Sunglasses designer Suki Sukma works her passion around Mother Nature, writes Kerry-Ann Augustin
IT’S only a little past 5pm when a tint of pink gently washes over the island of Bali as the sun settles slowly into the horizon. Shadows of towering palm trees form distinctive lines across the manicured greens of the Morabito Art Villa. Owned and crafted by one of France’s most famous sons, Pascal Morabito, this luxurious estate is where Mastercard chose to host its travel summit and launch its Priceless Bali programme recently.
The programme for Mastercard cardholders which is specially curated for them to experience the uniqueness of the island, included an introduction of a few of Bali’s best vendors, from fashion to food. In a small corner of the villa’s sprawling garden, sits one of those vendors. With only a simple wooden L-shape panel and a small table, two young girls are busy picking out sunglasses for the throng of people who stand in front of them. The visitors at the booth are visibly a little excited, picking up these shades, looking in the mirror, smiling, nodding their heads and trying pair after pair.
“This one really goes with your hair colour,”a high-pitched voice directed at me, rises above the chatter of the crowd.
I turn around to find a pint-sized woman handing me a pair of light wooden-framed sunglasses. “Try this on, I think it suits you,” she adds with a grin, clutching my shoulders and turning me to the mirror on one of the panels. I didn’t have to second-guess her taste — it was after all Suki Sukma, the person behind SUKI and ECO EGO, the two brands that have found the perfect balance between style and sustainability on Bali’s shores.
WOODEN HEART
After only a few years in operation, SUKI and ECO EGO have garnered more than their fair share of fans, who have mostly heard of the products by word of mouth, even reaching the screens of the world renowned Cable News Network. While SUKI caters to eye-wear enthusiast, ECO EGO is a line of name card holders and iPhone cases. Both products are made entirely out of sustainable wood and bamboo, something Suki feels is a perfect fit for Balinese culture.
“A lot of people here appreciate eco - friendly products,” she says of her adopted home. “I launched it here because the value of something sustainable means something to them and the people who visit the island,” she notes, adding that it may have not worked out so well had she first launched it in Indonesia’s bustling capital, Jakarta.
“We only use plantation wood, which is a sustainable resource,” says Suki, as we leave the crowd for a quieter space amidst the red and white umbul-umbul flags which frame Morabito’s villa. She removes her own glasses, an oversized wooden rimmed round frame, reflecting her creative and playful nature. She explains in her heavy-accented Indonesian twang that every single piece made is handcrafted in Bali. “We get our wood from distributors in Indonesia and it’s very important to us that they are certified,” she shares.
SUKI’s brand manager, Olivia, who joins us on our little walk around the villa, chips in: “We love to recycle and re-use our materials and even the packaging for our products are biodegradable,” she says, observing that young people are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious. “It has become a trend in Bali which I think is fantastic!”
When Suki first started crafting shade s out of wood in 2010, there were only four other brands in the world doing the same. Suki’s, however, was the first on Indonesian soil. “Everything in Bali has wood and bamboo in it,” she says. “And the sunglasses are very much a part of that identity.”
ROOT Of IT ALL
Suki’s love for the natural material started as a child, growing up in the small village of Gersik in East Java, an hour away from the main town of Surabaya. Her mother died when she was born and her father took off without a trace, leaving her in the care of her grandparents. “We planted our own vegetables and rice,” she recalls of her childhood.
“And our house was surrounded by bamboo. In that sense, I grew up in a very sustainable environment. So the environment is a very big part of who I am,” she confides. “Oh and wood is also significant to me because that scent of wood takes me back to my childhood you know?”
For the woman who is no more than 152cm tall and is affectionately referred to as “minion” by her colleagues, Suki has the strength of a giant. In an interview with Indonesian online publication The Yak Mag, she reveals that her grandparents could no longer afford her, and sent her to live with her aunt who turned her to drugs. Suki opted for the more difficult choice — make her own money.
She found a job in a travel agency where she organized tours and logistics for tourist all over the Indonesian archipelago for four years. “That helped because I met a lot of people, made new friends and that fed the creative mind,” she says of her old job. “Then I fell in love with Bali. It’s like gado-gado. Different culture, different language, the community is so diverse. You learn more. The mentality here is different , in East Java its more closed minded. So in Bali, it’s like a window to learn because there’s an openness in general. ”
BALI HIGH
SUKI and ECO EGO are also clear by-products of her passion, creativity, tenacity and determination. “I tried for six months or more and failed. But I really wanted to do this,” she confides.
“I don’t have a background in fashion. So I asked around a lot — asked people in the field, in the industry of what they thought of my ideas. And many of them thought I was crazy!” she recalls. “I told them just let me just do it, just give me as much advice and I will use it on my ideas.”
Suki never shied away from asking questions and getting feedback, something she considers very important till this day. Over the years, she designed and carved everything by hand, one prototype at the time, flinging them into pools and leaving them under rain and shine to test the lightness and durability.
She admits, however, that during the early stages, she kept her ideas a secret from people who might shoot her down from thinking out of the box. “I didn’t want to feel discouraged. I mean, I have no education in fashion or marketing, so maybe they’ll be thinking who are you? Who is this small Indonesian person?” she says, chuckling.
GIFT OF LOVE
“I don’t want people to say hey, there’s Suki!” she confides. “It’s not what I want to be known for like that.” Olivia lets out a laugh and explains: “Yeah, sometimes I have to pretend to be Suki!”
Both Suki and Olivia light up when they talk about how sustainability goes beyond just the environmental sense. Olivia shares that through the sales of eye wear a few months back, they managed to raise funds for cornea operations for the interior folk. Suki and her small team of young, passionate people have also worked with The John Fawcett Foundation, ran charities for the Nepal earthquake and sent supplies and stationery to schools in Flores.
“I know what it’s like to have nothing. But with this success, the universe has given me too much,” she concludes, looking up as twilight starts to steal the skies. “We are creative, we are young. We make money now but we must never forget to give back. Now it’s time to give back.”