During my stay in Germany I enjoyed so many activities and made a lot of new friends, Alhamdulillah. One of my new Indonesian friends in Berlin is named Lina Berlina (LB), and she is a senior fashion designer in this country. I know Berlina from a chat with Vivi, one of my best friend in Jeddah. She met her when she visited Amsterdam a long time ago and at that time Berlina, her full name is Lina Berlina Reichl, was having a fashion show in Amsterdam.
If you want to know more about her, you can find her on Facebook at Lina Berlina on her website at www.linaberlina.de
Berlina was born in Bandung in October 1959 and has been living in Berlin since she married in 1993. She has two beautiful daughters, Stephanie Soraya (20) and Coelina Tiffannie (18). She had never dreamed of staying in Berlin but with prayer and blessings from her parents, who named her Lina Berlina, she felt as if it was her destiny to be successful in Berlin, Masha Allah.
She started her journey towards success in 1992 when she held a fashion show event at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. At that time there was an Indonesian cultural program in cooperation with the Indonesian embassy in Berlin and Berlina said, “At the fashion show, I only used my collection with Batik, no Lurik yet, and I still lived in Bandung. I graduated from fashion design school in Bandung in 1989 so before going to Berlin I was active at fashion shows in Indonesia (Bandung, Jakarta and Bali). When I had become more familiar with the atmosphere of fashion in Berlin I started to use Lurik as the basis of my designs and that characterized me as a new designer in Berlin.”
As a fashion designer in Europe, she often arranges shows in Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, and Frankfurt and also in Paris, France. She has not forgotten her beloved homeland of Indonesia and she also often presents events in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali.
Berlina has said, “Since 2012 I’ve been in cooperation with the Hilton Hotel and, Alhamdulillah, I have already held 7 fashion shows in Germany during Berlin Fashion Week as well as in France.”
You can see Lina Berlina’s designs in the 1st floor window of the Hilton Hotel at Mohrenstr 30, 10117 Berlin. Besides this, she also offers online shopping on her website at www.linaberlina.de
Lina Berlina creates design for clothes, bags, scarves and shoes. Her basic design is an exploration of “Lurik” from Java, a traditional and indigenous cotton fabric that fell into oblivion for decades. The fashion is the basis for her motto “The Magic Stripes.”
Her collection is a beautiful matura confession, giving Lurik a new face and interweaving modern and traditional designs. I was fortunate to receive a special invitation from Lina Berlina to her fashion show during our chat on the phone. Invitations are usually charged 30 euro when held at the Hotel Hilton in Berlin so I was very grateful. The fashion show theme was Spring Summer with Magic Stripes.
This was the first time that I was invited to a fashion show in a European country and I was concerned about finding an appropriate Islamic outfit. When I asked Berlina she informed me that the dress code was Abend garderobe which simply means evening dress and neat.
Alhamdulillah, with my Muslim dress from Albis Group I felt comfortable attending the event. Accompanied by my son, we finally arrived at the Hilton hotel at Mohrenstr 30. The environment was unusual for us but we entered the hotel lobby with confidence and wow!! There was a huge LB logo that we could see from the stairs!
We approached the reception area where women were dressed in typical Indonesian clothes and beside them stood the figure of a beautiful, petite woman wearing a stylish blend of Balinese and Javanese clothes. I was then very sure that she was Berlina. I was immediately greeted and it’s true that she is Berlina, Alhamdulillah: she looked very friendly and personally greeted each of the guests who attended her event.
While waiting for the show to start, my son and I walked around and became acquainted with some friends from Indonesia. I was especially glad to meet an Indonesian citizen called Mrs Nanny who had been living in Berlin for more than 40 years, Masha Allah. There were also some staff members from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.
The event started with a song from a foreign singer wearing one of Lina Berlina’s designs on the catwalk. She sang a few sensational songs and was followed by some dancers, who are students in Berlin, who danced Lenggang Nyai from Betawi and Tari Belibis from Bali.
After 30 minutes the models began to walk one by one down the stairs and presented the new Lina Berlina Spring Summer Collection with traditional hair styles and accessories to match the exotic theme. They were accompanied by the rhythmic song mixes of modern Balinese music. It is so nice.
Lina Berlina has a talent for combining traditional and modern elements and creates styles that are both Western and Traditional Indonesian. After starting her successful business, she then began adding elements of lace, ruffles and feathers to her designs. Although these designs are dedicated primarily to women, she does look for appropriate designs for men.
LB is still struggling to be recognized and accepted by the people in Europe, especially Germany, and Berlina therefore remains faithful to her basic designs with Lurik which has become something that she is identified by, and so as not to compete with other designers in European countries. Her mission is to make famous Indonesia’s production of Lurik and to provide exclusive quality, elegance and modern classic styles. As Lurik is most often a mix of natural earth colors of blue and black, this also makes her awesome design very visible, and the cuts paired with the strong colors looks luxuriously elegant on simple, subtle pieces. The designs are indeed a very beautiful blend of Indonesia and Europe!
Berlina worked on production at her home both in Indonesia and in Berlin and is working on her own not only as a designer but in the area of marketing as well.
At the end of our conversation Berlina said, “My intention is to be an ambassador for the nation with my work and to provide a touch of Indonesian culture.”
Keep the spirit Berlina…!
That’s what we can learn from Lina Berlina who loves her country and has been successful within highly developed countries.
