Sebastian Gunawan – Flying the Flag for Indonesian Couture

For over 20 years, Sebastian Gunawan has been Indonesia’s foremost Couturier. A country and culture steeped in creative heritage, Sebastian has led the way in creating dazzling couture collections and presenting much anticipated couture shows. As such, his being invited to present his Autumn / Winter 2016 Couture collection in Paris during Haute Couture Week is a major milestone both for Sebastian and also for Indonesian couture. To mark this occasion, a special Press Conference was held at the Hotel Mulia Senayan in central Jakarta in front of over sixty members of the press and social media.

The Press Conference was also the nautral next step to a special signing ceremony, which took place in Jakarta last November between Mr. Sebastian Gunawan, Ms. Cristina Panarese, Dr. Frank Cintamani, Founding President, and Ms. Emily Hwang, Vice President of the Asian Couture Federation. This marked the formal collaboration between Indonesia’s leading and most respected Couturier and the Asian Couture Federation to develop a special collection for the new on-line portal COUTURíSSIMO. As such, many members of the media who had attended the signing ceremony were once again present for the Press Conference.

Opening the event were a number of key speeches, which included words of support from Mr. Triawan Munaf, Head of the Creative Economic Agency in Indonesia as well as Mr. Stéphane Baumgarth, Premier Conseiller of the French Embassy in Indonesia. The French Embassy and in particular, Mr. Marc Piton, Conseiller de cooperation et d’action culturelle have been extremely supportive of the ACF’s desire to present Sebastian Gunawan in Paris during Haute Couture Week. Ibu Dian M. Muljadi, Governor of the ACF, who expressed her own good wishes on Sebastian’s forthcoming couture show, followed them.

Dr. Frank Cintamani took time to highlight the significance of this moment, and the importance of Asian Couture, and Sebastian getting such an opportunity to present in Couture’s historical and spiritual home of Paris. Likewise, Sebastian shared his own excitement and honour at presenting his work in such an important and influential market. The culmination of many years of hard work, this was the pinnacle of his career.

To give the assembled guests greater insight into the special collection that Sebastian had designed for COUTURíSSIMO, there were two fashion presentations. Each one comprised of six looks showing the creativity and talent of Sebastian in being able to translate his world of Couture into an affordable but nonetheless luxurious couture inspired collection. Rounding off the Press Conference, a round table Q&A enabled the media to gain a deeper insight to the event in Paris, the COUTURíSSIMO Collection, the design and creative process and significance this all has for Indonesian creativity.