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Three best friends built a brand upon their mutual love for minimalist resort and casual wear. In an industry where things are constantly evolving, Wearstatuquo maintains its own status quo.
Janet Prasetio, Vanessa and Denissa are three childhood friends who ventured to Australia together for their higher education. Janet studied graphic design, while Vanessa and Denissa focused on hospitality.
"[The idea came] because we all studied abroad in Australia, and when we returned to Indonesia, the style was nothing like [what we found in Australia]," said Denissa. "So we thought of making clothes in the style we wanted."
The three came up with a unique brand that seemingly has no common thread with the typical characteristics of the fashion industry: Wearstatuquo.
"It was derived from the phrase 'status quo'. If we look it up in the dictionary, status quo means stagnant. But we chose the name [because it symbolizes] something that will always be there. So our style will not go out of style; a style that people can always use again, anywhere, anytime," Vanessa explained.
The trio tweaked the phrase a bit to add a unique punch but they have stayed true to its ideology of staying relevant at all times.
"While we still make something that follows fashion trends, we also make sure our clothes are something we can continue to wear, even though maybe it's a collection bought three years ago."
Everlasting: The brand was inspired by the phrase, ‘status quo’: the style evolves, yet lasts forever. (Hypefast/Courtesy of Wearstatuquo) (Hypefast/Courtesy of Wearstatuquo)
Initial journey
The trio all held corporate jobs for a while, but they decided to focus on their own business. Launched in 2012, it originally introduced casual resort wear as its core style. However, the founders admitted that their personal styles might have a certain level of influence in the creative process.
"The three of us have different styles, so in every collection, there must be a distinctive style. One might be very Vanessa or very Denissa, but we are trying to find the common thread when making a collection," said Denissa. "In my opinion, Vanessa's style is more simple and elegant. Janet is more daring and quirky with colors and patterns. While for me, it's more feminine or sweet."
The brand used to rely solely on designers, but having self-awareness about their own idealistic natures, they ultimately went with a different approach.
"We used to [stick to what we like], but as time went by, we realized that the market doesn't always follow our ideals, so we also have to look at fashion trends," Denissa revealed. "We send our designs to be produced by a small-scale factory that one of our designers was familiar with."
Starting as a web-based store, the brand saw a certain level of success in a short period of time. It began to contract additional small factories due to new demand. However, the trio did not sit still when they ironically found a form of status quo in their business.
"We found ourselves in this industry for quite a while and wanted to go further. Ten years ago the local brand movement was not this big; when we launched, we got a lot of attention from many people who wanted to know about local brands. From there, the growth was organic," said Denissa. "There has been a massive growth in local brands."
The brand sought help and found Hypefast, an e-commerce aggregator. After a brief introduction, the brand officially joined the company in the hope of more engagements and growth.
"We joined Hypefast in our eighth year. The collaboration opened up our perspective as a brand, and the opportunities we didn't know existed," Denissa said.
Later, the brand collaborated with various fellow local brands, such as Nona, and international brands like Disney. It also took part in several trade shows abroad, with the Magic Fashion Trade Show on Feb. 14-16 at Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada, the United States, being the latest.
Business idea: After studying in Australia, the three childhood friends — Janet, Vanessa and Denissa — were inspired by the fashion style of the land down under. (Hypefast/Courtesy of Wearstatuquo) (Hypefast/Courtesy of Wearstatuquo)
Near future directions
The brand used to go with the flow, relying on the intuition of the three founders. Now, with more partners involved in the enterprise, the trio decided to tread in a more careful and structured fashion.
"When making a collection, we need to have a plan for the next six months. We read the trends in materials, colors and clothes in advance. We also have a production and designer team who meet with us every week to plan the collection every month," said Vanessa. "We are lucky because we always source our materials locally, so we weren't really affected by the supply chain crisis [caused by] this pandemic."
In addition to its timeless, slow-fashion style campaign and local manufacturing approach, Denissa revealed that the brand is currently developing a plan for sustainable fashion.
"We're interested, but the process is very elaborate, so we're still developing the plans."
In terms of market approach, the brand also takes a different path. It now focuses more on marketplaces instead of its own website. However, the founders do not want to limit the growth to only local audiences.
"We want to go international, of course. But first, I think our main target is Southeast Asia for now," Vanessa explained. "All cities have a different style. Even different parts of Jakarta have their own distinct style. The key here is to stay relevant and innovate, no matter where we're heading."
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