Jakarta, IO – The eponymous “Ayu Dyah Andari” fashion brand shines brightly, year after year. The most recent premiere allowed Ayu to proudly display her creations in England.
On the return from her London visit, Ayu allowed us to see pieces from her latest two shows – the twelve sets she presented in the 2024 Spring/Summer London Fashion Week, and the ten sets she presented in “Indonesia Night”, an event initiated by Bank Indonesia that she was invited to. The new show, called “Rose and Beyond”, presented the 22 previously-shown pieces and Ayu Dyah Andari’s 26 never-seen-before creations, making a total of 48.
The “Rose and Beyond” collection was inspired by the love bond shared by women with the Universe. The rose is an ever-present element in Ayu’s works, representing woman’s gentle beauty and strength, cradled within and cradling the Universe. The collection reflects a woman’s persistence in achieving her dreams, in protecting the people and things that matter to her. A rose is a surprisingly persistent survivor that can grow and thrive in many soils and climes, just as a woman will grow and bloom in adverse situations.
The “Rose and Beyond” at the London Fashion Week
The world-class Fashion Weeks premiering in four major cities across the world – London, New York, Milan, Paris – symbolize the supreme dream of all fashion designers. Any worth their salt harbor a desire to show their collections in these events. “You have no idea how proud and grateful I felt when I was given more than one opportunity to appear on these runways – first in the Autumn 2023-Winter 2024 New York Fashion Week (in February 2023), then in the Spring/ Summer 2024 London Fashion Week (in September 2023). This is the best gift I ever had, as well as a reflection of achievement in my 12-year career as a fashion designer,” Ayu said.
Ayu’s amazed admiration of London’s classical western architecture lead her to discovering new ways to express the rose motif in her collection. The curlicues decorating England’s castles and manors inspired her to incorporate them into new forms of the rose, using Chantilly lace and organdy in her neat, elegant, aristocratic modest outfits, in a harmonious yet contrasting palette of champagne, white, ivory, and dusk purple.
The Designer combined the basic forms of Colonial European arts with traditional forms from the Equatorial East, with a connection that you cannot see directly, but that you can feel is distinctly there. Ayu’s personal philosophy includes the belief that everything on Earth and in the Universe is bound together by a strong spiritual connection. The silhouette of her pieces exudes woman’s competence, elegance, activeness, and femininity: palazzo trousers with puffy sleeved blouses, crop jackets with long organdy skirts, long cross-piece outers, and even a wedding gown whose long train is decorated with highly-detailed rose motifs in a gradation of colors, for a beautiful finale to the show.
Five of the sets that previously appeared in the London Fashion Week represented a collaboration between Ayu Dyah Andari and Putri “Putri Zulhas” Zulkifli Hasan. Putri, a successful entrepreneur and second-generation politician with a marked love of fashionable appearance, appeared in “Rose and Beyond” as a muse. She modeled the collection alongside the other muses – Dessy Ratnasari, Nagita Slavina, Adelia Pasha, Verrel Bramastya, Enrique Dustin, Aditya Marzoni, Milka Annisya Nur, Atalia Praratya Kamil, Soraya M. Ali Zulkifli, Pasha Ungu, Illy, and Mytha Lestari.
Putri Zulhas owns and manages both the Zglow Aesthetics Clinic and the Kidz Clinic Children & Development Center. All her life, she has shown a high level of concern for women and children’s issues. She collaborated with Ayu because they share the same view of women as unrelenting, persistent, courageous…yet gentle and elegant. The collaboration, expressed by the roses in the collection, contains their hope that Indonesian fashion by Indonesian women will secure its own place in the world couture market. “I am proud of my collaboration with Putri Zulkifli Hasan, who has been a renowned advocate of women’s rights in the business realm of our Homeland,” Ayu gushed.
The “Rose and Beyond” in “Indonesia Night”
The “Rose and Beyond” collection was also shown in the “Indonesia Night” event held by Bank Indonesia. Inspired by the theme, Ayu mixed the strict, formal lines of the Sriwijaya songket with the ethereal, delicate lines of Chantilly lace and organdy. The mixture of these contrasting fabrics, further delineated with the maroon, copper, and off white color selection, gave birth to myriad forms. Ayu herself cleverly tricked the cuts so that the beauty of the songket weaving is shown in its entirety, with no distracting patches.
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The muses for the collection are past Putri Indonesia or Miss Indonesia winners.
“Rose and Beyond”, the New Collection
Roses in relief dominate Ayu’s collection of twenty-six pieces. The luxurious look of the models and muses are perfected with the rings and bracelets provided by Adelle Jewelry, complementing Ayu Dyah Andari’s couture pieces, ones that include clothing sets, shoes, and bags. Each of the pieces was selected to simultaneously harmonize and contrast deliciously with the others. Tiqasya, Okky Asokawati, Amelia Natadiputra, Indah Nada Puspita, Sarah Sofyan, and Nesa Aqilla appeared as muses who presented the final part of the collection. Ayu showcased them as thanks for the inspiration that they provide in the creation of the pieces, as well as for their loyalty in continuously wearing her works over the years. (des)