In the hands of Ivan Kurniawan, Lazuli Sarae became an incredible product. He succeeds in combining the denim-based product with the traditional art motifs of Indonesian batik. Lazuli products focus on men, women, Muslim clothing, and other accessories.

Came out as runner-up in the 2010 Creative Business Plan Contest at PPKI (Pekan Produk Kreatif Indonesia), Ivan and Retta agreed to realize Lazuli Sarae became a real business. Lazuli is run by Ivan Kurniawan with his colleague Maretta Astri Nirmanda. As the director, Ivan focused on business and marketing development while Retta, who served as a designer, focused on product design and development. Academic learning from university plus self-taught learning from various media and other fashion industry players is a provision for the exploration of their works and products.

Starting from 10 million rupiah of financial capital which was obtained from the prize of 2010 Creative Business Plan Contest at PPKI, Ivan and his colleagues began conducting research in designing further on Lazuli. But like any other business, there will always be up and down. This was also experienced by Ivan and his colleagues in promoting Lazuli. In the following month, Lazuli was not a success. Many expenses were greater than the income. But this did not make Ivan give up, the strategy began to be developed again by marketing through exhibitions. Some of the ones often attended include INACRAFT, Indonesia Trade Expo, Indonesia Fashion Week, and Muslim BIZ World. Furthermore, e-commerce marketing on the Lazulisarae.com website is also carried out to cover buyers to a broader area. Until three years later, Lazuli Sarae products now have a sales turnover of 20-40 million rupiahs per month with product prices starting at Rp. 50,000 for clothes collar accessories to the most expensive Rp. 745,000 for a women’s cardigan.

Speaking of products, Ivan always makes products with unique names, let’s say Cinereo Mini Cape, Komala Joy Ladies Shirt, Parang Capuchon Jacket, and Floreo Kellim Shirt. The collections were named in such way intended to match with the vision and mission of Lazuli, which is batik on denim with local value and modern spirit.

The next plan that will be carried out by Lazuli is to bring these local products into world-class fashion products. Not just being a business expansion, but also carried out a mission to introduce Indonesian culture to go public, one of which is batik.

For Ivan, the fashion industry will soon be very developed and have a big role in economic growth. “Today’s fashion entrepreneurs are very concerned about the development of the fashion industry to accommodate young designers and entrepreneurs to develop themselves further through various events. This is also welcomed by fashion lovers as appreciators,” said Ivan.

The message delivered by Ivan is for those who want to be involved in the fashion industry. Ivan encouraged them to continue working and do not feel small. “Everyone must have their own unique and talent to be developed and realized so it can benefit others,” he explained. Retta also added, the role of fashion critics as curators is really good for fashion artists, it will trigger them to innovate and add more value to the Indonesian fashion world”.

The article has been translated & edited by Riani Sanusi Putri. This original article was here.