DALAM SEBULAN Kalyana hanya menawarkan 20 unit tas wanita ke pasaran. Sengaja produk dengan slogan The Indo- nesian Heritage ini tidak dibuat dalam jumlah besar. Di samping belum banyak yang tahu, sehing- ga kesan eksklusifnya makin kuat, harganya juga lumayan wah.
Catat saja, tas The Ashadewi dibanderol Rp 4.250.000, Afreen White and Black Rp 1.550.000, sementara Ambrose Python mo- tif seharga Rp 3.199.000. “Kami juga menjual dompet, harga- nya di kisaran Rp 750 ribu,” kata Iqbal Narendra W, owner
Kalyana. Menilik harganya, bisa ditebak Kalyana menyasar kala- ngan menengah ke atas.
Karena itu sengaja Iqbal tidak membuka toko atau outlet. Pemasaran lebih banyak dilaku- kan dari pameran ke pameran, baik dalam negeri maupun luar negeri. Setidaknya sudah delapan kali Kalyana mengikuti pameran di mancanegara, antara lain Jepang, Australia, dan AS. “Kalau di AS rutin kami lakukan sejak 2012. Sedangkan Australia kami lirik karena dekat, daya be- linya tinggi, dan ongkos kirimnya tidak mahal,” tambahnya.
Kini Iqbal lebih fokus me- masarkan barangnya di dunia maya, baik lewat website, face- book, maupun iklan berbayar di
Google. Partisipasi di pameran pun dikurangi, paling tidak
WITHIN A MONTH, Kalyana only offers 20 woman’s bag to the market. Deliberately, the products with ‘The Indonesian Heritage’ slogan are not made in large quantities. It may make stronger exclusive impression, and quite higher price.
The Ashadewi bag is tagged Rp 4.25 million, Afreen White and Black is Rp 1.55 million, and Ambrose Python is worth USD 3.199 million. “We also sell wallet, about Rp 750 thou- sand,” said Iqbal Narendra W, the owner of Kalyana. Given the price, it is predictable that Kalyana’s targeting the upper middle class.
Therefore, Iqbal deliberately does not open physical store or outlet. He markets his products mostly at exhibition in Indonesia and abroad. At least, Kalyana participates eight times in exhibitions abroad, including in Japan, Australia, and US. “At the US, I routinely participate since 2012. Today, I look at Australia. It is closer to Indonesia geographi- cally, has high purchasing power, and the shipping costs are not expensive,” he added.
Nowadays, Iqbal is focusing on cyber-marketing, using web- site, Facebook, as well as paid advertisements on Google. He reduces his participation in exhi- bition; only once or twice a year.
setahun cuma sekali atau dua kali. Lulusan Teknik Komputer ITS Surabaya ini menyadari orang sekarang tidak punya banyak waktu untuk berbelanja. “Belanja online lebih praktis, tinggal pesan nanti barang dikirim,” ujarnya.
Dari penampakannya, kesan yang tertangkap dari tas Kalyana adalah elegan serta mewah. Iqbal tak mau kompromi soal bahan,
harus kulit sapi atau domba grade A. Kulit itu lantas digrair de-
ngan motif batik kawung atau parang, sebelum dibentuk menjadi tas atau dompet. “Itu prosesnya tidak murah dan makan waktu. Desain dibuat oleh istri saya, nanti ada anak lulusan desain produk yang menyempurnakannya,” ungkap dia.
Untuk menjahit digunakan benang dari AS, sedangkan catnya dibeli dari Italia. Karena itu, menurut Iqbal, tas Kalyana dijamin lebih unggul dibanding produk lokal lainnya. Bisa saja desainnya sama, tapi detail motifnya beda jauh. “Kulit itu ada yang perlu ditipiskan, ada yang tidak. Cara melipatnya juga beda-beda. Se- bagian besar perajin belum melakukan itu, karena lebih rumit dan panjang. Makanya, kalau orang lain bikin tas serupa sehari bisa dua, saya mungkin dua hari cuma satu,” terang dia.
Igbal, who got degree from Computer Engineering, ITS Surabaya, realizes that people today do not have much time to shop. “Shop- ping online is more practical. People just send me a messages, I send my bag then. Simple,” he said.
