Aksara Batik IndonesiaAksara Batik Indonesia, A New Batik Brand that Targets the Youth

Batik had a stigma as an old-fashioned fabric, routinely worn only by oldsters or occasionally worn to special and formal occasion like wedding. With a mission to oppose the stereotype, a team comprised of Garuda Cakti Viratama (Putra Batik Nusantara 2014, owner), Hendita Khairina Putri (Putri Batik Nusantara 2016, owner), Jatrifa Jiwa Gandhi (marketing division) and Hafiz Sofian Alfath (branding division) created a new label called “Aksara Batik Indonesia”.  This brand is specialized in producing batik for the youngsters, using only batik tulis (written batik) and batik cap (stamped batik) in its design.

Aksara Batik IndonesiaThe team decided to start the brand as expression of their love for batik. They were determined to educate the society about the difference between the real batik—written batik and stamped batik—with printed batik. According to its definition, batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to cloth using canting and stamp. This means that the real batik are only written batik and stamped batik. The society commonly misintepret printed batik as real batik, whereas in fact, printed batik is actually only fabric with batik pattern. Aksara Batik Indonesia was made to educate the society to be proud of wearing the real batik. Aksara Batik Indonesia was also made in order to support the title “Intangible Heritage of Humanity” that was given to batik Indonesia by UNESCO in 2009. The title requires youngsters (14-35 years old) to wear batik. This was in accordance with Aksara Batik Indonesia’s ultimate goal: to provide batik outfit that suits not only for special occasions like wedding but also for daily wear for the youth.

Aksara Batik IndonesiaFormed in 14th June 2016, the brand received warm welcome and had already sold ±150 piece reaching its furthest client who comes  from Taiwan. Aksara got the good response mainly because its two exceptional features: trendy designs and Batik Card. As Aksara is addressed for youngsters, its design always follows the latest fashion trends. The brand offers new concept of combination between batik and plain fabric, producing fresh and chic batik outfit. Its trendy chlotes would suit as daily wear, for casual vacancy such as going to college or hanging out with friends. If you couldn’t find any design that fit your fashion taste, worry no more! In addition to ready-to-wear products, Aksara also provides custom based design, where you could customize the design and fabric to your personal liking.

Aksara Batik IndonesiaOther exceptional feature of Aksara is Batik Card. Each batik pattern had its own meaning, hope, and philosophy—for example batik tuntrum means eternal love, batik ponorogo describes the life of people in coastal.  Every purchase of Aksara’s outfit would be accompanied by a card that describes the history and philosophy of the pattern used in the outfit. This enhances the clients’ pride in wearing the products because they knew the meaning of their outfit’s pattern. The team’s biggest dream now is to open Aksara Batik Indonesia official store in Malang, Jakarta, and Bali. Now they are still selling the products online via its instagram account @aksarabatikindonesia. We hope Aksara Batik Indonesia would fulfill the meaning of its name—to be an eternal batik brand!

Writer: Jatrifia Ramadhani/Editor: Novita Widia