Oscara Lawalata design walks the runway at Dewi Knights Closing Night show

Oscar Lawalata was this year’s winner of the British Fashion Council’s Young International Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Oscar’s interest in textiles and Indonesian methods of batik inspired him to study fashion design at Esmond, a French based school with a branch in Jakarta. He was forced to withdraw from the three year program  in 1998 due to the Asian monetary crisis and with the remaining money, opened Blok S Boutique and focused on “learning by doing”.

In 1999 he was invited to participate in the 1999 ASEAN Young Designers Competition in Singapore where he introduced his version of a traditional piece of clothing from South Sulawesi called a “baju bodo“. With what he called a ‘tough sell’, Oscar won and won second place. His style started to become recognized as he received orders from local celebrities and artists. Lawalata has resisted the spot light however declining interviews and high profile appearances as his main goal is to continue to explore and bring awareness to the cultural textile arts of his heritage. “Our textiles have important stories; they are a heritage treasure for me. Behind the textile there is an idea — of course, there is the history in that they were perhaps once used, or are still used, for cultural reasons, like for ceremonies et cetera. But I believe the ideas and techniques are also very important.”

Through his travels Oscar has urged local governments to promote and market their land’s rich textile history with libraries and by establishing networks to assist the local producers with resource problems. One of these issues is a diminishing cotton supply which Oscar plans to address this June with an expo in Jakarta that will feature garments made from the local cotton.

Lawalata is in preparation now to open his new boutique. He hopes to continue to have an influence on people to appreciate their regions deep, local textile roots in their fashion choices and to not opt over them for western mass produced labels. “We are fortunate to have a textile-rich culture and we should take the time to explore this, learn more about it and carry this heritage into the future … not leave it in the past.”

Congratulations on being selected for this award Oscar. The inspiration you receive from your culture is obvious and in turn, inspiring to others, a truly sustainable equation:)

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