November 30, 2012

Batik Statement IX

The lovely Jorine posed for me past Saturday wearing her own made hair jewellery of feathers from the tropical birds of Taman Indonesia. Earlier this year I made a ricecarpet for the same birds (see video below) and I was thrilled to hear that Jorine would be at the WinterFashionFair. Around her shoulders she is wearing colorful Batiks from the Taman Indonesia shop for this Batik Statement.

Thanks for this Batik Statement in fine feather!

For more about Jorine's jewellery visit www.kleurrijkcreatief.nl.



More Batik Statements made at the Taman Indonesia WinterFashionFair soon here on my blog! I also posed with one of Jorine's creations!

November 29, 2012

Batik Statement VIII

These lovely ladies posed for me last Saterday during my BatikFashionPhotoShoot at Taman Indonesia. Rachel and Richelle are wearing Batik shirts from the Taman Indonesia shop (they have a lot of Batik clothing, sarongs and things), in their hair a Batik handkerchief as bow and on the background also a Batik from the shop.

Thank you for your Batik Statements!
More Batik Statements made at the Taman Indonesia WinterFashionFair soon here on my blog!

November 27, 2012

Think globally, bag locally

Saturday I made Batik Statements of the visitors of the WinterFashionFair during a BatikFashionPhotoShoot at Taman Indonesia. I still have to touch up some of them and then before I post them here, I send the Batik Statements to the 'models'. I had a great day and enjoyed being busy with Batik fabrics all day!

So to ease the waiting, I have some wonderful Batik fashion for you to enjoy. I'm friends with Novita Yunus on Facebook and every week pictures of beautiful bags I all want to have are in my newsfeed. She showed her new collection of Batik Chic at the Jakarta Fashion Week and I asked her to send me some info about Batik Chic for on my blog:
"Batik Chic, founded in December 2009, is specialized in bags with wastra(kain) Nusantara (Batik & Tenun Indonesia). Batik Chic Store Opened April 2010. At first, It was only focus on produce bags according to Novita Yunus (Founder & Creative Director of Batik Chic) passion and exploring Batik because of her past experience when she
was living in Jogjakarta with her beloved mum."


The Batik bags are sometimes also custom made, for example a very expensive sarong got torn and she made a limited edition line of bags (big one, small one, clutch) of the sarong. I love her pictures, looks like they are made at Taman Sari. They make it really high fashion and exotic.
'Urban Chic' collection

'Urban Chic' collection

November 22, 2012

Batik Statement VII

My Batik statement features one of my favourite shirts, a handmade Batik shirt Sabine brought back for me from her journey to Java, Indonesia.
My mother has been a seamstress her whole life and taught me about the quality of fabric and sowing techniques. The quality of the material of my Batik shirt is exquisite, something we don't see very often anymore. Nothing is made to last these days, be it in fashion or many other products. And the general idea seems that everything is replaceable. Not this Batik shirt though. First of all, it's one of a kind. The natural colouring itself could have taken anything up to 9 months to finish. Second, the fabric and sowing are of a unique quality. I dare any fashion label, no matter how exclusive, to match it. Added to that, it's durable, sustainable and original.

Before learning anything about the Art of Batik from Sabine, Batik to me was the little guy sitting next to me in the photo. Batik, the name of our Gelatik Jawa, Padda Oryzivora or Java Rice Finch, has been my trusted friend and inspiration for about 4 years now. His growing creativity (he works on his music which involves percussion and singing every single day) and perseverance has become essential to me. Apart from being an inspiration herself Sabine brought both Batik, the Gelatik and Batik, the fabric into my life. You can imagine how lucky I feel.

- Koen de Wit

November 21, 2012

Batik Statement VI

Received this group photo from Inge van Dongen. On this Batik Statement their wearing the Aryani Collection.
Aryani Collection in Zwolle is specialized in Indonesian clothings. On their website you can find sarongs, kebaya, Batikshirts, hairpins and much more.

Thanks for your colorfull Batik Statement!

Got inspired? Get your Batik on! Make a picture of yourself wearing your favorite Batik and send it to me by email or post it on my Facebook wall. For inspiration see the previous 'Batik Statements' (tip: sunny, nice locations, lots of colours and good memories).

On 24 november during the WinterFashionFair at Taman Indonesia I will make during a Batik Fashion Photo-shoot 'Batik Statements' of the visitors in the park. So bring your favorite Batik(clothing) with you! Also an exhibition is made of the 'Batik Statements' with Batiks. For more information, in Dutch, see 'Een reis naar Batik in dierenpark Taman Indonesia'
.

