Ghiosya Textiles and Embroidery

We make clothing from fabric that we hand-embroider using traditional Minangkabau embroidery styles, which are quite distinct from other Indonesian styles. Minangkabau embroidery is recognized throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East for its high quality and unique decorative artistry.

Our fabric is purchased from Jakarta and embroidered at home by local Minangkabau housewives who learned traditional embroidery from their grandmothers and aunts. Then local seamstresses make it into dresses, tunics, skirts, pants, shawls, scarves as well as men's shirts and children's outfits. Clothing styles include traditional Minang and Muslim dresses in addition to contemporary Indonesian and Western styles. We also make embroidered uniforms that employees of banks and other businesses as well as students in Indonesia wear on special occasions.

Photos of the embroidery and of the clothing are attached.

Currently we sell our prduct in our retail store in Bukittinggi, Indonesia, and we market at handicrafts and cultural exhibitions all over Indonesia sponsored by Indonesian businesswomen's organizations and private companies.

Since our market is currently all within Indonesia, our business has suffered recently due to the state of the Indonesia economy. We are looking to expand our market to beyond Indonesia, possibly selling at retail clothing stores and museum giftshops in America, since I have a sister who lives there. We are also considering selling online, by setting up an e-commerce website and/or using an existing site such as Ebay.

There are other similar businesses in the area. We are competetive with them both in cost and in quality. Because we buy fabric directly from Jakarta, we are able to reduce one of our major costs. The high skill level of our embroiderers and designers creates a product that is of exceptionally high quality.

The quality of the embroidery and design and the quality of the fabric

I have managed Ghiosya Textiles and Embroidery since 1999. I do the marketing for the company. I am also a skilled embroiderer in the Minangkabau style and an experienced clothing designer. I am a member of IWAPI, an Indonesian women's business association.
The business has been successful overall, but as a local retail business it has had it's ups and downs depending on the state of the Indonesian economy. I have learned from this that I need to expand my markets to other countries.

Ghiosya provides local housewives with a means to supplement their family income while working at home by doing embroidery and dressmaking work. It also helps preserve traditional Minangkabau culture by providing an outlet for traditional embroidery. Some of our embroiderers are young women who are learning traditional embroidery from older women, so our enterprise is helping to preserve an important part of our culture.

If we are able to expand to an international market for our products it would allow the business to expand significantly, thus providing more local Minangkabau women with a means of supplementing their family's income with a culturally significant activity. Developing international markets would also make the business less dependent on the state of the Indonesian economy, so that in difficult times, when the workers' need for supplemental income is greater, the business would be in a better position to provide them with opportunities for extra work.