Every year, Galeries Lafayette holds a little fashion show called Fashion is You, but here’s the thing: it’s not a little fashion show per se. It touts itself as the largest fashion show featuring non-professional models. Basically, participants were invited to The original event in Paris remains, of course, the world record-breaker, but Jakarta didn’t do too bad when a total of 144 men, women, and one adorable wee child walked the red carpet in a pretty democratic display of fashion.
Contestants were split into three groups and tasked toembody specific fashion themes, namely Mixology, Smokey Rock, and Cocktail Time. Three winners were from each category were selected by a panel of judges, which included designer, Biyan Wanaatmadja, and Harper’s Bazaar Indonesia Editor-in-Chief, Ria Lirungan, and Cosmopolitan Indonesia Editor-in-Chief, Fira Basuki.
So a 165 meter-long red carpet was laid out for the 144 contestants to walk on, for their shot at winning prizes in cash and shopping sprees, but here was an even bigger prize on hand: one person was selected to fly to Paris for an exclusive shopping experience at the original Galeries Lafayette there. The winner, Michelle Jenifer Tupamahu wore a Cocktail Time-winning outfit that consisted of white sheer top and mini skirt, paired with a gem-encrusted rainbow necklace, a clutch bag from Givenchy, glittery pumps from Christian Louboutin.
In addition to the fashion on stage, even guests pulled all the stops to give the participants some competition. Overall, the hit-miss ration was about 50:50, but it was encouraging to see more people take risks — the men were especially noteworthy! — than remain conservative in their selection of outfits.
