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Although it seemed quiet from outside, the small, white house in Lamandau, South Jakarta, was busy inside earlier this week.

Clothes hung on racks and mannequins. Inside one room, which looked like a giant mood board, with a collage of photos and items for inspiration, designer Priyo Oktaviano was busy fitting clothes on models.

It was only four days before Saturday’s opening of Jakarta Fashion Week, where Priyo will be presenting his collections in three separate shows.

It is Priyo’s second time to participate in a Fashion Week — the first being in Paris in September. In the month and a half since then, he has completed 20 new pieces, which will be shown at the invitation-only opening night show on Saturday.

Along with Priyo’s designs, the opening night show will feature collections from Indonesian designer Sebastian Gunawan and two Indian designers, Tarun Tahiliani and Malini Ramani. Tickets cost about Rp 1 million ($106) per person, and the funds raised will be used to support quake survivors in Padang.

Though busy, Priyo looked relaxed in a black T-shirt, jeans and his signature glasses. He looked leaner than usual too. Exhausted by preparation for the shows, perhaps?

“Yes, but I also fast twice a week now, every Monday and Thursday,” Priyo said, adding that fasting is part of his spiritual life. “At the moment, I feel that problems come and go. In life, there’s always glee and happiness before sin,” Priyo said. “Life has its ups and downs, but that’s life.”

This idea is reflected in his new collections for the opening show. Taking the theme “Eden and Earth,” the clothes are dominated by black and nude colors. The theme was inspired by Michelangelo’s paintings of Adam and Eve, “The Fall” and “The Expulsion from Paradise.”

“Nude, the light cream colors, presents the naive side of humans, clean and spotless,” Priyo said.

All the clothes in Priyo’s new collection for the opening show are handmade, using bird-patterned Kantha sari silk from Bengal, India. Priyo shows his talent in pattern-making and cutting with his use of differing lengths and necklines, from one shouldered to sleeveless and strapless dresses under sheer stretch chiffon.

Chunky wooden bangles with bird patterns, feather brooches and nude, peep-toe ankle boots complete the look of his dresses.

Priyo adds length, chiffon and tulle in his Eden dresses as symbols of the curiosity that caused Adam and Eve to fall to Earth. At the other extreme, darker nuances fill his Earth look, with Indian-style jodhpurs that look halfway between pants and skirts, ostrich fur and metal accessories.

“It shows the dark side of humans — sinful, full of anger and hate,” he said.

The Indonesian designers in the opening show were required to use Kantha sari silk, while the Indian designers used batik fabrics. Priyo and Sebastian visited India last July to explore India’s culture, sponsored by Femina Group and the India Tourism Board.

In previous shows, Priyo has played with bold colors, such as in his Color Bomb collection (inspired by the Mumbai tragedy) and his Bali van Java in Harajuku collection.

The Eden and Earth shows a more mature side of the designer.

“[Eden and Earth] is my effort to be close to God,” he said.

While Priyo showed talent early on in art and crafts classes at school, and has dreamed of being a designer since senior high, his path into the fashion industry was not straightforward.

He was born in Kediri, a small town in East Java, the second of four siblings. His father runs a transportation business, and his mother was the one who unintentionally inspired him to be a designer.

“I liked to watch her putting on makeup,” Priyo said.

He said that although his father supported his dream, his mother wanted him to have a degree so he would be a good breadwinner for his future family.

So before he pursued a career in design, he studied economic management at Trisakti University in Jakarta.

“How to finish my studies as fast as I could was all I thought of, so I always signed up for short semesters [classes during the school break],” Priyo said.

He was 23 and finishing his bachelor degree when he entered a fashion design competition in Femina, local fashion magazine — and won the Favorite Designer award. That win marked the beginning of his fashion career.

“After I won the competition and finished school, I had fulfilled my mother’s request, so I felt like it was time for me to fulfil my own dream,” he said.

He went to Esmod, a fashion school in Paris, to study pattern making and fashion design, concentrating on ready-to-wear women clothes. He became one of the top five graduates and Esmod recommended him to a number of design houses in Paris. He spent two weeks at Leonard because he moved to Balenciaga.

“I told Nicolas [Ghesquiere, the creative director of Balenciaga since 1997] that I liked Balenciaga for its details and cutting, and I thought Balenciaga was the [most advanced fashion house] in this, and I wanted to learn.”

He spent 18 months with Balenciaga, mostly in the atelier tailleur (pattern making) department.

“The women in the pattern-making department were mostly about 50 years old, and they didn’t understand what Nicolas wanted” Priyo said.

According to Priyo, Ghesquiere likes to use asymmetrical lines in designs, for example, in a crossed neckline.

“The ladies [in the pattern making department] are very classic and traditional, and they think it is nonsense to make a different neckline,” Priyo said.

“It’s like when you want to bake a cake with bubble gum, you would think it’s impossible, but Nicolas believes it is possible.”

At Balenciaga, he learned a lot about management, confidence and concept making. “I learned how to make a mood board, how to select good materials, even button details must be selected, and to complete a look with shoes and makeup, because fashion is all about image, especially in Indonesia,”

After his contract was finished with Balenciaga, the Gucci Group suggested he work with Alexander McQueen or Stella McCartney. But instead, Priyo decided to return to Indonesia for good.

“If I keep looking for experience, it will have no end, and you can do it anywhere,” Priyo said. He added that both Paris and Jakarta have their bright and dark sides, but he believes it is important to be grateful for what he has. He also wanted to start his own clothing line.

In 2003, he created his first casual wear line, SPOUS, the initials of his full name Stefanus Priyo Oktaviano Umar Slamet. Apart from image, fashion is a mix of art and business for Priyo, so a year later, he decided to create a premium line, Priyo Oktaviano.

“SPOUS is actually where my idealism lies, it’s where my designs show what I really want. Because in the first [premium brand] line, you have to make clothes based on orders,” he said.

His Bali of Arc collection, under SPOUS, which was shown in the Paris Fashion Week in September, was a success.

For Bali of Arc, Priyo was inspired by Greek sculpture drapery, and made everything from cotton jersey, gabardine, jodhpurs and Balinese woven cloths. Tunic dresses were worn with long cardigans, black leggings, scarves and belts.

He earned six buyers and a contract to sell a mini collection of Bali of Arc at Harvey Nichols in Dubai. Bali of Arc will also be shown in the Fashion First series at Jakarta Fashion Week on Nov. 18, and will be sold at Fashion First at Senayan City from December.

Priyo Oktaviano
Jalan Lamandau 3, No. 21
Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta
Tel. 021 7278 3637
priyooktaviano@hotmail.com
www.priyooktaviano.com