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Topic: Inter- and Trans-discipline
STUDYING FASHION USING INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO
CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDONESIAN
CREATIVE ECONOMY
Rahayu Budhi Handayani
Ciputra University, rahayu.handayani@ciputra.ac.id
Abstract
This paper discovers how to see fashion as an interdisciplinary area of study. The rapid development
of Indonesian fashion industry and its huge contribution towards Indonesian creative economy in
fact, are not balanced with the research and study of fashion. Fashion is originally a western culture
and the terminology itself has been used since 16th century. There are numerous publications about
fashion using psychological, social, or cultural approach. Mainstream fashion industry in western
country has been growing enormously and came with several innovations, meanwhile, Indonesia is
merely known as consumers and manufacturer worker despite it richness in culture, textile, and
craftsmanship. There is confusion between clothing and fashion that might be the cause of why
fashion education in Indonesia mostly evolved in vocational area and merely focusing on hard skills
development, whereas fashion is supposed to be more complex. However, based on statistic data
from Indonesian Creative Industry Council, fashion industry is the second largest GDP contributor
and the highest amount of exporter within creative industry, while one of the biggest obstacles in
developing it is in the research and development. Author believes that to study fashion using
interdisciplinary approach academically might be able to become solution to contribute towards the
development of Indonesian creative economy. Using descriptive qualitative method, this paper tries
to cultivate the issues through empirical studies based on literature research and purposive sampling
on several case studies.
Keywords
Creative Economy; Fashion; Fashion Studies; Inter-discipline
1. Introduction
The fashion industry is one of the dominant sub-sectors contributing to the development of the
national creative industry. According to the results of a creative economy survey by the Indonesia
Creative Economy Council in cooperation with the Central Bureau of Statistics, shows that the
fashion industry is the second largest subsector that contributes GDP in the creative economy of
18.15%. In addition, fashion also contributes to the percentage of the largest export value in creative
economy that is equal to 56% [1].
On the contrary, fashion industry has several issues and challenges as well, such as enviromental
issue; the lack of fashion education and educators especially with educational background in fashion;
and, the lack of research and development in fashion which cause the lack of competitiveness [1,2].
120
Fashion in higher education in Indonesia today is mostly vocational education based on the
development of technical skills, the vocational education provider such as La Salle College of Design,
Esmod Jakarta, Indonesian Art Institute Denpasar, and Maranatha Christian University Bandung.
Meanwhile, some institutions that based on the development of science and technology (bachelor
degree), are still a minor program under visual communication design, product design, or craft,
because the nomenclature for bachelor of design in fashion has not available in Indonesia.
Generally, people might get confused between clothing and fashion. This might be because fashion is
usually a domain of western culture. Indonesia like any other third world countries are commonly
known as ethnic clothes since it originally came from folk costume. While fashion in western culture
are known to be close to the symbol of modernity, newness, and technology [3].
Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
and editor-in-Z] ( }( ^&Z]}v dZ }ÇW dZ :}µvo }( U }ÇU v µoµ _ Z}µPZ Z
foreword on the journal stated that fashion is a meaning system using any approach from
interdisciplinary aspects such as art, design, sociology, art history, consumer behaviour and
anthropology for producing cultural and aesthetic portrayals of the clothed body [4]. Those might be
the reason behind why several developed countries have been evolved their fashion education until
doctoral degree; resulting innovative design, a supporting infrastructure and environment for the
industry through research and development strategy using any interdisciplinary approach.
Research in fashion and clothing able to use past and present phenomena to explain current events
and predict any future trends, actions, movements, or behaviors related to clothing and fashion. It
also helps professionals to improve business by interpreting the research findings to theories,
models, or frameworks [3].
Based on the issues, author try to offer examples of interdisciplinary study within fashion by showing
À o µ] ÁZ]Z}]o } ]uo u v ]vv ((}} À o}/v}v ][(Z]}v
industry and simultaneously give a positive contribution }Á/v}v ][ ]À }v}uÇX
2. Literature and Theory
2.1 Terminology of Fashion
&Z]}v Çu}o}P]ooÇ ]À (}uD]o vPo]Z^(]}v_UÁZ]Zu vuvv v(}u>]v
^(]}v- (]}_UÁZ]Zu v}(ul]vPXñ
According to Dr Andrew Reily whose already surmise the definition of fashion based on several
studies, stated that:
^&Z]}v ] v ]vvP]o (} Z ] uv]( ]v vP]o }µ Z v v Áv
relative to prior fashion products, are adopted by a group of people, and are reflections of society
vµoµ X_ï
2.2 The Concept of Fashion from Several Perspectives.
2.2.1 Psychological Perspective
The study of fashion using psychological perspective has already arised since a very long time ago.
