COURAGEOUS NINA

FASHION INSIGHT  

A WOMAN WITHOUT AN IOTA OF DISCOURAGE

Image Courtesy of Nina Nikicio

In this world where prejudice and preconceived thoughts of others ruled a person's decision, one must ask themselves whether to follow this unfavorable thoughts or to act against it and act in what they believe. Choices need courage, are we supposed to do the things that people expect us to do? Or are we suppose to do things that we love and believe? Many times the design industry is seen as something which has a vague future, especially with fashion design  of ready to wear clothing in Indonesia where the industry is ruled by global fashion labels such as Zara, Topshop, Banana Republic, etc. Are we suppose to give in to those challenges and prejudice? No. All you need to do is to be courageous, one girl proved it and right now she's one of the most sought after ready to wear designer in Indonesia, her name is Nina. Nina Nikicio.

Prasangka dan pikiran yang menghakimi telah sejak lama mendikte setiap tingkah laku seseorang. Oleh karena itu dalam menghadapi situasi sebagai demikian seseorang harus bertanya kepada dirinya sendiri; haruskah saya bertindak sesuai terhadap prasangka dan tuntutan umum ini? Atau haruskah saya bertindak melawannya untuk membuktikan apa yang saya ketahui dan saya yakini? Sering kali indutri desain digambarkan untuk memiliki masa depan yang tidak jelas, terutama fesyen desain bagi lini siap pakai dimana industri ini dikuasai oleh merek-merek fesyen global seperti Zara, Toshop, Banana Republic, dll. Apakah kita harus menyerah terhadap prasangka dan praduga yang menghakimi ini? Tidak. Satu hal yang harus seseorang lakukan ialah untuk memiliki keberanian, satu individu telah membuktikan keberanian tersebut dan hari ini beliau merupakan salah satu desainer pakaian siap pakai paling dicari di Indonesia, ia bernama Nina. Nina Nikicio.

Image Courtesy of Nina Nikicio

In this post, we will try to inspire you through Nina Nikico's life journeys; how even since she was a little girl she has always knew where her future and passion lies upon, how she question herself in her youth and then pull through it with the rough remarks from her parents, and how she beliefs that courage is the key of being a successful individual. 

Dalam post ini, kami akan mencoba untuk memberikan insiprasi Anda melalui jalan hidup seorang Nina Nikicio. Bagaimana Nina, sejak masa kecilnya sudah mengetahui dimana masa depannya dan hal apa yang harus ia lakukan di dalam hidupnya, begitu juga bagaimana di dalam masa remajanya ia mulai mempertanyakan tujuan hidupnya dimana ia berhasil bangkit melalui dukungan "keras" orang tuanya, bagaimana Nina percaya bahwa keberanian adalah kunci dari kesuksesan.

ENGLISH VERSION

Could you describe us a bit of what you were like in elementary school or junior high? Were you the kind of gal who was all about fashion and hung out with people who was into fashion?

I think you can say that i'am a weird girl. You see i was in St. Ursula for elementary school and junior high, but then in highschool i switched school to Bina Nusantara where i majored in arts. So you could probably say i'm weird... (Laughs) Artsy i was! Arts.

So you were artsy. Then is it true that you always knew that fashion is your life's calling? Or were you like one of us, who are still confused with what should we do with our life? If so since when did you know?

Junior high... No! Elementary... No! The eighth grade! Yes, i remember it exactly that in the eighth grade i knew i want to be a modern fashion designer. So i started to drew things, so that one day i could be a fashion designer. But when i was in the eleventh grade though... I seriously considered on becoming a professional painter. But then my dad was like "What are you going to eat with that profession?" (Laughs) So i went back to the original plan.

You were going to paint? (Laughs) Tell us, who inspires you into becoming a fashion designer? Or what kind of life's experience that you went through that enabled you the thought of becoming into a designer? 

