Batik Rayon Caftan in Mint and Magenta from Bali, "Gingko Leaf"

“My name is Endah Purwanti and I was born in 1977 in Denpasar, the capital city of Bali, Indonesia. My father worked for the Indonesian government, and my mother was a stay-at-home mother who took care of me and my sibling. I am the firstborn of two children. I consider my childhood fun, because my house was located near a river and paddy field. Playing in a paddy field was really amazing when you are a child. And on Sunday usually my grandmother would sell vegetables and fruit in the nearest market. I used to go with my grandmother to help her.

“I started working at the age of 19 after I graduated from senior high school, in a boutique in Legian. Legian is a well-known spot for international tourists. There I learned how to speak English, when foreigners visited the boutique. That was fun for me; I met many foreigners with many different characteristics. There were humble, nice and friendly people whom I was always happy dealing with. But there were also rude and really unfriendly customers. And the best part is that I had to be friendly even to rude people, which taught me how to be humble person.

“Making batik is complicated for some people, but I found it interesting. I studied batik from the basics--how to make them, how to treat them and which motifs are best for clothing. My first design was a kimono. Starting from that time, I kept learning to make other clothing like tops, pants, dresses, etc. Trying new things is also one of my hobbies; maybe that is why I never stop learning. Reading books, magazines, and newspapers are the things I do in my spare time. Not just for entertainment, but also to look for new designs and watch today’s trends.

“Thank God I met a man that completely supports me and pushes me to work and to learn more things. That man is now my husband. There is one thing we do like doing together: taking care of cats. We have a lot of cats at our home; mostly we adopted them. It is fun and joyful for me having these cats; company that never lets us alone.

“Knowing my designs are worn by people and they seem to like them really makes me proud. From there I know that I need to keep learning to create new pretty designs and then produce them. Now I have met NOVICA, and I hope that NOVICA can help me develop my products. Thanks for letting me introduce my clothing to people around the world.”