Criticized in Indonesia, Local Brands Participating in Gekrafs Paris Fashion Show Appreciated by Residents and Influencers in Paris

Kapanlagi.com - One of the biggest fashion events in the world, Paris Fashion Week, was a hot topic among Indonesian netizens recently. The reason is that there were 10 local brands known to be brought by Gekrafs to participate in the Fashion Show in the same city and at the same time. Because of that, a number of local brands were considered to be piggybacking on the Paris Fashion Week 2022 event.

Despite being criticized by netizens, some local brands that appeared in Gekrafs Paris Fashion Show received appreciation from locals and even Parisian influencers. Like one of them, Brand No Brand, owned by designer Venycha.

"If it's said that it's all Indonesians, that's wrong. It's filled with designers, influencers, and locals from Paris. My brand was appreciated by designers and I was also invited to a meeting with influencers there. If I can say, 70% of the people who came to the fashion show location were locals from Paris. We brought KOL (Key Opinion Leader) so that this event could be heard in Indonesia," said Venycha when contacted by the media, on Thursday (10/3/2022).

1. No Brand Products Sell Well

Brand No Brand received positive appreciation from residents and influencers in Paris / Photo Credit: Personal Documentation

One form of appreciation from the local community is by buying products from Indonesian local brands, including those owned by Venycha.

"They buy, even post about it, pay for influencer feeds, which is quite profitable. But we don't pay for their support," she explained.

Similar achievements were also obtained by Tika Ramlan, the owner of the Chayra brand. According to her, buyers continue to contact her and promise to meet, and many of her collections have sold out.

2. Regrettable Negative Reactions from Netizens

Brand No Brand received positive appreciation from residents and influencers in Paris / Photo Credit: Personal Documentation

Veny herself regrets the negative reactions from Indonesian netizens who instead of supporting, are bringing down local brands that are currently in Paris. According to her, from the beginning, Brand No Brand never claimed to participate in the Paris Fashion Week 2022.

"Actually, from the beginning, our event was from our own brand and it was not a Paris Fashion Show. You can check on our Instagram, we already posted a video on February 28th with the caption 'Paris Fashion Show during Paris Fashion Week'. Maybe other brands just didn't have enough information," said Veny.

"But that doesn't mean we should be brought down in our own country. It's just unfortunate that the negative news is what's making headlines," she added.

3. Gekrafs Opens Temporary Store in Paris

After the event, Gekrafs also opened a temporary store in Paris located at 51 Rue Turrene. There were 10 brands that participated in the fashion show in Paris, and they were joined by SMEs under Hipmi Jaya.

The store was opened by Indonesian Ambassador to Paris Muhamad Oemar together with Trade Attaché Ruth. Among the local brands that have been highlighted by visitors so far is the food brand Geprek Bensu.

As is known, Geprek Bensu is indeed looking for opportunities to expand to Paris after opening a branch in Amsterdam. Many Indonesian citizens in Paris visited the Gekrafs temporary store, mostly because they missed Indonesian food.

This achievement is a positive step from the activities carried out in Paris. Because, Gekrafs' main goal is to help local brands-SMEs to get more opportunities and the European market can be more accessible.

(kpl/gtr)