Christian Dior chose Balinese Endek material for its Spring-Summer 2021 collection, which is exhibited at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday at Jardin des Tuileries, Paris.
"The use of Balinese Endek cloth for the Spring / Summer 2021 collection by Christian Dior is a high recognition of the beauty and quality of Endek Bali fabrics and contributes positively to the international fashion world. Hopefully, this will be an encouragement for people in Bali amidst the challenges of COVID-19," Arrmanatha Nasir, Indonesian ambassador to France said after watching the Christian Dior Fashion Show, according to a written statement in Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Christian Dior Couture Artistic Director, Maria Grazua Chiuri, uses Balinese Endek not only for clothing collections but also for Christian Dior bag collections for the Spring-Summer 2021 collection.
Chiuri said that Christian Dior's inspiration to use the Balinese Endek was because she wanted to raise the value of culture and handicraft work, especially by women weavers.
Chiuri said that based on the research conducted by Christian Dior's team, the Balinese Endek cloth is a cultural value that is very suitable for the work that Christian Dior wants to raise. As recognition of the weavers in Bali, Christian Dior plans to include the area of origin of the Endek cloth on its clothing label.
Christian Dior expressed its appreciation to the Government of Indonesia for supporting the use of the Endek cloth as part of its latest collection. The Indonesian Embassy in Paris and the Christian Dior team worked closely to ensure that the use of the Endek cloth was under the rules of Balinese culture and customs.
The Bali Government supports the use of the Balinese Endek cloth and asks Christian Dior to fully respect the intellectual property rights (HAKI) of the Endek cloth, and the Endek cloth used must be originally produced in Bali.
"We give our high appreciation for the support and fast movement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Economic Recovery Acceleration Team and the Governor of Bali and his team so that Christian Dior has full support for using Endek Bali cloth for his collection," Arrmanatha said.
This year's Paris Fashion Week is held on Sep. 2 to Oct. 6. The event observes health protocols and invites limited participants. (Antaranews)