I think it was around kindergarden, my grandmother owns a fabric store, and a lot of the times i spent my time there. With all of that fabrics, i played and pretend i was this alien monsters made out of fabrics (Laughs). That's probably is the beginning of my love towards textile. Since then i always love quality fabric, ones that are great, ones that have quality, and ones that are comfortable to be worn. I dislike fabrics that you know is easily ruin when you feel it, i dislike fabrics that are rough and low in quality. So that's why Nikicio as a brand always pick the quality fabrics. 

So when you were in the eighth grade, did you tell your parents that you wanted to be a designer? What was their reaction? 

My parents were okay with it, they never disapprove me  for my choice. They let me be who i wanna be. They only question me that one time... Professional artist/painter?  "What are you going to eat?"

Do you have any other interest? Other hobby? If you could be anything you want, what will you be?  

I don't think there's any other profession that i have interest in. (Laughs) I really don't know how to answer that question. If somebody asks me what i would like to do if i weren't a fashion designer, i would always answer them "a stylist". Fashion yet again.

Do you have any future goal for Nikicio as a brand? Where do you want to market it, other than in Indonesia and Singapore?

Umh, we're going to try Hong Kong, Asia primarily. We tried Australia before, and it didn't work. But that's okay, we're gonna keep on trying! You know our label is still considerably very young, its only 4 years old. So... There's still a lot of rooms to grow, there's a lot of rooms to improve.   

Last question! When you first launch Nikicio it was back on 2007 yes? And we felt that Nikicio was particularly groundbreaking in terms of selling methods and market segment, because back then online shopping is still something that's new, and local brand were just starting to lift off. From these experience do you have any advice for a designer-to-be out there?

Just be courageous. You know... Don't care what anybody say. Because me, myself when i first started this business, no body was doing ready to wear, all were couture. But i gain my courage and keep ON doing my ready to wear. And people were like "Kok?!" But that's me.... "Emang kenapa? Gue memang ga suka evening wear gitu. Itu bukan style gue." I do realize that every once in a while i have to put on a gown, probably i'm going to wear one for my wedding. What i'm trying to say is that i want to make a wearable clothing, for people and for me to wear, clothes that are easy and effortless. 

So. You're gonna be designing your own wedding gown? 

Insyaallah... (Laughs)

INDONESIAN VERSION

Bisa tolong jelaskan, dulu ketika di elementary school atau junior high seorang Nina Nikicio itu seperti apa? Apakah dari semasa sekolah sudah hang out dengan teman yang menyukai fesyen? Atau? 

Dari dulu, gue kayaknya... Aneh ya. Gwe masuk Santa Ursula waktu SMP. SD, SMP terus waktu SMA gue masuk Bina Nusantara dan memang udah langsung mengambil arts. Jadi gue emang aneh mungkinnya. (Tertawa) Memang seni gue.... seni.

Oh, jadi memang dari dahulu sudah artsy ya. Lalu apakah dari dulu memang Nina sudah tahu bahwa fesyen sebagai life's calling? Atau apakah Nina seperti kami ini nih? College students yang masih terbilang bingung dengan jalan hidup.

SMP... Kayaknya SD deh... SMP kelas dua! Gue inget banget. SMP kelas dua gue inget banget bahwa gue pengen menjadi  modernization designer. Jadi gue dah mulai gambar-gambar segala macem, itu semuanya pas SMP kelas dua. Tapi pas kuliah, eh pas SMA kelas dua sempet berkeinginan menjadi pelukis. Cuma gue diomelin sama Bapak gue, "Loe mau makan apa nyet?"(Tertawa) Jadi akhirnya balik lagi... 

Pelukis? (Tertawa) Lalu siapa sih yang menginspirasi Nina menjadi fesyen desainer? Atau pengalaman apa yang menginspirasi Nina menjadi fesyen desainer? 

