By Robin | December 11, 2018

Wall of Fades – A decade of work

Wall of Fades, the largest denim exhibition in south-east Asia, is celebrating their 10th anniversary. Investing for ten years resulted in an active and dedicated community, willing to wear heavyweight denim in the hot and humid Indonesian climate. On this rare occasion, Ruedi Karrer a.k.a. @swissjeansfreak, and I, Robin, flew all the way to Jakarta to join in the festivities. Although I was trying to join the celebration in my 16 oz. pair of jeans, I changed it into a worn-in pair of 14 oz. jeans as soon as I set foot on Indonesian soil. Let’s keep it on habituation…

 

Wall of FadesPhoto courtesy of @bhismadiandra

 

A decade of work

Ten years ago, Darahkubiru, thé Indonesian denim community, brought to life the idea of a denim exhibition in Jakarta. Back then, it was a visionary idea, because denim wasn’t that popular in Indonesia. The timing proved to be perfect because, alongside the growth of Wall of Fades, many denim start-ups from Indonesia started to grow in popularity. By focusing on popular forums like Mynudie’s and Superfuture, and later Instagram, people got infected with the denim virus that came over from Europe and Japan. Now, ten years later, Indonesia is counting many local denim brands that became known for their heavyweight fabrics and extraordinary fades.

Since I’ve already met many denim heads from Indonesia during previous trips, I knew I could expect a huge gathering. Well, Wall of Fades 2018 was way beyond…

 

Wall of FadesPhoto courtesy of @bhismadiandra

 

Wall of Fades

On Thursday, November 29th, Ruedi Karrer and I kicked off the event for special invitees. The kick-off, a short introduction and a welcome to all denim heads, was the start of an unforgettable event, visited by more than 31.000 (!!) fans. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Wall of Fades opened its doors for all people, and many local brands were introducing their latest collections to the A-MA-ZING crowd. In addition to the brands selling their goods, there were many activities, like talk shows and workshops.

On Saturday, Ruedi and I hosted a Q&A, to give people the opportunity to get to know us better. After the Q&A people had the change to take a photo together and to get our signature, and I am pretty sure we have been on pictures with at least thousand fans.. it was just absolutely overwhelming.

 

Wall Of FadesPhoto courtesy of @bhismadiandra

 

Ruedi Karrer a.k.a. @swissjeansfreak about Wall of Fades

We asked the Swiss Jeansfreak a.k.a. Jeansus, a.k.a. Ruedi Karrer to share a few words about his experiences at Wall of Fades and the Indonesian denim scene, and he answered as follows:

Ruedi Karrer: What an incredible new raw denim hotspot started ten years ago in the most unlikely hottest tropical area of the world: Yeah right, it‘s Indonesia with it‘s all year round hot and humid tropical climate. Back in 2008, Darahkubiru and Wall of Fades started in an incredible enthusiastic way against all the odds including fighting hard to beat the heat. All people that were involved in the start were around 20 years young, and until now, almost all members of the raw denim community are still under 30 years old. Their dedication, enthusiasm, and motivation to beat the tropical heat is making the Indonesian raw denim community unique! Besides, I don‘t know another area in the world with such a strong relationship to their local brands like for example; Oldblue co, Sage, Nobrandedon, and many more mostly concentrated in Jakarta and Bandung.

Two other specific topics make the raw denim scene in Indonesia even crazier: They‘re interested in heavyweight denim, usually 21 oz. or higher, to get the craziest tropical sweat fades out of them. And, all raw denim brands, the Wall of Fade exhibition and denim heads are focussed on raw denim only. Just pure heavyweight raw denim at it‘s best, thirsty waiting to receive their tropical sweat fades and letting them turn in to hardcore denim evo results and amazing fast-growing patina in no time. The people are so passionate about raw denim that some of them are even wearing their heavyweights under their school uniform. And you can feel their blue raw denim fire burning hard in their veins when talking with them. We had such an overwhelming time during our WOF visit. Feeling the Indonesian raw denim vibes so strong that it was tough for us to leave Indonesia again, and, as a matter of fact, I had to cry.Indonesia is just at the point now ten years later, to become a new raw denim area beside Japan, Europe, and the USA.

 

Wall Of FadesPhoto courtesy of @bhismadiandra

 

We wish this still very young and dynamic denim place all the best success with ongoing improving raw denim products proudly staying for an independent new raw denim label called “Raw denim made in Indonesia“. We think it‘s the time now, where Indonesia doesn‘t have to hide behind the other big raw denim regions anymore. So let‘s say: “Indonesia stay raw!!!“. Pure, authentic raw denim love was around every corner. We never saw such a strong raw denim community before, and we want to come back as soon as possible!!

We are Darahkubiru and Wall of Fades extremely grateful for the opportunity to join in the 10th-anniversary celebration. We had a great time at Wall of Fades, meetings with brands, and parties with the denim heads. We had a fantastic time, so: Wall of Fades, see you next time!