In the southern corner of Yogyakarta, about 25 minutes from the city center, stands a small adorable shop called Lemari Lila. Pable paid a visit and was welcomed by the warm and vibrant Lila Imelda Sari, the owner and designer of Lemari Lila. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the colorful clothes hanging in the shop, as if Lila Imelda Sari’s personality had been embodied in fabric. Lila sat with Pable, sharing her story while reminiscing about how Lemari Lila was developed.
Lila was born and raised in a very dynamic and diverse family. The law graduate chose to work on a film crew for director Mira Lesmana’s top production studio, Miles Film. Having spent some of her upbringing in Jakarta, she finally moved to Yogyakarta in 2007 after years of working in film production. Her hobbies, she recalls with a laugh, are cycling and hanging out in Beringharjo Market. She marveled at Yogyakarta’s culture, where the kebaya isn’t worn as special occasion attire like in other cities, but is part of everyday style. In 2010, Lila ventured out —based on her hobby and her lifelong exposure to the world of tailoring, inherited from her family— and opened Lemari Lila.
She intended Lemari Lila to be a small, closet-like label, embodying her personal taste. Lila started everything alone, with only a few assists from those closest to her. She handled everything from design, tailoring, and marketing herself. Initially, she sold through online marketplaces like Friendster and Facebook. Seeing the growing enthusiasm of buyers, in 2017, Lemari Lila opened its first physical store in Mantrijeron, Yogyakarta. Although Lila’s connections from her previous job in Jakarta significantly helped her business grow, it wasn’t without its challenges. When Covid-19 hit, they faced the difficult decision of relocating to Prawirotaman, which, while now a popular tourist destination, the pandemic left the entire business in a harsh situation. Eventually, Lemari Lila moved to Kasongan in 2024, now located just a stone’s throw from the famous pottery village of Kasongan, Bantul.
Lila created Lemari Lila with her vibrant and bold identity, and based her brand personality on the concept of traditional meets modern. Although selling various Indonesian textiles such as batik, tenun, lurik, and others, Lemari Lila does not follow the rules. Instead, Lemari Lila’s designs are rebellious and unique, challenging the way people look at wastra –traditional Indonesian textile. This also arose from Lila’s concern, about how people view traditional clothing –especially kebaya– as old-fashioned, outdated, worn only by Javanese people from a certain economic class, and even too formal. With these modern and eccentric designs, Lila wants to convey the message that textiles can keep up with the times. With hashtags like #KebayakanGayamu and #TraditionalMeetsModern, Lila labels her products as “funky kebaya”. The mascot icon, Mbok Jum –a Javanese woman wearing a kebaya whose pattern can be found in Lemari Lila’s designs– was also inspired by her conversations with women selling jamu gendong (traditional herbal drink) at Beringharjo Market. Lila’s warm spirit radiates through Lemari Lila.
