The era of the batik influencer is here!
Since I started my blog I was dreaming of this, the influencer who promoted batik. I was never that much of a fashion girl myself and don not like the promotion of consumption that comes with the influencer life style, but I did posted on the fashion & started make ‘Batik Statements’ as a fun way to show how to style batik. {on the end of this post a reading list of fashion related blogpost I wrote}.
In the 15 years, hi old, I have been blogging, I saw fashion brands using batiks (for bad and good) come & go, but I never saw fashionista’s embracing it. And suddenly they are everywhere. Young Southeast Asian influencers wearing batik, or sarongs, posting on the technique with making of videos, doing photoshoots and sharing about the importance of Real Batik!
Berkain Bersama
In the category Fashionista’s we find the more classic fashionista, but with a sense of sustainability. A trend, as you will, that is luckily getting more attention, although the fast fashion haul are still very now happening. The more conscious consumer that steps into the world berjarik or berkain, wrapping a sarong, also steps into the production process. First what kind of sarongs are there? While Batik is a populair choice, the woven fabric options are endless. After the wrapping, starts usually the questions like: How was this cloth made, in what conditions, can I found a better/safer/more natural option? Even some start making themselves and start learning different techniques. This is the part that is often missing with the traditional, oldschool fashinista that mainly wants to get sponsorships from brands by selling stuff. They don’t seem to care where their cloths are from, apart from the brandname, or who made it for that matter, #whomademyclothes !
Sarong Kebaya
In the category Vintage Batik Influencer or Sarong Kebaya wearers, there are several nice accounts to follow. This influencers do a mixture of cosplay & re-enactment while making it actual daily wear. They find vintage pieces online and in secondhand stores. They repair or even retailer or repurpose to make the outfits wearable again. Some visit locations like heritage sites, sometimes from colonial times, to make photos and videos, but most actual make a habit of wearing it daily. Promoting pre-loved fashion, mending & traditional heritage inspired looks.
Batik Activists
For this category I like to mention my colleagues as you will. Yes, we wear batik for professional reasons, but most of us, me included, stopped wearing non-batik clothing, as in clothing that is not made out of batik. Why? Because batik is just the best!
For me personally, I am not wearing sarongs (yet), but mostly custom-made clothing from batik textiles, either Tulis or Cap. I have items made from Batik from Java, Madura, Malaysia, from brands in Singapore, even from Eswatini (formely known as Swaziland, my baobab batik leggings are from there). My wish is to own of every batik making place an item one day. Because wearing batik vs collecting it, actually keeps a heritage going.
I surely haven’t mentioned all the kain wearing inspirations out there. Keep on showing us how it is done! Do you follow online any batik influencers or if you are one? Please share in a comment!
Keep on reading:
'Sometimes I wish I was a fashion blogger' blogpost from 2012
'Jakarta FashionWeek(end)' blogpost from 2016
'What Batik Statement are you making?' blogpost from 2018
'Taking Batik Online' blogpost from 2021
'Sarong on Screen' also from 2021
'Fashion, Malls and Friends' blogpost from 2023
My last blogpost I wrote on the day my mother passed. In between visiting her in the hospital, needing something to get my mind of things, only to have the worst thing happen. Minutes after I posted it, we got a call from the hospital it was not going well and we needed to come asap. That night she died...
Missing my mama a lot, and will miss her comments on my newly invented use of English ~ she never corrected it, while she worked as a translator Dutch-English. She would just say: “It made my laugh, but you don’t need to change it, it is written as you would think & speak and that is so nice about your writing”. Thank you mama for always supporting my journey in Batik. That’s why I know I should keep on blogging.
