Auguste Soesastro

Early life and education

Soesastro was born in Jakarta on August 10, 1981. His father was Hadi Soesastro, a leading Indonesian economist.

Soesastro lived ten years in Canberra, Australia, where he originally moved in order to attend high school. On his father's recommendation, he studied architecture at the University of Sydney, and also attended the Australian National University where he gained a degree in film and digital arts. In addition to his studies, for his last year in Australia Soesastro worked at the National Gallery of Australia as a junior curator of Indonesian art, specialising in South-Eastern Asian textiles and ethnographic arts. Afterwards, he studied fashion design at the École de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne in Paris, then moved to New York to work as an assistant pattern-maker for Ralph Rucci for three months.

Career

In 2008 Soesastro launched his first fashion line in New York, a couture and bespoke brand titled Kraton (Indonesian for "palace"). He debuted at New York Fashion Week in 2009, and also presented a show in Jakarta in February 2009. After his father's death in 2010, Soesastro moved himself and his business to Jakarta. His ready-to-wear line Kromo, was launched in 2012.

Soesastro, along with Sebastian Gunawan and Priyo Otaviano, was invited to the Merdeka Palace to show some of his designs to the U.S. President Barack Obama and his First Lady during their state visit to Jakarta on 9 November 2010.

Soesastro has said that he considers himself a feminist as he is against objectification of women, and feels that clothes should be intellectual rather than revealing. His clothes are often neutral in colour and loosely fitted, as he says women 'need to move freely' and that comfort is important. He also describes himself as an environmentalist who insists on only using biodegradable natural textiles in his clothing, such as pineapple and water hyacinth cloths. He has said 'I think it’s very important to be an advocate of the environment because I think the way we live is not sustainable enough.' His designs prominently feature locally made Indonesian textiles, including batik shawls by Obin, fabrics handwoven in Banten and Pekalongan, West Sumatran songket, and tie-dyed textiles from Ayotupas, West Timor - the latter described by him as 'one of Indonesia’s upstream-downstream industries that we should really support.' He makes a point to keep up with his suppliers, checking that they observe the principles of fair trade and ecological sustainability, saying 'It’s important to make clothes with good karma, and good karma starts from the fibers.'