In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world, the creative economy sector is still alive and well and able to provide positive results for the Indonesian economy. Proven creative industry, Malang City spread its wings to the international arena.
Malang Mayor Sutiaji said that the production of craft and fashion industry players in Malang City was able to compete with other regional products. The fashion industry with a variety of flagship products has quality and is competitive, not only in the domestic market but also abroad.
“Millennials will have a big influence on the life of the Indonesian nation. So we hope that in the era of globalization and digitalization all industries in Malang City will be technology-based. Malang is included as a creative city, later of course there will be other sides that can deliver, such as e-commerce, "said Sutiaji.
Sutiaji also emphasized that the economic development of Malang City, which grew anomalously, could not be separated from the role of the creative economy. According to him, Creative Economy is now the prima donna of economic growth in Indonesia and Malang as a creative city has tremendous potential, including in the craft and fashion sub-sectors. Various craft and fashion Small and Medium Industries (IKM) in Malang City thrive.
One of them is House of Diamonds (HoD), a community-based business that involves and empowers a number of women as textile artists to produce various hand-stitched products.
Carrying the concept of sociopreneurship, HoD created by two brothers Nur Cholidah (Ida) and Noor Fadillah (Lila) seeks to bring social and sustainable impacts on problems in the surrounding environment.
One of the Founders of HoD, Ida, said that HoD wants to have a social impact for mothers who do not have the opportunity to work in large factories or have obstacles in earning income, so they can work from their homes.
“Essentially, we want to contribute to their welfare in their lives. At first we started with just two people, then after studying and doing research in 2015. Finally we started HoD again after a break of about two years. Then we grew to 16 craftsmen who are actively working and receiving training,” said Ida.
Currently, he said, there are 30 people, some of whom work as freelancers. Some are housewives, but used to work as migrant workers, victims of human trafficking, and so on.
The products produced by HoD, he said, are in the form of textile products, such as blankets, bed covers, homeware whose market is quite potential to foreign countries.
“There are kimonos, scarves, bandanas, clutches, masks, in other words, easy projects that can be done by mothers who are members of HoD. All of the products are handmade and slow fashion, because we don't use high-level technology, we are still doing it manually,” he said.
At first he didn't think that anyone would buy the products sold by HoD. But now the products have been sold domestically, even abroad such as the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Finland. Ida admitted that most of the buyers from outside Malang, such as Jakarta.
“Customers can also order online. We are also a manufacturer of retail stores that support small, community-based businesses. That's a lot abroad, so we reach out to shops or organizations that oversee retailers who want to take advantage of local Indonesian products, such as in Canada there is one, America has three, Australia has one, in Singapore there are three, ' he said, adding.
According to Ida, there are various HoD sales systems, one of which is wholesale. First of all, HoD will offer wholesalers or shops that buy products in large quantities the traditional products that HoD usually produces.
Usually wholesalers buy products directly or make custom orders according to the pattern and model of sewing.
“So each wholesaler has its own characteristics, but it is produced by HoD. The strategy for joining a large organization is so that we can be promoted, so that we can get new wholesalers,” said Ida.
He acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on HoD's business. At the beginning of the pandemic, in February HoD produced batik and non-batik cloth masks to be supplied to several wholesale stores outside Indonesia, Jakarta, and Malang.
Although he admits that there are obstacles faced by the pandemic, such as the cessation of raw material suppliers. In the future, he hopes to be even more efficient in producing and selecting products to be sold. Community-based HoD businesses can still exist.
“When conditions began to improve, we began to slowly start producing products again. But still looking at market conditions, so you have to be careful in making what products you can sell,” he said.
