TOTON is an Indonesian womenswear fashion brand based in Jakarta, established in 2012. The brand offers a unique take on women’s fashion by projecting new ideas on present women with strength and individuality. Loosely cut and structural forms with a traditional articulation projecting more character than body become the epitome of the brand.

Designer, Toton Januar, was born in Makassar where his early exposure to fashion developed from being raised by a seamstress single mother. He obtained his master’s degree in Media Broadcasting at University of Indonesia while working as a designer alongside a prominent Indonesian fashion designer in Jakarta. He later moved to New York, studying at the prestigious Parsons New School of Design, to embrace a new sensitivity to his fashion concern. His identity as an Indonesian was affirmed after being years abroad.

In his past collection Toton explored his Javanese descent by incorporating the geometrical “luric” woven fabrics from Yogyakarta, a fabric known for its striped patterns on canvas worn mostly by the Javanese men. He explores the spiritual aspect of Indonesia – to capture both the pious customs of traditional society and the habits of those living in an urban and modern setting. Long dress and coats became the embodiment of a pilgrimage costume of the modern woman. The details are decorated with beads, and embroideries, and gigantic forms of tassel as an association to the rosary often used in different religions as a praying tool. Indonesian patterns are also consolidated in the collection with the usage of the geometric batik print variation from Central Java.