TANGAN Fall/Winter 2018

by Julius Kensan
2nd October 2018
Tangan unveiled their heavily deconstructed Fall/Winter 2018 collection last Thursday that felt like Mad Max meets Burning Man festival.

The TANGAN’s Fall Winter 2018 held last Thursday in Graha Niaga Building was fun to watch. Much of it came from the fact that the show gave a couple of clues as to the thought process of the label’s creators, Zico Halim and Margaretha Novianty, even if you’re just a passerby who happened to be there. After all, what fun is there to be had if the guests can’t be trusted to figure it out on their own.

In the first look, what appeared to be the front of a vest jacket, hung from the neck like an improvised scarf top, was attached with a bisected suit jacket at the back. It immediately set the tone for the rest of the show with an emphasis on exaggerated deconstruction. There were bits and pieces of everything as if they were thrown into a blender.

It’s pretty fun figuring them out: suit jacket, denim, and was that a shower curtain? But after a few looks, it felt futile in trying to make sense of the composition of the looks and you’re compelled to just enjoy the show for what it is. Even though the soundtrack was manic, models took their time sauntering down the runway, which was great, all the better to take it in and savour the looks. If you were fixated in getting the show into your Instagram Story feed, then you’d definitely miss out on the details.

Needless to say, the ragpicker-esque quality of the clothes combined with a post-apocalyptic vibe of the show easily reminded one of the movie Mad Max and the Burning Man festival. Perhaps that’s the Achilles heel of this collection. It didn’t seem like it could belong in an everyday setting and destined for a fashion editorial instead.

But the good thing is Zico and Margaretha kept the bottoms less complicated. While there was pleated skirt in customised collage print that takes pride in its gaudiness, the highlights were an oversized denim pants shaped like an inflated balloon (versatile for both men and women), plus a pair of slimming long pants with collage print panels at the side that gave the impression of a nine heads figure. It won’t be surprising if the majority of the sales for this collection came from the pants and skirts. Before the show kicked off, a guest seated beside me disclosed that she owned three pairs of pants from the label.

The show ended with epileptic-inducing flashes of light and models walked out holding hands. It could be a commentary on the upcoming election next year and the need for solidarity. Make what you will out of it. The most satisfying part of the show is the clear focus on its deconstruction and there’s really no need for any grand concepts or sappy personal anecdote to justify the collection. And when the objective is apparent, the rest naturally comes together.