Kayaknya sih dari kecil... Dari TK kalau ga salah, itu oma gue punya toko kain. Terus waktu TK itu, gue-kan selalu dititipin di rumah oma gue, dan gue suka pura-pura jadi monster kain dari luar angkasa (Tertawa) Jadi mungkin kecintaan gue dimulai dari tekstil itu sendiri. Jadi gue tuh suka sama bahan yang bagus, bahan yang nyaman, yang comfortable. Gue tuh ga suka sama bahan yang kalau yang dipegang terus... Kasar. Atau bahan yang dipegang terus kita tau nih... Yah sebentaran rusak. Gitu... Makanya gue ga suka tuh yang begitu, makanya Nikicio pun bahannya bener-bener dipilih ga sembarangan.

Waktu SMP kelas dua ketika Nina mencetuskan keinginan untuk jadi desainer. Orang tua bagaimana? Ada yang larang? 

Bokap nyokap gue ga pernah ngelarang sih. Mereka membiarkan gue menjadi apa aja yang gue mau. Cuma pelukis itu doang yang ditanya sih... "Mau makan apa?" 

Lalu ada ketertarikan lain ga selain fesyen? Hobby lain mungkin?

Ga ada sih... (Tertawa) Emang gue dah ga tau mau jadi apa. Kalau ditanya gue mau jadi apa... Kalau bukan fesyen desainer... Gue selalu jawab stylist... Muter-muter ya selalu fesyen. 

Masa depannya brand Nikico bagaimana nih sebagai label? Mau masuk kemana lagi selain Indonesia dan Singapore?

Umh... Kita mau coba Hong Kong, Asia dulu sih tapi. Kita mau coba Hong Kong, Malaysia... You know we tried Australia before, it didn't work. Tapi gapapa, kita akan coba terus. Usia brand kita sendiri masih sangat muda gitu, baru empat tahun. So... There's still a lot of rooms to grow, there's a lot of rooms buat improve. 

Pertanyaan terakhir nih Nina. Waktu pertama kali Nina meluncurkan Nikicio itu-kan ditahun 2007 dimana kami melihat Nina sangatlah groundbreaking karena saat itu brand lokal terbilang push-nya belum banyak dan konsep online store belum hype. Dari hal ini saran Nina untuk seorang desainer di luar sana apa sih? 

Berani aja sih. Ya, you know... Don't care what anybody say. Soalnya gue juga pada saat mulai ga ada yang mikir tentang ready to wear, semua couture dan terus gue melanjutkan dengan ready to wear gue... Dan itu lumayan... "Kok?!" Tapi gue ya... "Emang kenapa? Gue memang ga suka evening wear gitu. Itu bukan style gue." Memang sih gue sendiri perlu pake gown, mungkin ntar kawin gue pake gaun. Maksud gue, gue mau membuat pakaian untuk sehari-hari gitu aja sih sebenernya. Untuk orang lain dan untuk gue yang mudah untuk gue pake.

Jadi kalau kawin mau desain baju sendiri nih?

Insyaallah... (Tertawa)

Image Courtesy of Edge Models Jakarta

Perseverance, courage, and focus are the things that you could say made Nikicio's success, in a way we are all alike with Nina; we are the kind of people who knows exactly what we want, but obstacles such as prejudice dan feelings of discourage limits and even change our course of life. The difference lies with the values which each of us bring to the table in dwelling with these limitation. What we could learn from Nina's story is to always be persevere, courageous, and focus in what we want, in this world of subjectivity and vast differences, your visions are bound to have an align perception, do not question your uniqueness. It is as what the market say as the competitive advantage.

Keteguhan, keberanian, dan fokus dapat dikatakan sebagai tiga hal yang menghasilkan kesuksesan Nikicio. Satu hal yang perlu kita semua sadari ialah bahwa pada esensinya kita semua merupakan manusia yang mengetahui apa yang kita inginkan. Perbedaan yang ada ialah bagaimana kita dapat menyikapi tantangan-tantangan yang menghalangi diri kita dari mencapai apa yang sebenarnya kita ingin capai. Jadilah teguh, berani, dan fokus. Di dalam dunia yang penuh dengan subjektifitas dan pandangan yang beragam, tentunya pandangan ada yang dianggap berbeda akan memiliki satu pikiran yang berpandangan yang sama.