Hi, Ing! Can you share a bit about yourself? Your preferred name to be known by the readers, the city/country you live in, your hobbies, anything!
Hey! My name is Ing (with a single “i”), and I have what people call “regular hobbies”: Reading and listening to music. I am currently living in Bandung with my wife and two kids. My main work is managing this small streetwear brand, WADEZIG!, with my friends in Bandung. I also have another creative project with my family titled “The Babybirds”.
I remember I recognized and connected with you from WADEZIG! brand, but it seems like even before WADEZIG!, you have been really active in Bandung’s creative community. How did you start it?
Oh, that’s… a long story 😆
I have been interested in visual arts since I was young — since I was little, even. I “blame” the privileged little spoiled brat in me who spent his whole childhood life watching MTV channel and reading neverending magazine supplies and cassette album sleeves, so my attention always focused on the usuals that you can find on such media: Design, layout, photography composition, and many more.
When I explored outside my hometown and stepped foot in Bandung for college, I got into the underground music community, which was a huge hype then. I didn’t get into a drum or strumming some notes on guitars or any musical and performance aspect. I found myself “stuck” in one thing that interests me: designing flyers and posters for underground music events, cassette sleeves and covers for bands, and even becoming a free-to-hire event photographer!
Then, the Internet boom happened, and thanks to the huge interest in visual art, I dived into the World Wide Web. Seeing those beautiful website designs in all their glory and movements, I went, “WHOA, THIS IS AWESOME. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?” 😆 It felt like a magazine, but it moved. It looked like MTV and magazine.
Thanks to that, graphic design was such a huge hit then, especially in Western countries. The problem was that Indonesia’s Internet connection wasn’t as good as today’s, so I became one of those early adopters who spent my monthly allowance hanging out in Internet cafés for days and being a part of an early adopter I got the opportunity to witness and saw trends starting out.
People used to see me as this– This bum, hanging out without reason in Internet cafés. In contrast, I hung out with the other early adopters on online design forums, chatted and discussed graphic designs, and learned design masters at work. Projects were born from those online communities, be they personal or collaborations. Some of us built design studios, some planned streetwear brands, and many others. I also love that some of us worked and built new communities and online forums — still within the art community but in a more specific way, for example, street art communities. From the number of communities that were born and developed, I happened to be involved in them. Also, the privilege of being an early adopter: Whatever we did, it looks cool to others 😆
I have a question about “distro”. In Indonesia, “distro” means a clothing store for local brands, and my general perception is that WADEZIG! is closely related to distro. What’s the difference between a distro and a regular clothing store? And how did Bandung come onto the map?
Distro is an acronym for “distribution outlet,” so literally, it means a store to distribute goods — in this case, clothing. I honestly don’t know who came up with the term, though! The concept is global; you can find indie clothing stores worldwide, but the name “distro” is only available here in Indonesia. Even in Malaysia and Singapore, the two countries closest to us, they call the stores as just, well, stores.
The trend started in Bandung, as this city used to — and still is — the start of indie bands. Each band has its own fanbase, and it generates the demand for the band to sell their merchandise. Naturally, the band needs a place, a channel, to sell the merchandise, thus, the stores. Remember, getting a decent Internet connection was tough, let alone doing e-commerce on an online marketplace!
One distro store opened, then another. Also, since it’s an indie band, a lot of the merchandise was made with DIY methods; folks designed and printed their own t-shirts and stickers. This culture of being independent/indie helped the trend for distro here in Bandung grow naturally and organically. Those good at design started to design for bands and other indie movements. Those who worked in the printing industry began to receive orders from music bands, and the ones who managed distro stores didn’t have a lot of problems fulfilling their inventories and stock because they always knew someone who would love to have their products showcased in the stores. Everything went just as naturally as possible.
All in all, the distro has a specific meaning: As a store, a channel that distributes and supplies indie brands within the community. Usually, distro stores refuse to sell established big-name brands. This kind of community spirit started to take a stronghold outside Bandung: Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and even Malaysia, and Singapore. Even when the brands are starting to establish themselves, distro stores still carry the same spirit where it originates: Indie.
How about WADEZIG! brand?
WADEZIG! is not a distro store but a clothing brand. We started with two t-shirt designs (TWO!) and we produced each two dozen for each design, and… … … it was a failed start 😆
The printing quality was terrible, and the clothing material– I don’t even want to talk about it, hahah.
But it was alright! It was a learning point for us, and those shirts were sold at our friends’ distro stores. Our agreement basis is consignment: For every shirt that is sold, the store gets 15% consignment fee. Our shirts are visible and sold on distro stores, and the stores got the percentage fee: Everybody is happy.
Until now, WADEZIG! is still focusing on clothing and apparel. Where we started as a t-shirt only, we now have lines from top to toe — and we prefer to focus only on that area a.k.a. apparel. No intention to go to a completely different industry, such as coals and minings, nope.
Are there any product lines by WADEZIG! that becoming people’s favorite?
WADEZIG! started from graphic design community, so we always have been focusing on graphic t-shirts — and it’s still our top of the line, even up to now.
