Fashion designer, Emilio "Milo" Migliavacca, is a charismatically eclectic man of many words, and even more ideas. Ideas that reveal a unique and enlightening vision, a way of seeing that becomes apparent whether discussing his adopted Balinese culture, reinventing Batik design, orchid breeding, or longevity therapy. "I have the right to speak because I am a part of this country." Hello Bali gladly allowed him to exercise this right during an insightful interview and we were rewarded with a glimpse into Milo's world, in his own words. Interview by Suanda.

Bali and Before

In Italy, I studied Political Science and was supporting myself working for a very trendy shop in Milano when I was 19. I had no design background, only my creativity, but because fashion was where my soul was – colors, shapes, elegance, balance, etc. – I started to develop my work as a designer during university to the point where I didn't finish and became more involved with fashion, including designing for Fiorucci and Benetton.

I came to Bali 33 years ago in 1973 and this was when I discovered this amazing Indonesian talent for handicraft, which in those days, no one was really aware of. After Italy, I returned to Bali and I developed a small collection that I showed to my agent in The States and everyone freaked out over it because it was so revolutionary. It included the "rayon jersey," which I had invented. Rayon is an unstable fabric so I developed a process for creating the garment in white, then dyeing it, and then re-cutting it in order to stabilize the fabric. This became very big, especially in Italy and in the U.S. from 1975 onwards. I was also the first person to export items to Italy and the U.S. in 1975, which I was doing until 1993.

Batik Beginnings

In 1993, I shut down export distribution and opened up my first shop in Indonesia at the Aman Kila Resort. I also started doing silk batik at the time, but could not export the designs because it was too expensive and there wasn't enough awareness about Batik in the West then. Even today, my biggest Batik market is in Indonesia and Malaysia because they are able to appreciate it and afford it. The Batik I do is my own design with an Italian aesthetic using traditional techniques. Sometimes traditional Batik design can be too complicated, too busy, so I simplify the design and make it much more simple and often very dramatic, mostly in black and white. It is my signature look. Each piece is hand made individually and it takes between 2 –3 weeks for one person to complete one piece. I have also introduced a completely new and exclusive technique in which I Batik on finished garments which is even more difficult because there is no interruption in the design.

Black and White

Balinese people and culture attracted me tremendously when I first came here. What really interested me was the fact that somehow, through [the Balinese], I could learn how to be simple again. When I was in the West living in cities, there was nothing new for my soul and then when I came here, I noticed this balance between man and nature, man and the power behind nature. Man that can communicate with that power and plug into it. I was born in Milano, in a city, so I was detached from this law of nature and then when I came here, I reconnected with it. I became Balinese Hindu in 1982 after my brother married a Balinese girl and then 3 years ago I became an Indonesian citizen, which is very, very difficult to do. And so now, I have the right to speak because I am a part of this country, whereas before I could not.

The quality of people that have been coming to Bali has changed. Before, when people here it was because of an attraction to this mystery, this culture, this tradition and the relationship between natural and supernatural. Then after the country was opened to foreign investment in 1987, things changed. Bali became a bit like a second Ibiza – sex and drugs and rock n' roll. This is fine, but it began to attract a different type of tourist that was not interested in Bali for what it offered, but as a tropical place where they could do whatever they wanted at a very cheap price. So this is when it began to degenerate. But this idea is only limited to the small areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak. If you drive out of these areas, Bali is exactly the same as it was in the past.

The black and white checkered cloth that you see everywhere in Bali represents duality, the balance of the opposites. You can choose to belong to the "white army" or the "black army," but both are needed to reach balance because there is no light without darkness. There is no need to pretend that we are not only "white" or not only "black" because we are both. This story of action and reaction, first bomb and second bomb is, as I see it, part of the plan. I almost see the second bomb as the island "protecting" herself against this invasion of people who just want to take and take and don't see.

I believe that Bali will be Bali forever. It is very strong in the hearts of the people here. And if you plug into [this power], it's amazing how it responds to you. If you give good, it comes back, and if you are cheating….ahhh. This law of Karma here does still work and it rules everything. Because [the Balinese] give so much energy to Bali together through rituals and ceremonies, it gives the island so much power. I was born Catholic and one of the things they taught me when I was young was to not do to others what you would not want done to you. So in Bali it is the same idea expressed in another form – Karma.

Flowers And The Future

I have been growing orchids since 1980 and now I breed orchids, I design new flowers through hybridization. The garden if full of seed pods and I also have a lab in the house where we do propagation as well as an orchid farm in North Bali. I put a lot of my creativity in breeding. It actually takes away the stress from the fashion business, which is not an easy business nowadays. I also have a project in the north of the island where I want to create a well-being clinic, not a spa, by 2007 for older people because I am interested in longevity. Until you are 50 years old, you are experimenting so by the time you get to be that age, you already know who you are, what you want, what your limits are. The only thing that is a pain in the ass is to be sick. So if you can grow older and still be healthy and also have the experience and the knowledge from your life then you can help. What do I think about cloning? I would love to clone myself!

Milo’s
Kuta Square Block E1 – 1A Kuta – Bali
Also available at Made’s Warungs
Phone: (+62) 361-754-081