Exploring Cultural Sustainability Through Contemporary Indonesian Fashion Brands

Sustainability has been an issue in industry, including the fashion industry for a very long time. This does not exclude cultural sustainability, as it would transmit ancestral knowledge to modern society, or even, future generations. As it is as important as economic, ecological, and social sustainability, cultural sustainability needs to be explored more to support the sustainable development. This paper aims to investigate how contemporary fashion brands in Indonesia practice cultural sustainability by infusing and implementing traditional values into their brands. This study involved 2 contemporary fashion brands that infused cultural elements into their products, such as the shape of garments, textile pattern, colors, or even the craft techniques used in making the product including the dyeing techniques. Case study approach was used for this study to gain deeper exploration and understanding in the fashion brands’ cultural sustainability practice. The result of the study indicated that the contemporary fashion brands respectfully implement traditional culture into the designs in various ways by adapting the cultural elements into contemporary techniques and design, shown through the collections’ formative features.