Sent by Mira Siregar-Meulia

Last month, I was invited to attend a private fashion show from a new label called PAYOU. The designer behind the label are Afril Djoewarsa and Maera Hanafiah. Obviously, I was so excited and the first thing on my mind was: what bag should I bring?

After consulting with my best friend via e-mails, I decided to wear a vintage red velvet clutch from my Mom that is handomely made in Italy in the 70s.  Since it’s a batik-themed fashion show, I decided to wear  batik top. After I was done with the outfit affair, my next mission was to find my plus one to accompany me to the show, which I found right away. She was also as excited as I was and agreed to wear  batik top as well.  All set then!

We got there early, wrote our names at the reception desk and entered the romantically decorated room. There were white flowers and crystal balls hanging down the ceiling of the center spot. They put silverish drapery all over the place. Our names were printed on a white label that stuck at a couple of front row black chairs. Nice. It was the perfect place to view the whole collection and to take some good pictures…yay!

The show started fashionably late at around 15.30. The collection was 32 pieces of beautiful batik on jersey material. Some earthy colors dominated this particular collection: brown, beige, green, red, orange, a bit of dark purple and black. Most of the batiks have simple patterns that are carefully printed on the jersey materials, making them look timeless. Cutting-wise, they offer beach-ready mini dress to maxi night gown, from loose and easy batwings tops to elegant tunic.

Not only the design is timeless,  the jersey materials made the whole collection looks comfy and easy to wear. It’s a collection that anyone, and I really mean anyone, would love to have because they are easily mixed and matched. We can pair it with skinny jeans, A line skirt, with leggings or even some sarongs. No wonder that after the show, all the guests excitedlyrummaged the backstage to find the items that they’ve already eyeing before. The green long dress, the purple wrap dress, the brownish batwings, the green dress with orange accent, everything was gone.  I also (along with the other guests!) loved  the maxi tube turquoise dress that Maera wore that day, but unfortunately it wasn’t from that collection. Why oh why?!. It’s so gorgeous and ultimately comfy and elegant in one. She promised to work  on something like that for the next collection and it made us even more curious to see what’s next.

Here’s a question and answer with one of Payou designers, Maera Hanafiah.

What is the history behind Payou? Payou itself is an interesting name, what’s that stands for?
Payou diambil dari kata payu, bahasa Sunda/Jawa yang artinya laku. (And the collection was sold out in no time!) Diplesetkan sedikit jadi you supaya lebih modern saja. Latar belakangnya adalah karena saya suka sekali pakai bahan jersey/kaus untuk kegiatan sehari-hari. Karena kerajinan batik di Jawa Barat belum banyak digali (beberapa corak batik daerah tertentu bahkan sudah punah) maka kami bereksperimen dengan mencoba membuat motif batik diatas bahan jersey/kaus

What theme of the first collection?
Tidak ada tema yang spesifik yang kami pilih, karena kami memang bukan lulusan sekolah desain, maka kami memilih model-model baju yang mudah dikenakan oleh banyak orang. Hanya kami lebih cenderung berkonsentrasi pada pemilihan warna. Untuk itu keluarlah warna-warna yang tidak biasa untuk batik pada koleksi pertama kami ini. Hijau daun, orange, kuning, ungu dan lain-lain.

Who are Payou target market?
Perempuan yang berumur antara 25-50 tahun.

Why did you choose jersey as the fabric for your first collection?
Bahan jersey ini akan menjadi signature dalam setiap design payou, kami tidak akan memakai bahan lain selain jersey untuk setiap koleksi.

Congratulations, PAYOU!

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