A special gala dinner was held on the opening night of Jakarta Fashion Week 09/10 to recognize the longstanding history between two very intricately woven cultures, that of Indonesia and India. As the world’s second and fourth most populous nations respectively, India and Indonesia find common ground in the struggle to not only highlight cultural treasures of the past but also to demonstrate their creative capacity and especially their level of modernity on the global stage. Two designers were selected from each country to visit the other in search of traditional fabrics to be re-interpreted into enthralling sartorial creations.

India’s Tarun Tahiliani and Malini Ramani offered equally marvelous collections. Tarun who had shown in Milan and Paris sent out his signature draped looks made from Indonesian batik, ikat and songket fabrics while still retaining his native Sari silhouette. Malini on the other hand, presented modern silhouettes, one in particular accented with a mesh-metal vest for added edge. Her take on the Nehru jacket is the perfect embodiment of ethnic modernity.