Balinese Endek Fabrics Attract World’s Designer
There is good news that Balinese endek woven fabrics become part of the Spring/Summer 2021 collection of Christian Dior fashion house. The Balinese endek fabrics produced by Kekean Wastra Gallery turned out to be part of the Paris Fashion Week collection last September.
The owner of the Kekean Wastra Gallery, Achmad Nur Hasim or Aam, who is one of Pertamina’s MSME partners located in Bali, also shared a little story about how Dior finally contacted him to order such fabrics.
The story began when the Indonesian trade attaché in Paris contacted him and asked to send product samples to Dior.
According to him, after sending the product, he received a reply in the form of a fabric sample which happened to be the Balinese endek fabric. He was asked to make a fabric that is exactly like the sample, of course with the same quality.
More interestingly, the six fabric samples delivered at that time were not from Bali, but production of Thailand and outside Bali. However, the label of the fabric did say Balinese endek fabric.
With the glancing at endek as one of the fabrics used by such big world’s brand, it definitely can be a breath of fresh air for the development of the creative economy in Bali in accordance with the goals of the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno.
Not to mention that Aam stated that in order to meet the increasing demand, he should empower many local residents in Bali where his production center is. Approximately a total of 100 people were asked to help his business, of which nearly 99 percent are women who are housewives.
Aam and the Balinese people certainly received many benefits. Admittedly, this will be a new branding for the community that will be increasingly recognized globally. Similarly, the economic benefits will be felt directly by endek craftsmen in Bali.
In the midst of the current pandemic condition, weavers must also enjoy the economic benefits. This collaboration can also promote a culture in which the endek product can be accepted by the world. BTNewspaper/opik