Kalyana’s bag looks elegant and luxurious. Iqbal makes no compromise on raw materials; must be high quality of cow or sheep leather. The leather must be engraved with batik motif of kawung or parang, then formed into a bag, purse or wallet. “The process is expensive and time-consuming. The design is made by my wife. Then, two product design graduate assist me to reine the product,” he said.
To sew the leather, he uses imported yarn from the US. For color, he uses Italian paints. Therefore, according to Iqbal,
Kalyana’s bag is guaranteed to be superior to other local products. There could be the same design, but he guarantees his product has very different motif detail. “There is a lot of kind of leather with special treatment. Some leather needs to be thinned, other does not. Ways to fold the leather are also varies. Most of the artisans have not done that, because it is more complicated and lengthy. So, if other producers can make two similar bag in a day,
I probably only make a bag in two days,” he explained.
No wonder that many of Kalyana’s bag are worn by upper classes, includ- ing the wife of Indonesian Ambas- sador to Australia, Mrs Nino Riphat Kesoema. Mrs Nino was captivated when Kalyana participated in an exhi- bition in Australia.
Iqbal said, the bag manufacturing business with Rp 40 per month turno- ver is originally from Maulina’s hobby collecting bag as a teenager. Not only collecting, the woman who gives Iqbal a child also has high business sense.
Since 2005, after inishing col- lege at Airlangga University, Maulina bought wholesale bags from China and sold to other mommies who were waiting for their children at schools. Feeling already have own market, ive years later they decided to make their own bags with Kalyana labels. Alas, unexpectedly their product did not sell well.
“My wife used to sell China bags without brand or faked brand. It turns out that faked bag market can’t be replaced with local bag. Inevitably, we have to open new market by par- ticipating in various exhibitions,” said Iqbal who won Business Excellence Award 2012 in Gold Coast, Australia, for start-ups business category.
In 2013, because of dificulty selling the product and paying ar- tisans who worked Kalyana bag, Iqbal established a new company named Pramasew. “So, it can be said that Kalyana doesn’t have manpower. Kalyana bag was produced by Pramasew, and Pra- masew also took order from other business,” said Iqbal who takes full control of Pramasew, while Maulina manages Kalyana.
Tak heran bila tas Kalyana banyak dipakai kalangan atas, salah satunya istri Dubes Indonesia untuk Australia, Ny Nino Riphat Kesoema. Nino terpi- kat saat Kalyana mengikuti pameran di Negeri Kanguru. Iqbal berkisah, usaha pembuatan tas yang kini beromzet Rp 40 per bulan itu bermula dari kesukaan istrinya, Maulina, mengoleksi tas sejak remaja.
Tak cuma mengoleksi, rupanya perempuan yang telah memberinya satu anak itu punya naluri bisnis tinggi. Sejak 2005, setelah menamatkan kuliah di Unair, Surabaya, Maulina kula- kan tas dari China dan dijual ke ibu-ibu yang tengah menunggui anaknya di sekolah-sekolah. Merasa sudah memi- liki pasar, lima tahun kemudian mereka putuskan membuat tas sendiri dengan label Kalyana. Di luar dugaan, produk itu tidak laku.
“Istri saya dulu jualan tas China tanpa merek, sampai tas yang merek- nya palsu. Ternyata pasar tas palsu itu tidak bisa diisi dengan tas lokal. Mau tidak mau kami harus buka pasar baru dengan cara mengikuti berbagai pameran,” papar peraih penghargaan
Business Excellence Award 2012 di Gold Coast, Australia, kategori busi- ness start up ini.
Tahun 2013, karena kesulitan menjual produk dan membayar perajin luar yang mengerjakan tas Kalyana, Iqbal mendirikan perusahaan baru bernama Pramasew. “Jadi, bisa dikata Kalyana itu tidak mempunyai tenaga kerja. Karena sepatu Kalyana digarap oleh Pramasew, tapi kami juga mengerjakan order dari luar,” jelas Iqbal yang memegang kendali penuh Pramasew, sementara Kalyana dikelola oleh Maulina.