This article examines the themes and creative processes underlying TOTON 2025, a collection from the Indonesian fashion label TOTON. Unveiled on 27 October 2024 during the seventeenth iteration of Jakarta Fashion Week, the collection was presented as an immersive exhibition at the InterContinental Pondok Indah, marking a significant shift from the brand’s customary runway format. Developed amid heightened political instability, environmental challenges and global conflict, TOTON 2025 reflects the ways in which fashion can respond to sociopolitical conditions and articulate emotional and affective concerns. To contextualize the collection’s conceptual framework, the essay incorporates an interview with TOTON’s founder and designer, Toton Januar. The discussion foregrounds the principles that inform his practice, including his engagement with sustainability, cultural heritage and collaboration, particularly through the exhibition realized with the creative collective PEARS. Founded in 2012 by Januar and his partner, Haryo Balitar, TOTON has become recognized for its contemporary reinterpretations of Indonesian material and craft traditions. TOTON 2025 extends this trajectory by integrating local craftsmanship with ready-to-wear design while addressing broader social and cultural questions related to identity, resilience and shared human experience.
Sharrona Valezka (Wed,) studied this question.