Jember, to A World-Class Fashion City

It was Sunday, early August 2009. The sun was fierce. But that didn’t forbid roughly 300,000 people witnessing. JFC (Jember Fashion Carnaval) fashion show. This was the eighth of JFC’s extraordinary carnivals. As usually, JFC is participated by hundreds; professionals and non professionals. It is colossal. But not only that. JFC doesn’t like an ordinary fashion show, the catwalk is about 3.6 kilometers long, from Panglima Sudirman street (Alun-Alun Jember) to Kaliwates Stadium.

The domestic tourists witnessed were really absorbed by this unique mobile fashion carnival. Some were foreigners who came to Jember, East Java, just for this fiesta.

In other hand, JFC team has held the shows abroad, e.g. Shanghai, Mumbai, and London. The messages are always universal. For instance, the theme of the year is World Unity. Unify the world, bring the peace up.

"In Brazil, you have the fashion festival in Rio de Janeiro. In Indonesia you will have the Jember Fashion Carnival," said Dynand Fariz, the President and founder of JFC. The idea of organizing the JFC itself came from the desire to make Jember first tourist destination of fashion.

According to this Paris’s ESMOD and Surabaya’s Unesa alumnus, the hardest thing was to convince the people that fashion can advance the city and its civilization. But it has started to change.

Thus, "I believe in future more foreign tourists will change their plan of visiting Bali and come to Jember, instead."

- Photo and video from JFC website