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As public debate swirls around the wisdom of the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement, it’s been interesting to meet one of the few potential Indonesian winners, Bandung-based designer/retailer Dendy Darman.

Dendy is creator of the leading “distro” label, UNKL347. The term distro is a shortening of distribution, and reflects the movement’s reformasi -era heritage when these alternative spaces were both centers for underground music and political activism.

Dendy makes an unlikely style icon. Jovial, immensely enthusiastic, self-deprecating and a little rotund, he is the opposite of the hyper-cool and chiselled Tom Ford.

Still, the 36-year-old arts graduate from the Institute Teknologi Bandung started his business out in his university room with a single silk-screen and has since expanded dramatically. Thirteen years after he began creating casual surf wear, he heads a retail and design outfit that has more than 100 staff. While he’s reluctant to divulge his turnover, his sales network reaches as near as Singapore and as far as Berlin.

UNKL347, with a single boutique just off Jalan Dago in Bandung, is a tightly designed retail experience. Every aspect from the music (Indonesian and Brit indie pop) to the displays (ranks of T-shirts, shoulder bags, sneakers and pants) and final packaging has been conceptualized and executed with exacting attention to detail.

Moreover, the small 1,000-square-foot space is constantly packed with shoppers — though some seem more like cultish acolytes — eagerly snapping up the wares which are then packed in cute yet spoofish mock shipping container boxes. In fact, I was so beguiled by the packaging that I bought loads of T-shirts just to have the boxes.

Given the obvious demand, I asked Dendy why he hadn’t expanded beyond Bandung?

“I’m inundated with investors offering me money to grow the business, but I guess I’m a little conflicted,” he said with his customary good humor.

“Maybe at the heart of it I’m more of an artist and a designer than a businessman! I’m a big fan of the Eames and Bauhaus, and I see my role as expanding and promoting the relevance and importance of good design here in Indonesia. It’s not just about sales.”

Behind his easy-going surfer exterior, Dendy possesses two rare strengths as an entrepreneur: integrity and vision. The integrity keeps him connected to his ITB-roots and the university’s unique combination of applied and fine arts. The vision allows for a cross-fertilization of ideas, styles and genres. It also bridges the gulf between the creative world and the commercial.

Many emerging stars from the campus’s art department, such as video collective Tromarama (soon to be showing its work at Tokyo’s prestigious Mori Museum), see Dendy as a guiding light.

Moreover, he has used his position and success to inculcate his passion for good design. On UNKL347’s 10th anniversary, he launched a lavish and exquisitely produced book entitled “After 10 Years Friends Call Us Unkle,” celebrating both his brand and the whole idea of Bandung’s design culture. The book was so successful it spawned subsequent and equally intriguing publications that cover the nation’s indie scene, showcasing artists, designers, bands and writers.

Dendy’s resolute focus on style and design anchors him firmly within his market, and UNKL347 is an intriguing example of a business set to prosper with the implementation of the Asean-China FTA.

“I guess we haven’t experienced the full impact of the FTA. However, now we’re going to be able to choose from a far broader and better quality selection of fabric. Indonesian textile producers are OK, but they haven’t been too interested in raising standards,” Dendy said.

“They just focused on the bottom end of the market, like selling to Africa! I always told them Indonesians are willing to buy better quality products, but they weren’t interested,” he said. “When it comes to designing, I know we can compete with the Chinese. Their sense of style is very different. Besides, UNKL347 has developed an emotional connection with its buyers. We belong to them.”

Many have expressed concern about the free trade pact’s effect on local entrepreneurs. Dendy shows us that they can thrive. Southeast Asian businesses, especially from Indonesia, can no longer afford to rely on traditional markets or middling quality. There are huge markets to be won for those, like Dendy, who are bold and determined.



Karim Raslan is a columnist who divides his time between Malaysia and Indonesia.