The proverb “it takes a village” rings true for more things than just raising a child. In the case of Indonesia’s most sustainable fashion brand, SukkhaCitta, it is in the villages where real positive impact can be made. Here is how a ‘farm-to-closet’ philosophy changed fashion’s relationship with nature, culture and community.
The modern fashion industry is fast-paced: trends shift rapidly from one season to the next, the shelf lives of apparel moving as quickly as the industrial looms that work to keep the entire fashion machine revolving year on year. But the costs of this keeping-up-with-the-Joneses approach are finally catching on. The fashion industry is said to contribute between 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (UN, 2022), not to mention the towering piles of material waste, and millions of tons of discarded clothing that find themselves dumped at landfills. In Indonesia, many fabric makers remain blissfully unaware of the damage their synthetic dyes cause to rivers, soil health and ultimately the communities connected to them. The problems persist into society itself, with big fashion infamous for its chasm-level wage inequalities between producers and corporate profits.
Denica Riadini-Flesch saw these problems firsthand while working as a development economist for an international NGO. She witnessed how the women in Indonesia’s fabric industry were struggling to make ends meet, stuck in a cycle of poverty —true for 98% of women in the industry, she notes. Seeing how fashion had such a direct impact on the individuals and lives of people became a lightbulb moment for Denica, prompting her to take matters into her own hands.
This was the beginning of SukkhaCitta, a social enterprise, focused on providing new opportunities for those under the weight of fashion’s industrial burden. Her first initiative was in 2016, working directly with indigo dyeing artisans of Jelamprang Village, Central Java. Here she collaborated with the local craftswomen, finding ways to empower utilising the skills they already had. They were given education on how to improve the quality of their craft, to fully embrace their natural dyeing knowledge but do so using eco-friendly practices. Through this program, it became clear that developing capacity and standards at this level could lead to myriad benefits to both environment and community.
The indigo dyes were just the beginning. SukkhaCitta expanded from craft into fashion, but doing so with a strict business ethos: the brand would support craftspeople, it must protect the environment and also sustain Indonesian culture. This is summed up beautifully in the brand’s ‘Farm-to-Closet’ philosophy.
Cotton is at the heart of the fashion industry, so to ensure that this crucial material was not only readily available, but also harvested sustainably, SukkhaCitta focused their efforts on soil health and farming methods. These would be significant for the cotton as well as the plants used for natural dyes.
Collaborating with local farmers and residents, an indigenous regenerative farming method, tumpang sari, was revived. This encompasses a specific cropping pattern in which two or more types of plants are planted simultaneously on the same land. Crops are planted in rows and at regular distances. Intercropping has several advantages, including saving land, increasing farmer productivity and income, diversifying harvests, and reducing the risk of crop loss.
This farming initiative secures a regenerative economy for the communities. For the brand, working with nature and not simply exploiting it results in a wide net of indirect benefits, including improving soil health which makes the area resilient to both drought and erosion, the farms are also used to grow food crops, they have eliminated the use of chemicals which further improves community health and beyond all that, these agricultural methods aid in climate change mitigation.
“We empower seven villages to plant cotton spread across Ambarawa (Central Java), Tuban (East Java), Bali, Flores and Timor (East Nusa Tenggara),” explains Anastasia Andina Setiobudi, Co-Founder and Creative Director at SukkhaCitta. “Our fashion line depends on the cultivation of cotton, so we don’t follow seasonal trends, we follow the farming calendar in the villages, the cycles of nature and harvest. As such, a SukkhaCitta shirt takes about 180 days to make, starting from planting cotton, dyeing, weaving, designing and sewing.” This 6-month process can benefit up to 1,500 mothers, Anastasia shares further. These are the benefits of slow fashion.
To bolster their village initiatives, SukkhaCitta has developed focused programs, including Rumah SukkhaCitta, a training program for craftswomen, adapting to the skillsets of each village; they’ve fostered ‘Jawara Desa’, village champions, who are the bridge of communication between farmers, craftspeople and headquarters; Mama Tanah (soil mothers), focused on empowering women in remote areas with the equipment and knowhow to improve soil health and agriculture. The Mama Tanah program’s short-term target is to restore 1,000 hectares of degraded land by 2030.
These efforts have been internationally recognised. Most impressive has been SukkhaCitta’s achievement in becoming B Corp certified; one of the most difficult third-party certifications in transparency and ethical business practices. They are the first fashion brand in Indonesia to achieve this, and are also the first fashion brand in Asia to have a verified net zero target by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
“Our business must have an impact both upstream and downstream, so one of the keys to achieving this is through transparency. We explain and showcase the process of making SukkhaCitta products to our customers, from the beginning when we plant cotton, harvest it, make the cotton into a piece of cloth, weave it, to the seeds and fruits that we plant for natural dyes, we narrate the process to consumers,” explains Anastasia.
SukkhaCitta is still a fashion brand at the end of the day, and all of these initiatives are in vain if no one is interested in their product. So what is the approach to design and style for a brand independent of global fashion trends?
The key is to create something timeless, pieces that remain tasteful no matter the season. As such, the collections are clean and gentle, presenting an elegant aesthetic that compliments its artisanal roots. The understated qualities lie in the materials and details, everything made by hand, from the precise cut to fabric-covered buttons and hand-stitched buttonholes. One will find a range of tradition-rooted attire, with boldly embroidered kebaya, delicate handwoven raw cotton kain embellished with real batik tulis, and even a handsome beskap Javanese overcoat for men. Even in their more modern designs —dresses, blouses, blazers, chinos, etc.— one will notice a subtle homage to Indonesian motifs and patterns.
Sukacita is the Indonesian word for ‘joy’, and this is, at its heart, what the brand provides above all else. Joy to its wearers, who feel they are supporting craftspeople; joy to the producers who finally have control over their standard of living; joy to the farmers, who are once again aligned with nature’s ways.
You will find SukkhaCitta’s flagship store at ASHTA District 8. Don’t miss their RE ◇ GENERASI Exhibition at Plaza Indonesia (Level 3), available from 20 November to 18 May 2025. The exhibition displays the farm-to-closet philosophy, showcasing how regenerative agriculture, women’s empowerment and culture come together under the banner of sustainable fashion.
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