VISITING FABRIC INDUSTRY
CENTER IN MOJOLABAN

We often see portraits of drying beach cloths at the Coastal Fabric Industry Center in Laban Village, Sukoharjo from social media and google. There are also many fellow photographers out there who use this moment as a photo contest material. Especially if the contested theme is travel and the beauty of Indonesia. I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit the village in early October 2020. Departing at eight in the morning from the Jebres area, it took me about a quarter of an hour to arrive there.

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As soon as I arrived, I met several residents who apparently had started working on processing dozens of white fabric into ready-to-sew cloth. The process turned out to be quite long, starting from coloring, screen printing, washing, to drying the fabric. They take about five to six hours to complete them all.

 

The most eye-catching activity is of course the drying process. The 25-30 meter long cloth that had previously been dyed was then spread on the edge of the Solo River. The different motifs make the river embankments look even more striking. In a day, the residents of this village can produce about a thousand meters of beach cloth. The amount can turn out to be less, especially during the rainy season because the drying process requires sufficient sunlight. The market share of this fabric has reached overseas, and has even been included in one of the foreign fashion exhibitions in Guadalajara, Mexico two years ago.

 

More than that, the industry is quite unique to me. The idea to produce beach cloth in areas that are even far from the coast is not bad, it has even proven brilliant. Producers in this village are also not new players. The average factory has been in business for a decade. Hats off to the residents there who were able to see the opportunity.