Batik's popularity soars

Indah Setiawati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 07/11/2008 10:12 AM | City

SOLD OUT: Shoppers look at batik blouses at a stall at Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta. Batik sellers have enjoyed booming business with the recent popularity of the fabric. (JP/Indah Setiawati)
Step into any shopping center in any corner of the city and you'll see plenty of children, teenagers and young and old women wearing stylish batik.
"I have never liked batik as much as I do now," Ana Astuti, a shopper at Plaza Semanggi, South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, when she was hunting for batik dresses with her twin sister, Ani Astuti.
Ana and Ani said they had hardly spared a glance for the centuries-old batik motifs until various designs and patterns of the country's traditional clothes hit Jakarta's shopping centers.
"I used to associate batik with civil servants and elderly women because of its old and boring designs. But in recent months, I have spent heaps of money on trendy and interesting batik clothes," Ana said.
She said wearing batik was not merely a dress code for formal events anymore. Rather, it has become a new fashion trend.
Ana and Ani are like thousands of Indonesians whose pride in wearing batik is growing, thanks to the ongoing efforts of fashion designers such as Edward Hutabarat and Iwan Tirta in promoting the country's most famous art.
The batik designers and their signature works are a major influence for home industry producers in batik towns such as Cirebon in West Java, Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Pekalongan in Central Java, and Madura in East Java.
And batik is proving to be for everyone.
Many batik manufacturers make printed batik -- the lowest grade of batik, which is produced by machines -- providing affordable yet fashionable batik outfits for people on low incomes.
Encouragement from stylish high-profile figures such as Sandiaga S. Uno, the Association of Young Indonesia Entrepreneurs chairman who always wears batik, has also helped boost the popularity of exclusive pieces of batik tulis (traditional hand-drawn batik made using a canting or copper vessel with a spout-like nib).
"Batik tulis has its own market. People who become accustomed to wearing this masterpiece of batik will never turn to the printed or stamped types," model-cum-designer Ratih Sanggarwati said Sunday.
Ratih -- best known by her nickname Ratih Sang -- said she was happy to see people's increasing enthusiasm for batik and hoped the interest would not disappear quickly.
The price of batik depends not only on how it is produced, but also on the fabrics -- whether silk, cotton or unbleached cotton.
Machine-printed batik tends to be cheaper than batik cap (hand-blocked batik made by using a copper stamp). Batik kombinasi, a combination of batik cap and batik tulis, is more expensive.
Batik tulis, which requires a combination of artistic expertise and patience to produce the intricate designs, is the most expensive.
Price list:
*) Batik cap and batik tulis blouses and dresses in Ratih Sang Collection: Rp 125,000 (US$13.5) to Rp 700,000
*) Batik blouses in Batik Keris boutiques: starting from Rp 200,000
*) Batik blouses in Danar Hadi boutiques: starting from Rp 300,000
*) Batik cap and batik tulis (including silk) blouses and dresses in Kisoon Harto boutique in Pondok Indah Mall: Rp 400,000 to Rp 1.7 million
*) Machine-printed batik blouses and dresses on the first floor of Plaza Semanggi : Rp 35,000 to Rp 100,000
*) Machine-printed batik blouses and dresses on the first floor of Tanah Abang Market : Rp 40,000 to Rp 125,000