November 20, 2012

Everlasting

Vlisco 'Dutch Wax Block Print', photo from INDIGO & batik

Monday my long-hoped-for new tattoo finally got finished. It was my present for my 27th birthday, but due to some health issues I had to wait till my next birthday. Which made it even more symbolic, because 10 years ago I got my first tattoo: the symbol for infinity on my lower back. When my brother turned 18 he got this symbol between his shoulder blades.(apparently I remember it wrong, it was not yet his 18 birthday or his birthday when he got his infinity tattoo, but it made an impact never the less..). I immediately liked the simplicity and meaning of it.

"Infinity (symbol: ∞) refers to something without any limit, and is a concept relevant in a number of fields, predominantly mathematics and physics. The English word infinity derives from Latin infinitas, which can be translated as "unboundedness", itself derived from the Greek word apeiros, meaning "endless"."
- From Wikipedia


When I turned 18 I got it myself. A few months later my mother, on her ankle. It became our family symbol. My father wasn't a big fan of tattoos (and maybe still has his doubts) so we couldn't believe it when early this year he got a infinity symbol too!!

A tattoo is a form of body modification, made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. The first written reference to the word, "tattoo" (or Samoan "Tatau") appears in the journal of Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Captain Cook's ship the HMS Endeavour...The word "tattoo" was brought to Europe by the explorer James Cook, when he returned in 1771 from his first voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation called "tattaw". Before this it had been described as scarring, painting, or staining.
-From Wikipedia


Normally tattoos are considered pretty permanent, but I found the Infinity symbol so strong, because it's placed on a temporary body. That's why I decided to dedicate this post to the artworks of Daan van den Dobbelsteen, Dice Tattoo. This young hardworking tattoo artist is now tattooing for six years. In these six years his own style is evolving quickly and the finesse in his tattoos is brilliant. I'm really happy that I own an artwork by Dice Tattoo now. He made the Infinity on my fathers arm, and we al wanted to re-do ours when we saw the end result.
For more Dice Tattoos like his facebookpage Dice Tattoos!

November 5, 2012

Once upon a time

Wished my 200th blogpost on De reis naar Batik contained some happier news, fortunately I stumbled across some great Batikfashion pictures to frame the news.
On 2 October I uploaded a post about Batik Day on Batik Day (and my birthday) with new Batik Statements, see blogpost "Happy Batik-day!". My post got featured on the Batikday.com site with the chance of getting invited to the Jakarta Fashion week and visiting some Batikworkshops. Today I read that 6 bloggers got selected, and they all received a scarf from the Batikday.com team and posted about it to promote Batik Day (see 'The success of #BATIKDAY').
Maybe next year I will receive a scarf (and ticket) too...

But let's continue with my 200th post! Thanks for reading, sharing, following my blog De reis naar Batik! And let there be much more posts to come!
“Within the kebaya is the soul of a woman. It’s delicate but firm. Though indeed very personal”
- Anne Avantie *

In 2009 kebaya couture designer Anne Avantie showed her collection on the Jakarta Fashion Week. Fairy tale dresses of lace and batik, a combination of the traditional Kebaya, blouse with sarong, but with so much more fashion in the mix.

"A Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination that originates from Indonesia and worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, southern Thailand. It is sometimes made from sheer material such as silk, thin cotton or semi-transparent nylon or polyester, adorned with brocade or floral pattern embroidery. Kebaya usually worn with a sarong or batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as ikat, songket with a colorful motif.
The kebaya is the national costume of Indonesia, although it is more accurately endemic to the Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese peoples...
Apart from traditional kebaya, fashion designers are looking into ways of modifying the design and making kebaya a more fashionable outfit. Casual designed kebaya can even be worn with jeans or skirts. For weddings or formal events, many designers are exploring other types of fine fabrics like laces to create a bridal kebaya."
- From Wikipedia


The photoshoot with her new designs on her site, www.anneavantie.com, have a Moulin Rouge kind of feel to them. Really beautiful and inspiring to see. Classical yet very modern.
Would love to see one of Anne Avantie's fashion shows one day and if I do I hope to be wearing one of her designs!
* quote from 'Anne Avantie: Contemporary kebaya pioneer' article from The Jakarta Post