Jakarta, June 3, 2025 — Minister of Creative Economy Teuku Riefky Harsya expressed his full support for the Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation in its efforts to develop a sustainable fashion subsector and empower local brands to drive creative economy growth from the regions. This commitment was conveyed during a courtesy meeting with the Foundation at Autograph Tower, Jakarta, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
“We have networks that can help facilitate collaboration with potential sponsors. The initiative proposed by Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation requires focused acceleration. This is part of our ongoing effort to strengthen creative economy development that is driven by the regions,” said Minister Teuku Riefky.
Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation is currently developing the concept for a 2025 festival that combines fashion and art, including the release of a book and a visual art exhibition. The Foundation also sees opportunities for broader collaboration to expand market reach, develop vocational talent—especially graduates of fashion design vocational schools (SMK)—and promote intellectual property rights (IPR).
Minister Riefky added that the Ministry of Creative Economy continues to initiate various programs to accelerate the growth of Indonesia’s fashion subsector, including through creative development, business mentoring, and human resource quality improvement, so that the creative economy can truly become the new engine of growth.
“We’re encouraged to see how the fashion subsector can open up quality employment opportunities for the younger generation, especially those graduating from vocational schools. Just last month, we visited several SMKs supported by Djarum Foundation to help strengthen the creative economy ecosystem in Kudus. That means initiatives like this could be replicated in other regions,” said Minister Riefky.
Echoing this, Director of Fashion Romi Astuti emphasized that the Ministry continuously works to bridge creative economy players in the fashion subsector with support through sustainable mentoring.
“We highly appreciate Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation’s commitment to sustainable fashion, particularly its attention to environmental aspects. This demonstrates that fashion carries quality and added value, creating business opportunities and positively impacting environmental sustainability. Hopefully, our future collaboration will run smoothly and bring meaningful benefits to society,” said Romi Astuti.
Founded in 2019, the Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on sustainable fashion and institutional mentoring, including empowering graduates of SMK fashion programs in Yogyakarta. The foundation is also active in various events such as fashion shows, art exhibitions, fashion seminars, and design competitions.
“Our approach is to use art as inspiration, tradition, exploration, experimentation, and collaboration. While our output is fashion products, it’s not limited to clothing—we also include accessories, millinery, and artistic complements. Our main goal is to enhance the role and capacity of SMK graduates in fashion through ongoing mentoring. We also develop a concept called wearable art, emphasizing creativity rooted in craftsmanship, such as in our program called Dressmaker Forum,” said Ninik, Chairperson of Jogja Art of Fashion Foundation.
The Foundation’s Secretary, Andri, added that this meeting could serve as a starting point for long-term collaboration. In 2025, the Foundation plans to initiate a wearable art program themed Taman Sari, consisting of four main activities: a theatrical fashion show, an art exhibition, book publishing, and a discussion/workshop series linked to research and development.
“The event is planned for October in Yogyakarta and will involve artists from across the country. We hope to receive significant support from the Ministry of Creative Economy,” Andri stated.
Minister Riefky was accompanied in the meeting by Septriana Tangkary (Expert Staff for Marketing Systems and Infrastructure), Renanda Bachtar (Special Staff for Communications, Media, and Public Services), Romi Astuti (Director of Fashion), and Dadam Mahdar (Acting Director of Visual and Performing Arts).
Reslyana Dwitasari
Acting Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency
