“When I heard about Borneo Chic, at first I wanted to work with them purely for business interests. But then when I heard about their noble cause, I was interested to help in their mission for the long haul.”
These were the words of renowned fashion designer, Musa Widyatmodjo, who is assisting the Borneo Chic (BC) brand in preparing a new hand bag collection and in the marketing of BC products. Musa shared his sentiments in the recent Borneo Chic shop launch last April 14, 2011. The shop is situated in the Jakarta art center — Kemang.
Other than Pak Musa, Ernie of Yayasan Dian Tama gave the opening remarks and told the audience about the mission of the Crafts Kalimantan Network, an initiative launched by 5 NGOs in Kalimantan, and how the Borneo Chic brand was developed to elevate the image of indigenous weaving traditions through more modern expressions in a collection of handbags. Handicraft production is a benign source of livelihood from forests – forests which are threatened by extractive industries that plague Kalimantan’s ecosystem.
Ernie’s talk was followed by a 3 minute TV commercial prepared by Gecko Studios.
We were also luckily accompanied by weavers Ibu Luek, a Dayak Bentian and Diana, a young Dayak Iban as they shared their stories about their crafts, their communities and their experiences and thoughts working with BC.
Diana mentioned that
“Before selling products to Borneo Chic we had to make very large mats to sell. It would take a long time before we could make money. Now BC buys smaller mats that are converted into bags and we get higher prices for these smaller mats!”
Over 100 people graced the event from NGO friends, to craft aficionados to media personnel. We hope that with increased design and marketing capacity, sales from BC products will encourage indigenous weavers of Borneo to continue with their craft, an intrinsic part of the heritage of Borneo and the Dayak people.
The Borneo Chic Shop is found at the
Ke-kun Coffee Shop
99A Jl. Bangka Raya
Pela Mampang
Jakarta Selatan 12720
+62-21-7183-240
Website: www.borneochic.com