Unique Creations from Textile Waste

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

Sosok Jemi Nikolas

Jemi Nikolaus Rahangiar, 29, combines textile waste management with the fashion world. With his family, Jemi produces unique creations brand under the label Saparo in Semarang city, Central Java. Not fully oriented with business, he gives priority to creative ideas that mostly are just derived from the streets.

With textile scrap as the basic material, especially denim, Saparo produces various products ranging from bags, clothes, hats to paintings. One of the products’ unique features is that the textile waste is woven by applying Japan’s sakiori technique. Jemi gets textile waste from collecting traders in Jakarta and Semarang.

In doing his work, Jemi is helped by his older brother and sister, Rinto Rahangiar and Ansina Susana Rahangiar. The family from Kei Kecil, Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku, is interested in creative things and accustomed to processing waste into useful products. Unsurprisingly, the house they lease in Tembalang, Semarang, is adorned with handicrafts from unused materials, like door decorations and ornaments from scrap iron.

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Woven products from pieces of denim almost covered all the walls in a workshop room of Saparo, measuring about 4 meters by 2 meters, in Semarang on Thursday (18/3/2021). In the middle of the room are two weaving looms 60 centimeters and 30 centimeters wide, while the length depends on necessity, which can be 6 meters. They rely on five sewing machines.

“I don’t want to speak a lot about our environment concern. The important thing is that we take care of the waste ourselves. It began only as a medium of enjoyment and creation. If we process waste found near us, it means one problem is solved,” said Jemi at the Saparo workshop.

Starting production in 2018, Saparo offers custom-made products. For Jemi, communication with prospective buyers in vital. In this way, there’s an exchange of ideas. The product price may also vary from one consumer to another. In general, Saparo products cost Rp200,000 - Rp3,000,000.

His production depends on the mood, the emergence of ideas and the presence of stimuli.

Saparo consumers come from several regions, even as far as Jakarta. Jemi claimed to have no targets of production and profit. His production depends on the mood, the emergence of ideas and the presence of stimuli.

It’s for this reason that his business is less impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Conversely, in 2020, he was just collaborating with many designers and other creative businesses. Saparo also won the second place in the Fashion Category of Indonesia Fashion and Craft Awards (IFCA) 2020 organized by the Industry Ministry.

Self-taught

Jemi’s interest in fashion has been nurtured since his primary school years when he learned sewing on a self-taught basis by benefiting from the sewing machine at home. He made goalkeepers’ gloves because football was one of his hobbies. He played as a goalkeeper. Both his parents are not tailors.

With his package B (junior high school/SMP level) diploma, Jemi continued his study in Santa Theresia Tourism Vocational High School (SMK), Langgur, Southeast Maluku. “There were only two departments, fashion designing and food management. I was actually embarrassed as practically no male students enrolled. But it was still better than remaining in SMP, so I just joined and happened to be admitted (to fashion designing). It was thus an accident,” he said.

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In the third year of SMK, Jemi represented his province in the National Students’ Aptitude Contest. From then on, his self-confidence was enhanced. His sewing skill was also further improving. He began to receive orders for clothing, such as uniforms.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

Sosok Jemi Nikolas

Graduating from SMK, Jemi studied fashion designing at Malang State University, East Java. Sadly, in 2013, he abandoned his college study.

Later, Jemi was honing his skill and at the same time opening a network. He followed two-month training at the Surabaya Industrial Education and Training Center, East Java, where he gained a lot of sewing knowledge, particularly for garment making. Thereafter, he was sent to a garment company in Surakarta.

In 2015, Jemi joined training at the Jakarta Industrial Education and Training Center. “During this training, I met various designers. I also began to understand how they were working. Although it was only a month, I got important knowledge and networks,” he related.

According to Jemi, since a long time ago, the street has been the source of his inspiration for creations. When in Malang, he frequently met with street tailors and chatted with them. At one time, he brought unused motorcycle upholstery materials to be sewn into two pairs of shoes.

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One day in Semarang, he saw somebody going by motorcycle with a heap of textile scrap. Jemi was flowing him until he reached his home. This collecting trader has now become his business partner.

In Semarang, he also often tours the city and has talks with several communities, among others to tap their spirit and positive energy for creative work. “Semarang is potential with many amazing people, but it seems nobody has gathered them yet. This is our common challenge,” said the man who joins the Semarang Creative Hub.

It’s likely that the place will be a gathering forum for young people sharing his artistic passion.

He wants to keep working and creating, supported by the various inspirations. Jemi hopes his workshop will be an art space or design studio. It’s likely that the place will be a gathering forum for young people sharing his artistic passion.

Jemi Nikolaus Rahangiar

Born: Kei Kecil, Southeast Maluku, 27 December 1991

Education:

- St Theresia Tourism Vocational High School, Langgur (2009 graduate)

- Fashion Designing Study, Malang State University (dropout)

Occupation: Owner of waste-based handicraft business, Saparo

Award: Runner-up, Fashion Category, Indonesia Fashion and Craft Awards (IFCA) 2020

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)