Have you ever thought that behind an item you wear, there are many touching stories hidden?
Stories about struggle, about hard work, about passion. Dita W. Yolashasanti, one of the country's illustrators who currently lives in New York, etches her work on a scarf and shares her process and success story with the products she offers.
He presented this story as the additional value that buyers get when they choose Dita products. How did Ditut manage to find his passion in the field of illustration, then combine it with fashion? Read the full story in this KARENA.ID article!
Optimizing the Time You Have
Before going to bed, Dita, or as she is known as Ditut, often thinks back to everything she did throughout the day. For Ditut, the time he has must be used optimally. Ditut didn't want to waste his time in vain. Therefore, one way to use your time is to learn new things, with the aim of increasing your skills.
Starting his career as a food photographer, Ditut also sold shoes when he was a student at FISIP UI majoring in anthropology. Apart from that, Ditut also served as a script writer on radio after graduating, as a cake decorator, as a producer on a private TV station in Indonesia, and as an illustrator and businessman when he arrived in America. Currently, living in New York, Ditut runs a business called Ditut's Scarf in Indonesia, assisted by his younger brother who plays the role of manager.
For Ditut, the more things we try to learn, the closer we are to understanding what we like and don't like. Things that the Ditut is not interested in now, he might be interested in in the next 10 years. So for Ditut, his decision to try everything was never in vain.
“The more things we try to learn, the closer we get to understanding what we like and don't like.”
Experiment and Explore
Ditut's father was a painter, so he was not familiar with drawing tools. He even grew up with these tools. So when Ditut had just arrived in America, while waiting for the equipment for his food photography to arrive from Kuwait, where he previously lived, there was a long pause so that Ditut returned to his old hobby, namely making illustrations.
Before moving to New York, several of his old friends contacted Ditut to have drawings made for their needs. Then there was a local Malaysian businessman who also asked him to make a design. The first big brand to be interested in his illustrations was KEEN, an American shoe brand.
Ditut also offers its illustration services in package form; free illustration package and repeat pattern illustration package. The free illustration package is for illustrations that can only be applied to objects with certain materials and sizes, and cannot be transferred to other media. Meanwhile, the repeat pattern illustration package allows clients to use the same illustration in several mediums at once.
From there, Ditut then focused his attention on illustration and design, until he opened his own business line, namely scarves which he completed with illustrations he made under the name Ditut's Scarf.
Did Ditut immediately succeed in producing stunning illustrations? Of course not. In the early days of his career as an illustrator, Ditut often received comments such as that some body parts were not precise or had odd shapes. However, Ditut did not necessarily let comments like that dampen hope, let alone make him stop studying.
As time went by, Ditut felt a development in the works he created. From there Ditut then learned to appreciate a process. Because without a process, Ditut believes we will never be able to progress.
Ditut then transferred the illustration he made to a scarf. When uploaded to Instagram, unexpectedly, the response was amazing. In an instant, Ditut and his sister were flooded with orders for scarves which even disrupted their Whatsapp application. They immediately carried out a test print, then carried out large-scale production and then arrived at the final process, namely distribution.
Ditut saw that the cost of producing scarves in America was very high, coupled with the unsatisfactory quality, which made him confident to run his business in Indonesia. Even if you get orders in America, Ditut usually only accepts orders for certain events. To be able to market his scarf production in Indonesia to America, Ditut admitted that he encountered problems in shipping.
Now, three years later, Ditut routinely releases three collections in three months. Apart from scarves, Ditut has also explored other media, from totebags, pouches, to clutches.
Pursuing his hobby of making illustrations, led Ditut to the scarf business.
Dream of making many people happy
Does someone as strong-willed as Ditut have big plans for his business? The answer is no. Instead of planning something big, Ditut chooses to go with the flow of his business, enjoying every small process that makes him grow together with his customers. Together with them, Ditut formed a community, Ditut shared tutorials on how to use a scarf, and even revealed the steps he takes in running the business he is currently involved in. It could be said that this is not a common choice, because usually companies cover up the processes behind production, while Ditut actually shares it.
So, how does Ditut define success? It turns out the answer is seeing his customers happy. Not only are they happy when they buy the product, but when they are involved in the value that Ditut tries to convey through the personal stories he inserts in his product. The kind of relationship that Ditut encountered was very intimate and also made him feel successful in running his business.
For young people who are interested in Ditut's journey in running a business, Ditut suggests focusing our full attention on things that interest us. Don't half-ass it. Ditut said that he also left behind several things he loved, so he could focus on making illustrations and scarves.
Once again, Ditut reminded us not to regret what we have learned, but it has not given us any benefits. Because everything Ditut had studied was likened to a library; someday he can observe again. Once you learn something, it can never be lost.
What do you think you want to learn right now? Whatever it is, study it wholeheartedly and don't do it half-heartedly, okay? One day you will find your passion.