Setali Indonesia

When I create Setali with Andien, we fully understand that the issue of fashion waste is real. There were 5 tons of fashion waste that we received through a public donation in our warehouse. Sometimes, there are some pieces that we like so we modified or upcycled them, and they then ended up in our own closet. Many times, there were also Andien’s clothes that are obviously too small for my size, yet I like the design or motifs, hence I ‘transformed’ them to fit me. Once on the day of Eid, I and my family (me, my husband, and our toddler) did not prepare special clothes for the celebration. Then, I had the idea to recreate one of Andien’s stage pieces into a set of Eid clothes for us three. There were many more times that I spend with Andien putting ‘magic’ onto old clothes, let alone the times when we hold garage sales to minimize the piling of clothes in our warehouse.

We did the fashion waste distribution one step at a time. We sent them to Bank Sampah Bersinar for them to be used as plastic exchange tools, and we also selected decent clothes to be sold again on social media platforms, bazaars, or stores like Vintage Vibes in Alam Sutera. However, the pandemic changed all of our working dynamics. The old clothes started to lose their enthusiasm, and we had to focus on recycling, and educating the people amidst the work-from- home era that gave them more spare time. Since the pandemic, other than recycling stuff to be made into ready-to- use products like we usually did, we also began to educate the society regarding the importance of tidying up their homes and turning their unused stuff into decorative elements for home like rugs, wall hangings, and cushion covers. We also provide an alteration and upcycling service which uses unused clothes from our own wardrobe as the materials.

Setali is also open for people who want to learn to do upcycling. Usually, they prefer to learn privately or in small groups. A few months after the pandemic, I opened up a listening bar in the basement of my house that people could visit, which later we call ‘Subo’. In this space as well, those upcycling workshops are conducted, and that became my first encounter with Gema Minang, the current CEO of Setali. Gema is a regular at Subo who also loves fashion and is very enthusiastic about recycling her clothes. In the past, she had tried selling vintage clothes that she collected by hunting in secondhand markets. Later, there were Babby, my old friends who then helped me create the strategy for conducting workshops. Caine Aurilia and Sarah Amalia also joined Setali, with the roles of developing strategy in planning our workshops for brands, as well as managing relations with SMEs who need our help in collecting their fashion waste. In 2021, Nadira sent an e-mail to Setali to join the visual content team, and a year later she invited Kel, who was a batik graduate, to be a part of our team. Made Ayu is our creative director always there from my early career and 2022 come for officially with Sande Nusantara, our research about textile art. Our lastest member is Khania and Icha, they are crafty creative women behind our artwork and exhibition.

The cooperative method that is applied by Setali has its own uniqueness. The recycling artists (the way we call the members of Setali) can work anytime from anywhere, and the persons in charge are given the freedom to value the price of their work in partnership, be it with a company or a brand, or individuals.

The biggest challenge of Setali is warehousing. We received support from Rekosistem, a startup in Indonesia that provides waste management services. However, we still need a holistic solution to tackle the fashion waste problem so they would not end up in landfills. The brands that became our partners also often help us in collecting the fashion waste that we manage, or even mixing them with internally—collected used clothes. Most times, the end result that will be expected is merchandise that will be given to the customers, the circular activity that became Setali’s uniqueness.

Our home—scaled research is done on a mission to find a tactical solution. There are several fabric waste collecting movements that we met this year. Sometimes there were plans for collaborations, however, the types of fabric that we could receive is limited, resulting in me trying to find a way so all kinds of fabrics, including their residue, could be taken in. with Evi Natali, I started to dig deeper, making research on what kinds of materials that we can use to further enhance the fabric waste recycling process so they could be transformed into aesthetic functional items.

That was a little journey of the various recycling process from the various clothes in my wardrobe. Besides that, in the last 10 years, I have been collecting several traditional hand— woven fabrics, as well as clothes that are bought in garage sales or through hunting in flea markets. Batik is rare to find in my collection since I don't want to wear clothes which meaning behind the story of its creation I don’t know. Meanwhile, I buy tenun because I know the meaning of the motifs, even sometimes I get to know the weaver directly. However, my subconsciousness keeps inviting me to continue to learn about the roots of slow fashion in Indonesia, namely batik, tenun, and natural dyes.

In Indonesia, slow fashion can meet the expectations of social as well as environmental sustainability. The movement towards achieving sustainable fashion is a slow process due to the complexity involving several manufacturers and many idealisms. Indonesian garment producers in the past involved the process of planting fiber—producing plants, which would then be spun into yarns and go through a weaving process into a cloth. Some techniques may require the coloring process to be done to the yarns directly before the clothes are woven, and some may require it after it becomes a cloth.

During this process, there was much evidence found, that the natural dyes that were used by the ancestors came from the surrounding plants, both in their garden and or in the forest. And at that time, they had paid attention to sustainable practices. With currently increasing global interest in sustainability and the growth of consumer awareness towards it, the fashion and textile industry in Indonesia is trying to take initiatives to offer sustainable solutions in their production lines. There are several approaches taken by producers both small and large scale, initiatives ranging from fiber production to garment manufacturing and even supply chain management to meet sustainability requirements. Products that are created through sustainable practices can contribute to environmental, social, and economic well—being, which leads to clothing self—sufficiency, going back to what was done in the past, circularity in clothing, and the understanding of sufficiency practices.

Much in—depth research has been conducted to get to know Indonesia's slow fashion, and many have been published. Moreover, the preservation of traditional fabric production techniques such as batik, weaving, as well as natural dyeing is already well known. But, why has the interest in using natural fabrics and dyes in everyday life not yet come to rise?

Setali gives a new life to rejected, old, or unsold clothing items and textile waste by transforming them into an inspiring creation.We aim to breathe new life to waste and improve the livelihood of people who make our garments. Everyone can contribute by supplying their preloved items and in return enjoy a selection of our carefully crafted recycling items by our artists.

Every sales made and project conducted will be directed to empowering the local artisans and tailors community through training and upskilling activities.

Timeline Setali Indonesia:

• 2004 made rework from old clothes.
• 2012 began by running a fashion brand that fuses denim with ikat, an Indonesian weaving technique. 
• 2018 Setali Indonesia born as a social enterprise focusing on extending the life of clothes to address fabric waste problem 
• 2020 fulltime artist and open workshop place as a public space
• 2023 World Within Wardrobe book released and first Japan residency artist
• 2023 – 2025: Exhibition