Several journal of psychology has been published to study individual motives in wearing clothes or
consuming fashion. [6]
Crawley (1912) believes that clothing was originally use as an adaptation to a climate and then
121
become a secondary human character [5, p.9], but than Grace Morton (1926) through her short
essay on the psychology of dress, recognize that clothing became a significant area to study, since it
Z]P]u}vZ ]v]À]µoX^Z ZZ o}Z Á Á u]v ^Z}ÁuµZÁ P}
into society, the places w P}}UZ Æ ] Á l _X^Z o}v} ZZ ]PZo}Z ^Z o
us to express the best in ourselves and are a means of giv]vPo µ }Z} }µµ_X[6]
People desire to look different or to be fit on the most common appearence helps us to understand
the existance of fashion leaders and fashion follower. Fashion leaders who do not want to wear what
everyone else is wearing then become one driven aspects why some fashions die and some new ones
begin. [3]
2.2.2 Sociological Perspective
Fashion has been a significant sociological topic since the birth of the discipline. Sociological research
in fashion successfuly found several theoritical analysis which important to understand several
question that fashion face until today. There were several fully developed sociological theory of
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~À]íõõíU^(Z]}v]u]]}vv]]v]}v_~s o vv^]uu oíõìðU^]lo -across or
trickl µZ }Ç_~v íõõõUDl víõôõUv}(}ZXñ
According to Herbert Blumer, fashion has influenced other field such as fine art and hard science, and
]v}u oÇo]u] } Xoµu o}µ} ^]uu o[v>À [] Z(Z]on is an
important social movement and has a different characteristics from other types of collective
behavior. It based on subjective needs while sharing experience and tastes. [6]
Meanwhile Bordieu believed that judgements of taste are in people judgement about their social
position. He has a term in related to the development of aesthetic taste which he believe as a result
of habitus. Habitus is a set of tendencies described as structures of perception and evaluation that
govern how people behave. Habitus is something that has been embedded into the identity of the
individual so that it can not or is difficult to realize. Habitus and taste has wider impacts of trends,
movement, and change in fashion based on Bordieu idea. [3,7]
The recent study of sociological approach in fashion have also studied the apparel industry when
exploring fashion. They found out how to study the pattern of people interest in consuming fashion
and outlining it to several themes. The study of fashion deployment has developed on two main
topics, first about the understanding of overall process which theorized in several framework such as
^}µo]( Ço _~^}o íõôíU }v}µZ ] v](]]}v}((Z]}vo ^Z (]
members of their social group to learn abouvÁ v Á(Z]}vÁZ v] ]vZ ul _
(Goldsmith 1996). [5]
2.2.3 Anthropological Perspective
Several anthropological approach in fashion using cultural anthropology to study fashion, such as
written by Dr. Maria Angela from University of the Arts London and Denise Nicole Green, Phd. from
Cornell University. It uses to study human behavior, cultural practices, and connections between
local and global. It can be use to study the interconnections between fashion and the rest of culture
in which it is found. [8,9]
Mostly, anthropological study is examining dress/clothing/attire/costume/garment/apparel as a
product of cultural or cross-cultural activities, such as colonialism, Islamic influence, industrial
122
revolution, and so forth.
2.2 Clothing as a Tangible Product
2.2.1 Terminology and the Origins of Clothing
^o}Z]vPU]voµ]vP }] oÁÇ ( }Z Zµuv}ÇUZ]] uo u] Z (}u}(
Z Zµuv}Ç_íì
Crawley (1912) believes that originally people wore dress as a form of adaptation to their
environment. But then it became much more complex than merely a clothes, it became a symbol of
status, sexual interest, nation identity, incorporated business, and so forth. [6]
Before Charles Frederick Worth, around 1860, added a new constellation that cause dress as a
product that autonomously made by a creative designer, clothing was classified as a handicraft
product. The customer and maker shared ideas and inspired each other about the appearance of
clothing. [10]
th
By second half of 18 century, when industrial revolution took place, textile became one of dominant
industry in terms of employment, value of output, and investment. It was also the first industry to
use modern production methods, initially with the supply of raw material and later with full-package
solutions. [5]
E}ÁÇUµ}uÇo}Z]vPZo o ]v}^Zµ }µµ _U^ Ç-to-Á _U^oµÆµÇ Ç
u (Z]}v_Uv}(}ZXtZ]o u(Z]}v}uvµ(µ o}Z]vPZo o ]v}^u
product]}v_U ^( (Z]}v_U v } (}ZX dZ o} u P À o ]o µZ ^ Zv]
_U^u} Á _Uv}(}ZZ À}oÀ }((Z]}v]vµÇXõ
3. Findings and Discussion
3.1 Designing Clothes t Between Custom Apparel and Manufactured Apparel
Nowadays, existing fashion education in Indonesia is vocational-based education, based on the
development of technical skills. It is suitable to its purpose in which vocational education take place
to prepare an industrial-ready alumnus.
However, the outcomes of several fashion diploma in Indonesia still much to concentrate on
producing creative clothing designer which products custom apparel, for instance, as seen from the
works of students from ISWI Jakarta and Maranatha Christian University Bandung.
Figure 1. (a) Work of student from ISWI Jakarta; (b) Work of student from Maranatha Christian University
Bandung.
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