Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Taking Indonesian Muslim Fashions Around the World

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Taking Indonesian Muslim Fashions Around the World

Jakarta Globe, Sylviana Hamdani, July 28, 2012

The hijab is a covering for the hair and neck worn by Muslim
women. (Photo courtesy of HijUp.com, Sylviana Hamdani)

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Local fashion designers aim to turn Indonesia into the world’s Muslim fashion Mecca within the next decade, and in a country with the largest Muslim population, their goal is a realistic one.

More than 85 percent of Indonesia’s population, or more than 200 million people, are Muslim, according to the Central Statistics Agency..

“Indonesia’s Muslim fashion is so unique and varied,” said Muslim fashion designer Nanida Jenahara Nasution.

“That’s mostly because we’re blessed with a wide variety of cultures and traditions. There’s no other country in the world that has as many and as diverse cultures as Indonesia.”

Jenahara is a co-founder of the fast-growing Hijabers Community, a group of well-educated young Muslim women who wear the hijab.

Jenahara started her self-named Muslim fashion label in mid-2011. The daughter of Indonesian actress and fashion designer Ida Royani, she wanted to provide a “chic and edgy” alternative look for Indonesian Muslim women.

Likewise, fashion designer Hanna Faridl said she felt blessed with the country’s cultural diversity.

“Indonesia is so rich,” she said. “As a fashion designer, I just have to look around me to get inspired.”

Hanna is a co-founder of the fashion blog Hijab-Scarf.com. She and two friends, Fifi Alvianto and Anneke Scorpy, also started the fashion label Casa Elana in March last year, offering sleek and modern designs for women who wear the hijab.

But although these designers have established flourishing businesses in their local communities, they said they had struggled to reach a wider market. Jenahara and Hanna both dream of taking their place in the international fashion arena.

“Events like Jakarta Fashion Week and Indonesia Fashion Week do highlight Indonesian Muslim fashion,” Hanna said. “But they mostly feature well-known designers. What do we, as start-up businesses, have to do to get recognized?”

It can be tough to compete with larger labels to get their designs into stores.

“Malls and department-stores expect us to pay very high consignment rates,” Jenahara said.

Young entrepreneur Diajeng Lestari has come up with a solution. Last August, the 26-year-old entrepreneur created an online department store for Muslim women called HijUp.com.

“We’re the first Muslim fashion e-commerce [site] in the world,” said Diajeng. “We aim to promote Indonesian Muslim fashion products in the world.”

HijUp is an abbreviation for Hijab Up.

“We hope our website will help all Muslim women feel ‘up’ when wearing the hijab,” she said.

Last week, the website announced its international e-commerce functionality. By clicking the British flag on the right-hand corner of the website, visitors can read the text in English and see the prices in US dollars.

“The website was originally designed for Indonesian customers,” Diajeng said. “But we’ve received many requests from buyers from many other countries to buy our products.”

At first, Diajeng and her team handled international sales by request only. But as international sales escalated, they believed they needed to create a special feature for buyers in other countries.

“Thirty percent of our sales are international sales,” she said.

“And we’re so proud of this fact. It proves Indonesian Muslim fashion products are much desired internationally.”

Diajeng said the website’s top foreign location for buyers was Malaysia, while the demand-leading Western countries were the United States and United Kingdom.

“Muslim communities are growing rapidly in those countries,” she said.

The website has a clean design that makes it easy to navigate. Its home page features current promotions, favorite products and new arrivals, along with tutorials about how to fashionably wear the hijab.

When visitors click on a product, a new page opens, presenting it from multiple angles. The page also offers detailed information on the item, including its material, size and measurements.

Visitors are required to sign in as members to make a purchase.

Currently, the website has more than 800,000 members worldwide.

Indonesian buyers pay for their purchases with a bank transfer or via Internet banking. International buyers pay through PayPal accounts.

The prices range from Rp 32,500 ($3.50) for accessories to Rp 500,000 for dresses.

Buyers can choose their own delivery methods. Delivery costs are added to the total amount of the purchase.

Deliveries take just two or three days in Indonesia and about a week overseas.

The designers said their presence on HijUp.com has helped boost sales.

“HijUp.com has helped us a lot,” Hanna said.

“We don’t have our own boutique yet. So, whenever we have something new, we just drop it on the website. It’s the one door that leads to anywhere in the world.”

Jenahara also sees the potential for growth.

“With HijUp.com, I believe Indonesia will become the international Muslim fashion Mecca way before 2020,” she said.

Currently, 30 Muslim fashion designers feature products on the website. Most are young, with between three and five years in the industry.

“HijUp.com is more like a bridge or a highway,” Diajeng said.

“We’re an infrastructure that links Indonesian Muslim fashion designers and the buyers.”