Liny Agustini

Liny is trained as a fashion designer/couturier at Susan Budiharjo Fashion School in Jakarta, Lasalle College in Montreal , Esmod and Ecole Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Francaise in Paris. She worked in the fashion industry for 9 years, specializing in bespoke bridal and evening gowns before moving to Holland. Since 2013 Liny has written numerous articles for Esquire, Luxury Properties Indonesia, CASA, and particularly for Harper’s Bazaar Indonesia. Writing feeds her curiosity to explore topics in various fields such as art, architecture, gastronomy, and fashion.

Varani Kosasih

Varani Kosasih developed her interest in the research and documentation of Indonesian architecture since working with the Arsitektur Hijau community in 2004. Her thesis about Kampung Nage, Flores was published as a book in 2009. Varani then joined Han Awal Architects in 2007 where she met Yori Antar, co-founding Uma Nusantara in 2008. The initiative protects Indonesian architectural heritage, and began following an incredible journey to the remote village of Waerebo in Manggara, where the amazing traditional houses and warm welcome from the villagers made the trip different. After returning to Jakarta, the architects set up a project to save the endangered Waerebo traditional house. In 2012, this project won international and local awards, including the 2012 Asia Pacific UNESCO Cultural Heritage Conservation Award and Indonesian Architects Institute Award for Conservation. Today, Uma Nusantara is a movement that impacts the general architecture community in Indonesia, extending beyond to anthropologists and archeologists. 

@varanikosasih

@umanusantara

Farwiza Farhan

Farwiza Farhan is a forest conservationist working to protect, conserve, and restore the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra, Indonesia. Leuser is the last place on earth where rhino, tiger, elephant and orangutan still roam together in the wild. Farwiza holds a firm belief that conservation should not be an exclusive club, rather, a network of stakeholders – from indigenous communities to ecologists, lawyers and policymakers, international nonprofits and private sectors – sharing this planet together. Farwiza is the Chairperson of Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh Foundation (Yayasan HAkA), a grassroots organization based in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. She focuses primarily on policy and advocacy, working to increase meaningful access and deepen the involvement of women and local communities in policy matters pertaining to their environment and livelihood. Farwiza is currently enrolled in a PhD program in the Faculty of Anthropology and Development studies in Radboud University Nijmegen. Her research seeks to shed light on the political economy of natural resource management in Aceh, Indonesia, with particular spotlight on the Leuser Ecosystem. Farwiza was also a 2022 National Geographic Wayfinder Award recipient.

@wiiiiza

@haka.sumatra

Cynthia Hardy 

 With a rare combination of strong aesthetic vision and shrewd business instincts, Cynthia Hardy began making her own jewelry in her teens. Post-college, she moved to Bali and, after running her own import-export company, got married and became one-half of her husband’s eponymous jewelry label, John Hardy Jewelry. In 2007, John and Cynthia stopped working in the company to dedicate their time to advocating for and building a more sustainable world through education and design. As their first major project, John and Cynthia conceived and created the Green School in Bali, Indonesia to deliver pioneering education for the future with a curriculum based on the Three Frame Day by Alan Wagstaff. The uniqueness of the school lies in the integration of traditional subjects, creative arts and green studies wrapped in rich layers of experiential, environmental, and entrepreneurial learning. John and Cynthia also co-founded Bambu Indah in Ubud, Bali. Bambu Indah is a radically distinctive boutique hotel. Since 2005, eleven antique Javanese bridal homes have been brought to Bali, restored, and decorated with the finest details. Since then, the property has expanded to the riverside, pioneering a sustainable future with innovative, bespoke and luxurious bamboo structures for a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

