Studio Sejauh: Honoring the Craft of CraftDenim.id

Amid climate disruption and increasingly fragile global production systems, the need to understand where our clothing comes from has become urgent. Over eleven years of Sejauh Mata Memandang, we learned that creating a textile label alone is not enough. Caring for the earth requires shared spaces where knowledge, hands, and lived experience can meet.

From this awareness, Studio Sejauh was founded in August 2024. This collaborative space brings together farmers, artisans, and communities to nurture Indonesia’s textile sovereignty through circular practices that stay close to nature. To understand this sovereignty in practice, we look to one of our collaborators: CraftDenim.id.

A Legacy of Independence

This achievement led him to study textile techniques across the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States. He returned to train five villages in the art of weaving and pioneered the repurposing of materials, even producing fabric from newspaper scraps and pineapple leaf fibers. He passed down values of discipline and self-reliance that remain at the heart of CraftDenim.id today. These values are now carried forward by R. Asyfa Fuadi, known to us as Mas Asyfa, who continues this family legacy.

Innovation Through Tradition

In the early 2000s, as factory textiles and cheap imports threatened traditional weaving, many viewed the craft as outdated. However, Mas Asyfa and his team chose to integrate weaving into modern life. They produce denim, canvas, and shirting fabrics using handlooms rather than machines. With a background in textile engineering, Mas Asyfa innovates fabric construction while staying true to the techniques inherited from his father and grandfather.

Circularity for Our Rivers

For CraftDenim.id, responsibility is a practical action. They consistently use plant based dyes, such as indigo, out of a deep care for the rivers of Pekalongan. Their workshop operates a wastewater treatment system that allows most of the water used in production to be reused. Any solid residue is managed safely through partnerships with licensed waste processors.

This commitment to the environment is why they are a vital part of the Studio Sejauh ecosystem. Their work contributes to our circular collections, such as #SejauhBaur and #SejauhTarum, which transforms repurposed textiles into timeless pieces.