Cape Town – Today is the second day of Threads of Indonesia, which promotes Indonesian textiles and textile-based products.
Several activities make up the Threads of Indonesia, which opened in Cape Town on Monday and runs until Wednesday, (11-13 September 2023).
The main event will consist of a fashion show, business meetings, a discussion show, market and company visits, and will take place in Cape Town from September 11-13, 2023.
The Threads of Indonesia fashion show and business matching were held on Monday, (11 September 2023), at the legendary Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town.
Two Indonesian designers, Anita Gathmir and Jessica Febiani, presented beautiful pieces emphasizing traditional Indonesian fabrics as major elements.
Anita Gathmir, the owner of Puta Dino Kayangan, proudly showed a collection called Motif Tuan Guru, produced from Tidore weaving fabric.
Meanwhile, Jessica Febiani, the owner of Jessica Moretosee, employs batik textiles for her exquisite Act Globally-Love Locally collection.
A total of 60 invitees, most of whom were potential purchasers from various companies and merchants, were spotted admiring the items on display.
Kiba Bam, representing the TFG congratulates Indonesian missions in South Africa for organizing the event.
“TFG and the Indonesian Embassy had a collaboration before and it was a huge success for the designers and TFG,” Kiba stated.
“TFG will be in talks with Batik fabric manufacturers on creating sustainable fabrics.”
Last year, the Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center in Johannesburg together with the TFG made Stories of Hope, a fashion film displaying collaborative works of Indonesian and South African young designers in creatively combining batik and shweshwe.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to South Africa, Saud Krisnawan, stated in his remarks that Indonesia is the world’s sixth-largest textile manufacturer and aims to be one of the top five textile producers by 2030.
Ambassador Saud went on to say that numerous worldwide brands entrust and outsource the production of their products to Indonesian factories, including 35 countries that manufacture military clothing in Indonesia.
Furthermore, many original Indonesian brands have made inroads into the international market.
Despite its considerable capabilities, Indonesia does not rank among the top ten CTFL (Clothing, Textile, Footwear, and Leather) exporters to South Africa.
“That’s why we launched Threads of Indonesia to promote Indonesian textile and textile-based products to the South African market,” Ambassador Saud explained.
A hybrid business matching session concluded the program. In addition to the two Indonesian designers who flew to Cape Town, the buyers met virtually with 29 additional Indonesian vendors.
Vendors who are unable to attend in person in Cape Town have provided samples of their products.
Several potential transactions have been successfully generated from the business matching.
The program will continue on Tuesday, (12 September 2023), with a talk show at the Indonesian Consulate in Cape Town, and on Wednesday, (13 September 2023), in the form of a company and market visit.
As the Project Officer of Threads of Indonesia, Arief Ilham Ramadhan, First Secretary for Economic Affairs of the Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria, revealed that the event had begun on July 6, 2023, in the form of a hybrid business matching hosted in Durban.
“After this activity in Cape Town, we plan to hold one more hybrid Business Matching activity in Johannesburg or Pretoria,” Arief said.
The Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria, in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate General in Cape Town and ITPC Johannesburg, and with the support of Indonesia Eximbank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and Bank Mandiri, organised Threads of Indonesia to promote Indonesian textiles and textile-based products.
