Diana Rikasari

J’Aime l’Autisme
Spring/Summer 2020 Collection
“As a mother of an autistic son, I struggle in explaining to other people how complicated and delicate life has become for me and for our family. Our son is the most special in our little world, but within our world, he holds a world of his own too, maybe smaller, but possibly even bigger than ours. We don’t know. I guess I will never know myself. But every day I learn to understand his world a little, inch by inch, second after second. I am learning to see how he views the world surrounding his little bubble, understanding why he does the things he do, and why he doesn’t do the things we usually do.
I had an epiphany that answered the many questions inside my head. I have always been thinking to myself, “what is the best way to express this situation of ours, of mine, just to shed some light to others of what autism is, what we go through, and what he goes through?”. And so it became a mission of mine to explain to the world about all these meaningful experiences we are going through, through fashion.
“J’Aime l’Autisme” is a tribute to my son, and my debut in raising awareness about autism in an open, accessible and positive way. It’s not that complicated, really. It’s just a feeling that is rather deep, but bearable, and shareable.”
– Diana Rikasari
About the collection
“J’Aime l’Autisme” is Diana Rikasari’s personal interpretation of how autism feels to autistic people themselves – how raw and fragile their feelings are when having to face the world, how much trapped they feel in their body and mind struggling to communicate their feelings to other people, and yet, they are the brightest, most honest, genuine and loving people you will ever meet.
All these are represented by the use of sheer and textured fabrics that are developed into simple yet strong silhouttes, also utilizing iconic elements that are constructed in a playful manner.
About the designer
Diana Rikasari is a fashion designer from Indonesia – currently based in Switzerland – who is also a renown book author focusing on the topic of ‘mindfulness’. Her inspirations are derived from life and her surroundings where she tends to inject humor and wit in her deliverables to create a fun, memorable and most importantly, meaningful piece of work. Either through her fashion designs or writings, Diana always tries to embed a message hoping that they can move and inspire others to do good, feel good.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianarikasari/
Website: https://www.dianarikasari.com/
Sign up for early access to all things #VFW