There’s some serious synergy between Indonesian traditional arts and modern superhero movies. Following the success of the ‘koko’ shirts inspired by King T’Challa’s clothing in the blockbuster Black Panther, an Indonesian clothing retailer has found viral fame thanks to his superhero-inspired batik designs, the latest of which include a slew of heroes from the recently released Avengers: Infinity War as well as the film’s main antagonist, the intergalactic warlord Thanos.
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Alfi Ridansyah, owner of online retailer Artlantis Store, assembled a collection of new designs to take advantage of Avengers fever (Infinity War just smashed the record for biggest global opening box office take ever with a staggering US$630 million) with a line-up of new intricate batik motif takes on the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther and Spider-Man (specifically based on the ‘Iron Spider’ suit that Peter Parker dons in the new film).
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It was a well-timed release, quickly earning him headlines from numerous media outlets.
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This is not Alfi’s first superheroic clothing line though – he’s also released original batik designs based on a slew of other comic book and anime characters.
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The 26-year-old, who is still in university, said he has been running his clothing business as a side project since 2011 but only found success after he started incorporating anime designs into his line-up. He says he sells several hundred shirts per month now and hopes to expand this business in the near future.
These shirts aren’t the first crossover between traditional Indonesian culture and Avengers: Infinity War. Indonesian artist Is Yuniarto recently delighted the superhero epic’s co-director, Joe Russo, and two of its many stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Karen Gillan by gifting them with wayang kulit (shadow puppet) versions of the film’s heroes at the Singapore premier event.
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