The t-shirts with the highest fanbase and have been around for the longest usually those with the, uhhh, weird visuals. I mean, even up to a point we produce them because we have to, not because we wanted to 😅 Case in point, a t-shirt with only a typography: JERUSALEM.
From what I see here, distro stores can be considered as local business, considering the vendors, suppliers, designers, and producers are all from Indonesia. How do you maintain your communities and customer base for the local apparel industry?
Yesss, the main spirit of distro stores and indie clothing brand like this is indie and local-based. Also yes, there are brands who imported their blank products from China and put the label here, but you get the gist: The brand is local.
Just like the “Go Local”/”Support Local”-movements in other countries, we are moving along with the spirit. This is a local brand! The tailor is a guy named Asep, who lives in Garut, West Java. The staff handling the printer is a guy named Sidik from Ciharugeulis. The materials are purchased from a wholesale center in Cigondewah. The brand owner is your local regular guy from Bandung! If you purchase from us and support our brand, you are helping people like Asep, Sidik, and people in Cigondewah to sustain and lead their lives. Meanwhile, buying Volcom or Quiksilver might only “help” some faceless millionaires enjoying their time surfing in Australia. Even before we talked about slow fashion, we had been into it for a long time: We only produced several dozen for each design and distributed it all over Indonesia. The indie brands’ scope in quantity is nothing compared to how vast ZARA and H&M are, and I said it in the best way possible and with my utmost respect.
There was even a time when these imported surfing brand stores had to close their stores in Bandung, thanks to this local clothing movement, haha. This made me feel that no matter how cliché it might sound, the spirit of “supporting your local brand” actually leaves an impression.
A lot of our customers were actually people within our circles, those same faces all over again, as we shared the same vision — but then, folks outside the circles started to get interested in this movement, and it’s such a welcoming situation.
Other than WADEZIG!, I noticed you have been really active in mural communities. This is something that is really new for me, and I’m curious: How do you join the community? And how does this community work/operate? How do you connect with others and fellow artists?
I need to correct you on this: I am specifically active on the street art community, and the mural is a part of this one big community as a form of street art other than graffiti, wheatpaste, and others 🙂
Just like I mentioned before, I have been active in the art and design forums and communities since the 2000s. Social media did not even exist at that time, so we all hung out in online forums or group chats. Within this design forum, I met friends with similar interests in street art, and from there, we created a new online forum for street art named Tembokbomber. Our idea was simple: We wanted Tembokbomber to be a safe space for everyone interested in street art, whether artists or the consumers. Street art tends to be “quickly forgotten” because it’s really easy to “go”/delete as it’s on the streets, and it can be wiped, erased, covered, or vandalized by others at any time, and one of our goals is to document the street artworks so people can enjoy it longer. Due to the open community, whoever had artwork they want to showcase, they can always send the documentations and the pictures to be posted on the blog or forum topic. Unfortunately, Tembokbomber forum and blog are no longer there–
Oh, boo!
😆 Also, I don’t think we are now using online forums as much as we did back then. However, many of its members are still actively contributing and working within the creative communities. Some of them even became full-time artists and made their names internationally. The community itself is still open based on friendship and shared interests. We don’t have legally and formally binding organization like IAI (Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia/Indonesian Institute of Architects) or ADGI (Asosiasi Desain Grafis Indonesia/Indonesian Association of Graphic Designers.) Street art itself is still considered in grey areas: Borderline legal and illegal. Even considering the artworks as “art” itself is still debatable.
Last question: Things might not be as… how it was, but even now, in 2024, there are still certain perceptions among older generations and our parents that working in the creative industry tends to be risky and less stable than with others. As you are a father of two AND someone working in the creative industry, what do you think and feel about it?
Ooooh. This reminds me.
I was in my first semester in college, and my major was Graphics Design. When I was home for a term break, my mom asked me:
“What was your major, the one you told me– I forgot…”
“It’s Graphics Design, mum.”
“I see. What are you doing with graphics design? Like, what are you working on?”
“Well, I design magazines. I can also design websites–“
I haven’t finished my explanation when my dad replied, “naaaah, there is no need for us to ask. We won’t understand this kind of line of work anyway.”
I guess the takeaways are: My parents never really restricted me on what majors or line of works I wanted to take. Even after finished a semester, they still asked me what I do because they never really went into micromanaging my education, hahah. Also, they understood that things change. New job opportunities are coming from new technology and developments, and those who used to be around might be irrelevant in, say, 1-2 years. For them (my parents,) their main focus was to trust me as their child to make my own path according to what life leads me. They knew that as parents, the main “task” was to support the children.
I’m part of the lucky bunch who had parents as chill and as supportive as they are — hence, watching MTV all day long 😆 — so I didn’t find myself affected by how most parents perceive the creative industry. For me, as a parent, each job and profession comes with its good and bad things, and for me, it depends on your interests and talents. Maaaaaybe the profession in graphics design will be extinct in 10-20 years, replaced by AI? Or, well, the professions and job opportunities for my kids are yet to be available now, but they will be later? So, yeah, for me, just let the kids choose and make their path.
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