UNAIR NEWS – Citayam Fashion Week (CFW) refers to a new phenomenon of youths dressing up in street style in Sudirman, Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta. The phenomenon draws public attention. UNAIR Communication expert Prof Dra Rachmah Ida MCom PhD had her views on Citayam Fashion Week.

CFW is rooted in the youths who do not get any space from the mainstream culture, which is often dominated by the Haves. “They see it as a new public area which they failed to get in the mass media or over elite public space,” Prof Ida said.

Deconstructing Trend Fashion

The phenomenon tries to shift the fashion trend that has always been set by the upper classes. “They try to deconstruct the exorbitant fashion goods the lower classes cannot afford through the street style that is usually enjoyed by the middle-upper classes,” stated the first Communication professor in Indonesia.

The outfits in CFW articulate the youths’ creativity in fashion without high-end fashion brands. “They express the overlooked, marginalized urban street fashion that is not accommodated by the popular media because they deem it unsalable,” she said.

The style shown in CFW tends to be unique and different. Prof Ida believed it is a form of liberated young people who aspire to free themselves of capitalism through fashion.

TikTok Triggers

The rise of TikTok, she admitted, encourages the emergence of new subcultures. “TikTok easily becomes the most popular social media platform among the middle-lower classes. It will lead to the emergence of the unnoticed, marginalized subcultures,” she added.

Prof Ida commended the youths’ courage in expressing themselves through the freedom of fashion. “Fashion is subconsciously divided by each class, this is bucolic [identity], that is urban, and so on,” said the UNAIR lecturer of Communication.

Prof Ida highlighted that the CFW subculture must be embraced. “We should not only accept the elite’s culture. Let the other culture express their identity,” she said.

Author: Stefanny Elly

Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh