Jakarta, IO – President Joko Widodo expressed his wish during the 2018 Muslim Fashion Festival (“Muffest”) that Indonesia should become the global center for Muslim fashion. He believes that the potential creativity of our designers will inject difference and variety into such fashion.
His belief was truly founded: Muslim fashion brands have popped up from everywhere across the country – including the Hirmah Shah Reza, or HSR Butiq, brand. The 6-year-old fashion business is welcoming Ramadhan this year by holding the “Wonderful Fitri Collection” fashion show at their boutique in Mega Cinere, Depok, West Java, on 4 March 2023.
The Collection’s 15 syar’i pieces were modeled by amazing artists from the Capital – Eddies Adelia, Iranty Purnamasari, Shezy Idris, and even Lucky Reza.
The eponymous boutique owner Hirmah explained the reason why she selected syar’i fashion as her business: “It was really an expansion of my hobby. I love to dress up and I love to sew, so I designed pretty outfits for myself to wear. It turns out that many of my friends love my work, and they asked me to make items for them. That’s when the idea hit me: ‘Why don’t I just make my own brand?’ When I started this business, I was in the process of hijrah or transforming from ordinary hijab outfits to the syar’i version. In the end, I decided to start my business, based on the concept of ‘syar’i fashion’, with the idea that I am also encouraging my fellow Muslimahs not to fear wearing syar’i clothing. After all, we can still look stylish and fashionable even when wearing syar’i clothing,” she explained.
HSR Butiq items are produced using quality textiles in limited numbers. They generally use neutral dominant colors, like black and white. However, Hirmah’s Wonderful Fitri Collection, contain pops of bright colors, like canary yellow and electric blue. But why? “I just want to get out of my comfort zone by making items in new colors. So bright and colorful pieces it is,” Hirmah smiled.
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Only 10-20 pieces are made for each of the 15 designs in the collection, in order to prevent them from becoming “common” . Furthermore, we’re pricing them at IDR 900,000 to IDR 2 million each. My market is the middle to upper classes,” Hirmah admits. “Our biggest market, 50% of our sales, is concentrated in the Jabodetabek region, with the remaining 50% widely distributed in remote parts of Indonesia, mostly in the Makassar, Riau, and Aceh regions. We are going to expand our boutique by opening a branch in the Sarinah Mall.”
What does Hirmah hope for the future then? “To advance my business more, to get more people to become familiar with me and my works. No matter what, we all need to work the best way we can – to remain optimistic in the effort to achieve our dreams,” she declared. (des)