, being part of the creative industry, is one of the things that has won Bandung the appointment as one of East Asia's creative industry centers. To encourage and support the growth of this kind of industry, the government and private sectors alike often organize events - big and small - towards that end. Some of the bigger regular events that I have previously posted here are The Helar Fest, Kemilau Nusantara, and The Braga Fest. In addition to these big and regular events, there are numerous other smaller events usually held at the local level. The photos I posted here, for example, are of a local fashion show recently held at one of the supermarkets here as part of Bandung Young Fashion Designers Competition, showing the finalists' designs.



Statistics shows that about IDR 79 billion (about USD 7.5 million at the current rate) of revenue per month is generated by the creative industry in this city. Futhermore, the creative industry absorbs about 650,000 workers of the city's work force working for the various aspects of it.

My World: Spiderman on Cihampelas

Jalan Cihampelas (Cihampelas Street), Bandung, is very well known for its apparel and fashion shops, but above all, jeans! That's how it got its nick name: Jeans Street. What's unique about the shops on this street is that they are decorated in such a way that they become an attraction of their own. It's probably the only street outside Hollywood where Rambo in action is positioned next to Aladdin and his flying carpet and other fictional heroes like Superman and, as I framed in this photo, Spiderman.

The fictional character spiderman (also spelled spider-man), by the way, was first introduced to the public in August 1962 in a Marvel Comics published comics book "Amazing Fantasy". His real name in the story is Peter Benjamin Parker. The superhero was created by Stan Lee (the scripter and editor) and Steve Ditko (the plotter artist).

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in My World Tuesday meme. Too see other posts of the participating blogs of My World meme, please follow the link.

Bandung: City of Shoppers #1

Ask any visitors of their reasons for visiting Bandung, and chances are that shopping and eating are high on their list. Bandung is indeed considered by many as a top shopping and culinary destination in Indonesia and even in Southeast Asia. To local visitors at least, Bandung is well known for its many fashion distros (distribution outlets), FOs (factory outlets), cozy cafes and restos.

Distros and FOs are a kind of shop that sells fashion and apparel products directly from factories. This marketing model that cuts short the distribution chain (and hence significantly reduces the prices of commodities) began to emerge in the early 1990s. Now you can find them in many parts of the city, with those on Jalan Dago (Dago Street), Jalan Riau (LRE Martadinata), Jalan Cihampelas, and Jalan Dr. Setiabudhi being the most popular.

Bandung shopping experience, however, does not stop with distros and FOs. In fact, they may be just the beginning of it. For those of you who like high-end, branded merchandize, Bandung also has a large number of internationally branded chain shops to choose from. Or, if you are the kind of person who enjoys adventure and does not mind haggling/bargaining, the various specialized traditional markets and the streets are the way to go. Not only do these markets offer the same range of merchandizes you can find at distros and high end branded chain shops, they also offer them for much much less.

I took the above photo of colorful t-shirts and blouses at King's Shopping Center on Jalan Kepatihan (Kepatihan Street). And how much do they cost? At the current rate, they cost US$5 or less. Very cheap indeed for well-made and beautifully designed blouses like those.

Colorful Hijabs

I took this photograph of colorful hijabs for sale at a store on Jalan Asia Afrika (Asia Africa Street), near Bandung Grand Mosque.

Hijab is an Arabic word which originally means cover, veil, screen, or shelter. Now the word is used throughout the Moslem world to refer to the attire that Moslem women wear. By religious rule, Moslem women are required to dress modestly, i.e. cover most of their body parts and head, in public to keep/protect them from being harrassed.

In Indonesia, the more common word for hijab is jilbab, which refers to head cover.

Although Indonesia has the largest Moslem population in the world, it is not an Islamic state. Therefore, unlike in some Middle Eastern states where women are required by the state law to wear hijab in public, Indonesian Moslem women are free to choose whether or not they want to wear hijab.

Hijab began to gain popularity in Indonesia in the mid 1980s, following what is now considered as the re-emergence of Islamic consciousness throughout the Moslem world in the 1970s, of which hijab was one of the symbols that affirmed the Islamic identity and morality in opposition to Western materialism, commercialism, and values.

This is my first participating post for Photo Scavenger Hunters.

AIDS: I care, do you?

Text and picture by Eki Qushay Akhwan

My yesterday's post seemed to have generated some misunderstanding, despite the commentary I wrote. Horny Clinic is NOT a medical institution, but a local fashion/apparel trade mark and store. The name they chose may seem impertinent and offensive to some people, but I should admit that it is very catchy and gets the attention of many (it did get mine).

All that aside, I must also say that I like the creative process the choosing of the name must have involved. In addition to that, the theme of their commercial campaign, like the one they did here at Bandung's KICKFEST 2008, also had some social responsibility that is nicely linked to their namesake: "AIDS, I care. Do you?"

We should certainly do. Teenagers are one of the groups of people who are increasingly prone to becoming infected with this deadly disease. And no means of delivering a message about avoiding risky behaviors (free sex, drug use) that could get them infected with this disease are more effective in reaching this age group than to one of the very things the love most: Fashion.