Since they are mounted on a train in Cirebon to Jakarta, two Dutch ladies by the names of Naomi Pescheux and Judith tried to decide on a name; a name later used for their thriving business. They landed on DUDUK as the name and brand of interior design they are proud of the house-make. DUDUK was not just about entrepreneurship of two creative and independent women; it was a spell of a new kind of colorful, comfortable range that has the potential to brighten up any home.
What started with a simple idea of creating furniture items for children flourished in a range of batik -inspired brand of furniture devices for children who are very practical for everyday use. DUDUK (or 'sit' in Indonesian) began with a few designs with the intention of creating something children can remain in or on. I sat down with the ladies to hear about their trip.
Tell us about the birth of DUDUK. Why did you decide to go in this company?
We were just two soon-to-be moms for the first time in Holland. We were again in Jakarta and we looked around for things like baby cribs, a park, pillows and all this for our baby room ready. Some things were still missing at the time, like a baby sleeping bag, which was available here, but can be very expensive.
Around the time when we are not as busy with babies more, as they have grown and we have gained more independence and free time to return to work, we were very keen to enter in some pretty creative thing we can flexible working from home. We traveled to the present pregnancy and evoked the need for products for affordable and stylish babies in Jakarta. It took a lot of courage, but we finally went for it and started to look for sample materials in Cirebon, sewn and completed our first finished product, and the line DUDUK was born. We have seen an increasing number of entrepreneurship at home in Jakarta also; we were motivated to establish for us. Jakarta is a good place for a start-up company like that, we believe, because you are in a luxury position where you have help with the children and the support of at least a salary, you have the freedom to explore your creative side.
What is the first thing you did?
We were playing with the idea of making a tipi tent as a playground for children. So, initially, there were three things that we have agreed to start with when DUDUK was first established; the triangular pillows, tipi tents and baby sleeping bags.
Naomi: There is no real division of labor. I suppose Judith is better with a sewing machine that I am.
Judith :. But Naomi is better to experiment
Naomi: I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so that when the ball started rolling on DUDUK I realized that I had in me, too, to make it job. But we both do creative design and business fabric together.
How did you sell the first finished product to the public?
We were invited to the open house of a friend, we sold products and the duduk there. It was just the kick we needed to speed in a quicker way to get everything ready. In this event, we saw that this could really work.
How DUDUK has progressed since?
He became very organic that we launched DUDUK. Once we started, we got a lot more ideas, now it is difficult to stop them from rolling. There is so much to work with here as well as rattan, which is used to manufacture the chairs we wear, bamboo we used in the construction of our tents tipis, etc. We created a lot of fun things to put around the house and they are well received by local costumers and even by tourists and expatriates who wish to bring something to Indonesia in their country.
Our products have started with things that children can sit in or on, so 'DUDUK', but we are expanding from there a little. We now batik purses, lamps, etc. Some customers asked us adult-sized items when they buy for their children; So we venture into the adult section now as well as matching mother-daughter scholarships.
What is the style of the brand DUDUK?
People started to recognize our modern batik motif signing now. Color combinations that we chose are very dynamic; it is suitable for the setting of a child. One of our customers called our style "chic Indo".
What elements have you in stock now? Which item is your best seller?
The best seller would probably tipi tents. We sell to Rp.1,200,000. They are great and dads like to read bedtime stories teepee on top of the carpet we sell separately. But our pillows are also a great success; people keep coming back to buy more of them. Pillows go to Rp.150,000 Rp.420,000. The small chairs also sell very well. We also have the fags (ranging from Rp.420,000 to Rp.540,000) and baby sleeping bags are great baby shower gifts.
Where are your products sold?
Our first retail spot will be Alun-Alun in Grand Indonesia Mall on February 7-21, 2014. This will be a show trial, and if we do, we have duduk in collection permanent, most likely to be sold to big Indonesia, Lippo Mall Kemang and Bali. We also hope to have a booth at the Trade Expo IFEX in March. Hopefully then we will have larger orders and have a greater presence in children's stores in Jakarta and Bali. We are very happy and hopeful because we had a good response to date.
What plans do you have for the future DUDUK?
Closeup. We would like to see the business growing, we'll start thinking about export; which is the next big step. We will also begin to design our own batik fabrics and it will be a turning point for DUDUK to become more "green". Initially, all tissues were from Cirebon, but now we have someone to do the batik materials; which allows us to have more control over production. The batik industry is actually one that produces much more pollution. We want to reduce this negative impact, as much as we can. We are currently in talks with someone from the Clean Batik Initiative - EcoBatik the line - to help make this possible. We also look for organic cotton suppliers. That's one of our ambitions; the more we grow unless we have a negative impact on the environment. Here's how we want to progress in the future.
exposure Catch DUDUK:
7-21 February 2014
Alun-Alun Indonesia
Grand Indonesia West Building
Jl MH Thamrin Kav.. 28-30
Central Jakarta
www.facebook.com/dudukshop Visit for details on DUDUK collection.