Various professionals in the fields of local crafts, fabrics and fashion gathered again last Wednesday (31/5) at the fourth Sharing Class held by the Indonesian Textile Association (API), the Riau regional governing body. As many as 30 people who gathered as participants consisted of fashion designers, tailors, batik makers and cloth weavers typical of Riau Malay. The activity which took place in Pekanbaru presented Asep Dadang Kusmiran as a speaker, namely a textile and fabric fiber expert from PT Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), the largest natural fiber factory in Southeast Asia with an operating location in Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan Regency, Riau.

Not only introducing the types of fabrics that are suitable for the climate in Indonesia, Asep also explained how each fabric material has a different way of washing and care (washing and maintenance).

"With Indonesia's tropical climate, fabrics with natural fibers are certainly more suitable for our consumers, for example Rayon or Viscose which have been proven to be smoother and able to absorb sweat 1.5 times faster than other fabrics," he explained.

Asep added, typical Malay fabrics such as Bono batik and Siak weaving can also mix and match two different types of fabric fibers. He suggested that every fashion industry player should have the courage to find out the fabric material before producing his designs so that the resulting fashion is of high quality and environmentally friendly.

One of the participants who attended the Riau API Sharing Class for the first time was Sania. The owner of the Sania Amirah brand admits that he is challenged to explore the type of fabric that is suitable for his fashion business line.

"Alhamdulillah, the material provided was really useful for me and I can't wait to try eco-friendly textiles. I want to know how the results are for the types of clothes I use everyday," he admits.

On this occasion, API BPD Riau also invited a uniform convection business actor from Pelalawan, Rosmawati, to share her successful experience in starting a business. His business, which he started in 2013, has been successful in gaining profits and continues to grow rapidly, earning a turnover of up to hundreds of millions of rupiah.

In the final session of the activity, the General Chairperson of API BPD Riau, Basrie Kamba gave a closing message and information on the development of the domestic textile industry.

"API invites all participants to continue working and collaborating with each other. We have to be prepared for a competitive and innovative fashion industry," he concluded.

As one of the largest textile associations in Indonesia, API aims to be a forum for communication for textile and garment companies covering upstream and downstream (yarn to garment manufacture) in Indonesia. Since the beginning of the year, API BPD Riau has consistently held trainings for fashion SMEs in Riau with the support of APR.