(Photo: coquettenatalie on Instagram)
October 2nd is Batik Day, a celebration in Indonesia and around the world for batik fabric. Batik fabric is created by an intricate technique that uses a manual wax-resist dyeing. The technique is very detailed and batik artisans usean intricate copper tool to draw out the liquid wax. It can take from a month to a year to finish a piece of batik cloth, depending on the complexity of the desige. Because of this complicated production process, batik can be considered to be high end and expensive.
I was honored to be asked by Shinta from BatikAntik in Indonesia to help bring awareness to the art form and help celebrate the amazing artisans in Indonesia who painstakingly create these beautiful pieces.
In 2009, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which is "the totality of tradition-based creations of a cultural community expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and social identity."
(Photo: coquettenatalie on Instagram)
I am wearing a pink chiffon crinkled batik scarf made by Riana Kusuma. The colors are beautiful pastels of pink, purple and coral featuring beautiful hand drawn flowers. As a crafter and fabric lover, I am amazing that I had not known about all the details on what goes into creating batik fabric. I of course knew about the patterns, but didn't realize how tedious the actual production work was.
This fantastic BBC article about Batik designer Josephine Komara of Obin explains a lot about the creation of this artform. Obin has brought batik out from the shadows of state functions, to to trendy cocktail parties where batik and Hermes bags go hand in hand. Watch the video above to see more of the handmade process of batik.
Today you can see batik fabric designs used by some of the top fashion designers like Dries Van Notten, Diane Von Furstenberg, Armani and Nicole Miller.
(Photo: BatikAntik)
Here's a photo of Nicole Richie wearing a batik scarf while 4 months pregnant in her true bohemian style.
Note: Batik scarf for this post was provided by BatikAnik.