@greenbyjohn

@greenschoolbali 

@bambuindah

Helianti Hilman

Helianti Hilman is a multi-award winning social entrepreneur at the forefront of sustaining Indonesia’s forgotten food heritage. Inspired by Indonesia’s wealth of food biodiversity, indigenous wisdom and spiritualism, in 2008, Helianti left her work as a consultant and founded PT. Kampung Kearifan Indonesia, known as Javara (www.javara.co.id). She believes that sustaining food biodiversity is the key to future food that helps to solve the global diet issues in a sustainable and inclusive manner. Through her initiatives, Javara builds supply chains, works with smallholder farmers and food producers, nurtures rural entrepreneurs, introduce uses of value added technology among producers and creates a wide range of fine organic food products from rural Indonesia to serve the domestic and export markets. To date Javara has worked with tens of thousands of farmers and food artisans across Indonesia, producing over 600 artisanal products of which over 190 are already certified organic for the US, Europe and Japan. Believing in investing to the rural youth, women and indigenous communities as way to build inclusive economic development and to further preserve food biodiversity heritage in its natural ecosystem, in 2017 she launched Sekolah Seniman Pangan (Javara Academy – School of Food Artisans), to educate and facilitate aspiring rural champions to develop creative high added-value rural businesses that are nature and social positive. Helianti’s latest project is to do food mapping from ancient reliefs, manuscripts and cultural expressions and to translate the information into economic opportunities for rural communities.

@heliantihilman

Chitra Subyakto 

Sejauh Mata Memandang is an Indonesian textile label founded in 2014 by the visionary Chitra Subyakto. The brand embodies slow and circular fashion principles, seamlessly blending traditional Indonesian textiles with contemporary flair. Chitra's mission is to make traditional Indonesian fabrics appealing to younger generations by artfully contrasting cultural heritage with casual modernity. Signature motifs are inspired by the natural beauty of Indonesia and are meticulously handcrafted by skilled artisans from Java, Bali and Sumba. Each piece in the Sejauh Mata Memandang collection is intended to be timeless, versatile, and wearable. The label's commitment to sustainability is reflected in the materials used, which include cotton, linen, Tencel, and recycled textiles sourced from both pre- and post-consumer waste. Sejauh Mata Memandang contributes to a circular economy and helps protect the environment by repurposing these materials, collaborating with like-minded organisations as a responsible textile label to reduce textile waste, preserve the environment, and empower communities.

@chitras

@sejauh_mata_memandang

Mang Moel

Mangmoel, also known as Mulyana Mogus, is an artist based in Yogyakarta who uses yarn and cloth in his work. Mogus is an alter ego in the form of an octopus monster character created by Mangmoel, complete with an ecosystem that resembles underwater. Mangmoel’s practice indirectly has an impact on the environment, using leftover yarn from factories in Bandung City as material for his creations. Apart from being cheaper compared to new yarns, Mangmoel found the idea of repurposing as a form of managing creative materials. The process that Mangmoel employs takes three elements as the main framework: aesthetic, functional and amalgamative. In sociology itself, amalgamation is a form of unity consisting of several ethnicities. Repurposing also provides information related to the consumption of materials for sustainable creative practices. The magical objects that Mangmoel creates also include installations, two-dimensional images and videos. 

@mangmoel

Lidewij Edelkoort

Co-Founder World Hope Forum

Li Edelkoort is a trend forecaster, publisher, humanitarian, design educator and exhibition curator. From 2015-2020 she was the Dean of Hybrid Design Studies at Parsons in New York where she founded a Textile Masters and the New York Textile Month festival. Her thought-provoking writings and podcasts have become increasingly popular at a time when she is regarded as an activist and champion for change. In 2020, she founded the World Hope Forum as a platform to inspire the creative community to rebuild a better society. She is also on the Creative Council for all of Gap Inc.’s fashion brands, advising the group on creative innovation and sustainable practice. In 2022, Edelkoort collaborated with Polimoda in Florence to establish an innovative new textile masters called From Farm to Fabric to Fashion.

@lidewijedelkoort

PHILIP FIMMANO

Co-Founder World Hope Forum

Philip Fimmano is a trend analyst and consultant, contributing to Trend Union’s forecasting books, magazines and strategic studies for international companies in fashion, textiles, interiors and lifestyle. In 2011, Fimmano co-founded Talking Textiles with Li Edelkoort; an ongoing initiative to promote awareness and innovation in textiles through touring exhibitions, a trend publication, a design prize and free educational programmes – including New York Textile Month, a citywide festival celebrating textile creativity each September. He is the co-author of the design book A Labour of Love (Lecturis, 2020) and the co-founder of the World Hope Forum, a new platform for creative community building. Fimmano is the mentor of Polimoda's fashion forecasting masters and textile masters in Florence, and he is on the Board of Directors for the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. Fimmano is also on the Creative Council for all of Gap Inc.’s brands, advising the group on innovation and sustainable practice.

@philipfimmano