Conversation with Indonesian Fashion Designer Toton Januar, Part 2

SS21 show at Museum Nasional Indonesia and ‘Baroque Archipelago’ at Mizuma Gallery
By Nadya Wang

TOTON Spring/Summer 2021 campaign at Museum Nasional Indonesia. Photo by Hilarius Jason. Image courtesy of TOTON.

Toton Januar is an Indonesian fashion designer who puts together the traditional and the modern, and local and global elements together not only in designing his collections for TOTON, but also to create compelling fashion narratives.

In the first part of the interview, he talks about the growth of TOTON, the label’s sustainability efforts, and brings us through his process designing for the Spring/Summer 2021 collection. Here, Toton speaks about showing of the collection at Museum Nasional Indonesia, and participating in the exhibition ‘Baroque Archipelago’ at Mizuma Gallery.

You held the SS21 virtual show at Museum Nasional Indonesia and noted that it was a dream stemming from your experience walking for an Edward Hutabarat fashion show as a model, before you became a fashion designer. What was the experience like, and will there be more unusual locations to present your collections in the future?

Honestly, it was not as I pictured it to be but it was amazing nonetheless. It was quite different because when I walked for Bang Edo it was a live show, with an audience and all, and one could feel the air of celebration. I am thankful that after all these years I finally had the chance to show the collection in the same venue, but when we shot the video, it was all work, trying our best to produce a good video and dealing with circumstances on location. Also, we had to make sure everyone was safe and comfortable in terms of health protocol and all. It was only after we saw the final video that it struck me, that I had made one of my dreams come true.

Behind the scenes at BTS Jakarta Fashion Week. Photo by Satrio Ramadan. Image courtesy of TOTON.

There are so many places I can think of to do a presentation and what would be a dream now is to have a live audience at a show again. I am a believer in fashion shows because I think there is a certain magic to live fashion presentations that cannot be replicated in another medium.

Photography session with Hilarius Jason. Images courtesy of TOTON.

You often work with the photographer Hilarius Jason Pratana, and there is a recognisable mood to TOTON campaigns. Is there now a shorthand between the two of you working together?

We started working together for TOTON Fall/Winter 2014 collection's visuals. My partner Haryo Balitar was actually the one who suggested working with Jason, to bring a different vibe to what we do at the time. Jason has this youthful and irreverent attitude that added to the juxtaposition of values we often have in our collection. I have to say that we have grown, and are still growing together in terms of creative visions, and sometimes it feels like he is part of TOTON. 

You opened Ara Jakarta with fellow designers Friederich Herman and Peggy Hartanto as well as Jo Elaine in 2015 to "showcase and highlight what Indonesian talents can do". Its closure was recently announced against the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. What are you proud to have achieved with Ara? And will Ara or its aims live on even without the physical space?

Honestly, we have a lot of great memories with ARA, but unfortunately, its time has come. Ara strived to be a place where Indonesian designers with dedication and integrity could come together to express what their brands were about. I think I can proudly say that we have achieved that. ARA was synonymous with the quality and craftsmanship of contemporary Indonesian brands, and it was widely highlighted by both local and international publications. Unfortunately, as a store, ARA has to rest for now, but I hope its ideas and ideals will still live on. Of course, I still have some dreams left for ARA, and one of it is to have a place for strong collective fashion creatives from Indonesia to introduce our aesthetic to the world.

TOTON, ‘Tidak Lulus Sensor 01’, 2020, C-print on photo paper, embroidery on silk organza, 42x 33 cm, 10 unique editions+ 2AP, © TOTON. Image courtesy of the artist and Mizuma Gallery.

Tell us how your participation in ‘Baroque Archipelago’ at Mizuma Gallery came about. How do shows like this help to improve visibility and increase understanding of Indonesian arts and culture?

We have known Mr. Mizuma and Fredy Chandra from Mizuma Art Gallery for quite some time, and then we met Tan Siuli, the curator of the exhibition at one of Mizuma events a while ago. Last year, she came with the idea of the ‘Baroque Archipelago’, to showcase Indonesian (contemporary) culture in the form of art and fashion. She was quite intrigued with the concept behind our Fall/Winter 2019 collection, where we highlighted censorship and ownership of the female body and sensuality.

Shows like this are great and put more context to contemporary fashion and its relations with what is going on in society. I am also very pleased that institutions have started to highlight local and regional designers and give them platforms to communicate their ideas.

TOTON in the studio for the Spring/Summer 2021 collection. Image courtesy of TOTON.

Other than being a fashion designer, you are also accomplished in illustrating, styling, and photographing. How do all these creative outlets inform your work as a designer?

You are too kind! I do all those things as hobbies, and I really enjoy them. I have dabbled in drawing for as long as I can remember, and the fun fact is, I almost always draw females. I think that is how I connect with my feminine side and femininity in general. It is also a way for me to explore shapes, emotions and colors, and eventually, most of the time, it intertwines with what I do as a fashion designer. Sometimes the photos I take end up on the collection mood board, or some of the ideas for clothing and accessories come out in my illustrations and paintings. I think it is good to view ideas through different kinds of mediums and treatments.

What has sustained your practice? Has there been a significant piece of advice you’ve been given or is there a lesson you have learned that you could share?

Integrity and perseverance keep us going and make things work. Sometimes you need to compromise, but most times you just need to be a little stubborn to go to the next level.

“Integrity and perseverance keep us going and make things work. Sometimes you need to compromise, but most times you just need to be a little stubborn to go to the next level.”

What are the next plans for TOTON? What will you continue to pursue, and what will you do differently?

The future is still uncertain. But we have made some changes in the directions for how we will do things. One of them is to start having and presenting only one big collection each year instead of one every fashion season, which is twice a year, as we used to do. We are now participating in another fashion-centric art exhibition at X Museum in Beijing, China titled ‘The Endless Garment’. We also have a few collaborations with other Indonesian brands coming this year. I think as we try to simplify things, we try to maximise what we already have and strengthen our place in the industry as well. These will open opportunities to explore and work more with local artisans and craftsmen.