BNSD Fashion Management Exhibition: Dealing with Social and Environmental Issues through Fashion Products

BINUS Northumbria School of Design (BNSD) is currently holding an exhibition for five brands, founded by 15 fashion students that were divided into five groups, at the BINUS fX campus, Jakarta. Held from 25 January to 20 February 2019, this exhibition is a part of the final presentation for the Fashion Entrepreneurship for Fashion Management and Design Research Promotion.

The five brands – KUKA, KITA, KELANA, Reformed, and Akara – consist of a varying range of products each with their own distinct flavor. Interestingly, each of them deals with and tries to solve various social and environmental issues.

KUKA by Assyifa Dainara, Cynthia Kurniawati, and Maharani Yolanda is an accessories brand that uses recycled plastic toys as the main material for many kinds of accessories. The first inspiration of the brand was from the impact caused by plastic on the environment, including plastic toys. Surprisingly, plastic toys have become some of the most wasted plastic in the industry that causes harm to the environment.

By recycling the fun and colorful toys, the creators aim to be able to make a change for the world as well as create a movement for saving the world from plastic waste little-by-little. Through KUKA, they hope they can invite more people to join the movement by buying the products or even donating or selling their used plastic toys to them.

KUKA by Assyifa Dainara, Cynthia Kurniawati, and Maharani Yolanda is an accessories brand that uses recycled plastic toys as the main material for many kinds of accessories.

The second brand, KITA, is an Indonesian local beauty brand that supports sustainability by selling a wide range of 100% natural or eco-friendly customized beauty products. Founded by Ivy Pang, Theresa Andarinya Paradhita, and Kirana Putri, KITA provides products such as hand lotion, body lotion, body butter, roll-on perfume, solid perfume, and body mist with 100% natural ingredients.

KITA as a brand wants to highlight the diversity in Indonesia as its main value. Furthermore, KITA wants to educate and remind the young generation of their roots. KITA provides a variety of scents that are taken from each of Indonesia’s most common areas, such as Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and Bali. Uniquely, KITA will ask the customers to create their own scents by blending two different ones from their family roots from those five areas. By doing so, KITA could attain the unique scent of the customers.

KITA is an Indonesian local beauty brand that supports sustainability by selling a wide range of 100% natural or eco-friendly customized beauty products.

KELANA by Arifa Nurul Aziza, Raudhatul Jannah Hertasning, and Ginza Setiawan was inspired by the founders’ wandering hearts, passion for traveling, and love for Indonesian tenun (woven fabrics). KELANA is a bag company that offers high-quality products that combine function, design, and Indonesian heritage in a fashionable way. It represents the modern generation of lifestyle products featuring strong and high-quality mixes of materials, original patterns, and attention to function and practical designs that can make traveling easier. KELANA is for smart fashion enthusiasts who love to travel and want to express a creative mindset.

This brand was founded to achieve designs with an elegant concept that mix with the traditional Indonesian identity. Its products are ethically made with the colors of Indonesian heritage by local artisans to push the fashion industry in a more sustainable direction.

KELANA values the cultural identity of Indonesia, and the founders believe that it can help to increase the living wage in some rural areas by helping in the production. Other than that, KELANA sources the materials from chosen suppliers to support environmental sustainability.

KELANA is a bag company that offers high-quality products that combine function, design, and Indonesian heritage in a fashionable way. KELANA is for smart fashion enthusiasts who love to travel and want to express a creative mindset.

Reformed by Asuka Sharon Dian Iriawan, Nabila Nararya Kaulika, and Antonia Frenda Christabella Poerwanto is a lingerie brand that was founded based on the belief that people should be able to wear the most comfortable underwear. This brand produces lingerie that is made from sustainable and organic fabrics, giving the best feel to the customers, with a variety of bras that are available for all shapes and sizes. Allowing the customers to pick the most comfortable combinations of underwear, Reformed provides a safe place for people to pick and choose their lingerie in the most fashionable way possible.

Furthermore, the founders believe that sustainability is the future of living and creating, including for the fashion industry. Therefore, Reformed strives to become one of the leading local sustainable lingerie brands that takes action against products that destroy the planet, cruelty to animals, and unethical working environments.

Reformed is a lingerie brand that was founded based on the belief that people should be able to wear the most comfortable underwear.

The last brand, Akara, is a skin-care brand that tries to reach out to a wide range of consumers. Founded by Devona Chantal Cools, Ayasha Sophia, and Anya Annastasya, Akara offers products that are linked to Indonesian patriotism. This brand encourages the consumers to be proud and more aware of Indonesian heritage.

Akara focuses on Indonesian skin, specifically the skin of working class Indonesian citizens. With a vision to become a skin-care company that enhances beauty whilst incorporating the Indonesian heritage, Akara offers reusable sheet masks that will raise awareness of Indonesia’s diverse culture. Akara aims for customers that are looking for sustainable and eco-friendly products, as they are reusable and safe for the environment.

Akara is a skin-care brand that tries to reach out to a wide range of consumers and focuses on Indonesian skin, specifically the skin of working class Indonesian citizens.

Julita Oesanty Oetojo, the Subject Content Coordinator of the Fashion program at BNSD, said that there are several criteria in assessing this project. The first criterion is how new and innovative the ideas are when creating the brands and the products. In addition, the business aspects; like the feasibility, potential in the market, pricing, production, distribution channel, and promotion strategy, are also taken into consideration.

She explained that this project aims to provide a hands-on experience to the students in creating a business and building a brand. Building a brand, she continued, is not an easy task because the students need to consider a lot of aspects such as the production, suppliers, and many more. “We hope that after graduating, the students can become fashion entrepreneurs. Here, we provide them with a learning method that will teach them all the processes. Therefore, they will not only become individuals who can merely do the design and theory,” she said.

(ERON)