Batik goes to Korea in a collaboration between a famous fashion designer Kim Seo Ryong and Indonesian pride Iwan Tirta Private Collection. The new collection is called Resort Collection 2022/23. Indonesia Design attended the launch of the collection online on Friday, 12 August 2022.
Kim Seo Ryong (KSR) is known for his luxury menswear design. His previous collections have been known to be worn by top Korean stars like Lee Min Ho and the members of BTS. For his latest creation, he collaborated with Indonesian maestro batik label, Iwan Tirta Private Collection (ITPC).
According to Widiyana Sudirman, the CEO of PT Iwan Tirta, at the launch, “This project proves that batik is not limited only to be made by and for Indonesians.” HE Gandi Sulistiyanto, Indonesian ambassador for Republic of Korea, who also attended the launch, said, “This collaboration shows that batik is more than a national heritage. It is also wearable arts and a creative product that is well accepted by the people of South Korea.” The launch is a start of Festival Indonesia 2022, which promotes Indonesian creative economy and culture sectors in South Korea.
Kim Seo Ryong, who used to be a painter before he jumped into fashion design, highly appreciated batik, especially the hand-drawn ones. To him, it was quite a challenge to design clothes using batik because some motifs are sacred, they had to be positioned in a certain way. However, he successfully worked around the motifs and created bomber jackets, long coats, shirts and flare pants in conceptual proportions.
The motifs that he chose were mostly those with bright colours, which then combined with an architectural and deconstructive silhouette. Seo Ryong thought the motifs are timeless and suitable for his target market in South Korea. The Resort Collection 2022/23 can be obtained exclusively in Kim Seo Ryong’s boutique in Gangnam, Seoul.