Andrio A
IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
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Indonesia is predicted to be the center of world Muslim fashion. It’s mentioned in the Global Economic Islamic Report 2018/2019 that Indonesia is in second place as a country that develops the best Muslim fashion in the world after the United Arab Emirates. However, the brands that exist in this most populous Muslim country in the world are mostly for Muslim women.
Therefore, Fatih Indonesia (Fatih) takes the opportunity to capture the market of Muslim men by designing a modern Koko-batik shirt specific for aged 25-40 years old from the middle-upper class economy by combining batik and plain colored materials. All products are made in cooperation with local batik artisans and empowered local employees. Fatih is creating jobs for locals to eradicate poverty, and innovating the product to make it modern and modest while showcasing the local batik of Indonesia to both Indonesian and the world.
Fatih Indonesia is a fashion company with sociopreneur spirit founded by Fahmi Hendrawan in 2015. Fahmi’s purpose and mission are to integrate men's modest lifestyle by providing products that fit most of the Muslim occasions and dreaming to be the largest men Muslim lifestyle company in Southeast Asia.
In the beginning, Fahmi's Muslim clothes feature the hand-stamping "Garutan" batik accent from Garut, a town in West Java, Indonesia. There are two reasons why Fahmi chose Garutan batik. Firstly, he comes from Garut. Secondly, he felt that batik from his area was not well known. That was the factor that prompted him to present the Garut batik motif on the Koko shirt produced by Fatih. Now, it sourced batik not only from Garut but also from other areas which are famous for their batik, i.e. Bogor, Solo, and Yogyakarta.
More than that, he innovated his product from the (1) design, (2) choice of color, (3) the values, and (4) raw material. From the design perspective, he combined modern design, traditional batik, and Islamic values. Batik motifs are sometimes placed on the side, chest, bottom, and so on. Thus, it’s not monotonous. More than that, he used quite unique choice of color, i.e. black and gold. The colors are also relatively brighter than other brands. In addition to white and other neutral colors, he does not hesitate to have green, red, blue, purple, pastel, turquoise, and others. He also brings in the Islamic values and the stories of local batik artisans. Those innovations are made on premium material.
Fahmi was inspired by his own spiritual journey, and also the business opportunity in male Muslim industry fashion. Referring to the Global Islamic Economy Index data, the consumption of Muslim clothing in Indonesia in 2017 reached US$ 20 billion. Despite the opportunity, he has no background in design. Therefore, from January to March 2015, he did research on the internet, visited Tanah Abang Market and a tailor center in Garut. He also did an internship at the textile center of Pasar Mayestik, Jakarta, to learn about the business process of Muslim fashion for three months. He mentioned that he needed to understand the basics of how to create a good product.
During his learning process, he followed what the tailor did; starting from buying and selecting materials, transporting materials to the production facility, and making patterns, until the sewing process is complete. Finally, he produced Indonesian Fatih clothes in Garut and had his products launched in June 2015 through social media.
Fatih has always been growing in the number of sales, and customers, and having more innovative products since the beginning. As the business grows, the number of local Batik artisans is also getting bigger as well as the batik accents incorporated into the design. It will eventually help the increment of the batik artisan’s income.
Currently, Fatih already has more than 10,000 database customers with more than 200 loyal customers, and 60% of customers repeat orders. This achievement was supported by 30 events and fashion shows, 70 blog posts, and 40 media appearances.
Not only in Indonesia, but Fatih has also impacted the Muslim men's market internationally. Fatih represented Indonesia in the international fashion show in some countries, i.e. Indonesian Festival Moscow in Russia, Japan Halal Expo in Tokyo, Asia Islamic Fashion Week in Malaysia, London Halal Expo in London, and Expo and Fashion Show in Dubai. During the expo, Fatih shared stories of local batik artisans in Indonesia.
The market response is positive to Fatih’s product. In the first 6 months after its launching, Fatih generated sales of IDR 150,000,000. And then in 2016, Fatih was selected as Curated New Local Brand for Runaway at the Indonesian Fashion Week (IFW) 2017. During this time, Fatih was firstly covered by national media both online and offline. As a consequence, Fatih secured more sales from its customers.
When Fahmi first launched his product in 2015, he dived into the Blue Ocean market where the competitors are not that many. But now the market is getting bigger. The competitors are not only competing in the men's Muslim wear market but also duplicating his products. When he’s asked about this, he said that “I’m happy with the condition because it means that the market is developing. Indonesians are now more aware of the men Muslim wear products.” In short, he’s not only innovating the products but also the market.
He chose batik as a unique selling point because it’s projected that the local batik artisans will likely lose their source of income due to lost competition to batik printing. As for your information, there are three kinds of Batik in Indonesia: handwriting, hand-stamping, and printing. Fatih stands with the local Batik artisan who produces the hand-stamping batik. Therefore, Fatih involves in a social mission to save the heritage of Indonesia and its artists.
All batiks are sourced from the rural regions in Indonesia. Therefore, the local batik artisans are not required to move to the big cities to produce the batik. The locally produced batiks are sent to the in-house production in Jakarta to turn them into the final product. In short, the local economy is being supported by Fatih Indonesia.
Currently, Fatih already has some partnerships with more than 12 people of Batik Artisan in Garut. Aside from the artisan, Fatih opened a production workshop in Garut that help to create local jobs for more than 15 people in Garut. Fatih also created a campaign called Koko Untuk Kakek as an annual campaign. Through this program, Fatih is giving Koko shirts to homeless people and for a nursing home in collaboration with Kitabisa.com during the holy month of Ramadhan. Faith believes that “giving does not reduce wealth”.
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Fahmi Hendrawan, CEO and Founder of Fatih Indonesia
Fatih Indonesia is a fashion company with sociopreneur spirit. It provides daily men's Muslim wear with the touch of Indonesian culture that is directly sourced by local batik artisans.
Fatih Indonesia is committed to only using hand-stamping batik from local artisans to preserve the heritage. Currently, Fatih has already built partnerships with more than 12 people of batik artisans in Garut.