How To Maintain Yor Existence in Fashion Industry

“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.” The statement from Miuccia Prada, quoted from the book 103 Fashion Quotes by Ichwan Thoha reflected the enthusiasm of the participants in the workshop ‘Rush Hour with Style’. The event, which was held at Main Lobby BINUS International on Monday, March 25 2013, was a collaboration between Instyle Indonesia magazine with Philips.

The workshop, which was organized in the form of interactive dialogue for two hours, captured not only the attention of the students majoring in Fashion Design, but also lecturers and students from other majors. In the event, Ichwan Thoha was present as a speaker. He shared his tips to maintain existence in the fashion industry.

With almost 100 participants, the purpose of this event is to help students to maintain their existence in the fashion industry. The participants learned about the history of fashion trends all over the world, including on how to recognize our own potential, how to utilize connections in the future and how to create the perfect strategy to bring their fashion business to international level. The workshop provided practical steps in utilizing links and networks to be translated within the competition and development of fashion industry.

Talking about the fashion industry in Indonesia nowadays, the name Anne Avantie sure seems familiar, with kebaya as her signature design. It is not impossible for younger generations, especially those who are new in this industry, to follow her footsteps in kebaya area. However, the question remains: can these the newcomers take the crown from Anne Avantie in the kebaya area in Indonesia? This is the one question which became a reflection for the participants of the workshop. Iwan stated that the participants need to follow their own hearts when it comes to innovation.

“In addition to share my experience and knowledge with these students, I also want to help them in making their way in the fashion industry. Every student must have their own dreams. While they’re still young, I try to remind them that the success can be measured by many things, not only by material. There is something more important than that: existence. Hopefully in the future, their success will last for a long time, and their names and work will be remembered in the fashion industry. This kind of existence will not happen if we don’t dig deeper on our potential since the very beginning. We also need to maintain good relationships with our links. I can be an example for this. In addition to focusing on fashion products, I also try to write books. And I also try to maintain good relationship with everyone, especially the media. These two things help me in maintaining my existence,” explained Ichwan Thoha, which is known with his signature accessory, a bow tie. [KD]