ByVelvet and Norma Hauri Extend Their Wings in Tokyo

Showcasing New Collection and Getting Trained to Penetrate Tokyo Market
 

Indonesia Fashion Forward (IFF), a program initiated by Jakarta Fashion Week with the British Council and the Centre for Fashion Enterprise London, Badan Ekonomi Kreatif (Agency for Creative Economy), as well as the Dewan Kerajinan Nasional Daerah Provinsi DKI Jakarta (National Crafts Council of Jakarta), which aims to build and equip talented young designers with the development of business strategies through the boundaries of transnational.

Japan Fashion Week Organization (JFWO), a fashion organization from Japan that was established in 2005, also has the same mission, to build the competitive values of the national fashion industry in the country of the rising sun. 2016 marks the fourth year of collaboration between JFW and JFWO. JFWO itself is the organizer of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo (MBFWT) whose mission is to make Tokyo as one of the fashion centers of Asia.

As part of this cooperation, this year, two designers from IFF, namely Norma Hauri which is part of the Third Generation of IFF, and ByVelvet, which is part of the Fourth Generation of IFF, will embark to Tokyo to expand their wings in MBFWT. This year, the collaboration and participation of the designers in MBFWT are also supported by HIDA (The Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association). This will be the first time for IFF to collaborate with HIDA.

HIDA itself carries a mission from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan to conduct training programs that can contribute to economic development and strategic needs of developing countries. This collaboration is expected to produce a close relationship with such countries in order to join forces in facing global economic development.

The training, which includes the production and marketing strategy undertaken by Japanese designers, the Japanese culture and market, as well as the trend of the Japanese textile and fashion, that will last for 10 days in Tokyo from 11 to 21 March 2016. The training is expected to be strong provisions for designers to penetrate into the Japanese market and international markets in general that have similar market climate. Between the training, the designers of IFF will also showcase their collections in a fashion show that will take place in Hall B, Hikarie Shibuya, Tokyo, on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 20:30 until finished.

Byvelvet, a part of the Fourth Generation of IFF program, is a premium label of Shop At Velvet. With the perserverance of Yessi Kusumo, the founder and designer, with her husband and business partner, Randy W. Sastra, ByVelvet premium collection with heavy influence from architectural elements was created. The label ByVelvet admitted to be some kind of fashion laboratory to develop ideals and unique characteristic for their design. Earlier, in the first year of ByVelvet launch, this label has managed to attract international buyer from London.

On the other hand, Norma Hauri is part of the Third Generation of IFF program, a designer who displays contemporary yet sweet modest wear and adapts it to the posture of local urban women who tend to be more petite. Clean and firm cutting and bold colors become the characteristic style of the designer who started her own ready-to-wear label in 2009.

Both IFF designers are expected to bring home the knowledge and strategies that are helpful in developing their industry as a whole in the evolving global society. The experience of exhibiting a collection in foreign lands also provides an opportunity for designers to test the market interests and gain confidence to further develop their business, not only locally, but also internationally.

Author: Zea Zabrizkie