Rumah Kreatif Batik Stilir Jepara Products Penetrates the Global Market

Jepara - Rumah Kreatif Batik Stilir Jepara is not only a place for producing batik fabric but also a space for empowering housewives in Geneng Village, Batealit Subdistrict, Jepara Regency. From the simple terrace of April Puji Astuti’s (46) house, these signature Jepara batik products have now successfully entered foreign markets.

Three housewives and four teenagers can be seen diligently coloring batik patterns that have already been drawn on a piece of white fabric. While chatting, the plain white cloth gradually transforms into colorful batik according to customer orders.

They work on the fabrics one by one on the terrace of April’s house, the owner of Rumah Kreatif Batik Stilir Jepara. She has been running this business since 2013, and it has continued to grow until now.

April shared that her serious commitment to the batik business began after participating in an international batik competition in Yogyakarta. At that time, her batik work, inspired by the 2009 earthquake disaster in Padang, West Sumatra, won an award.

“From that competition experience, in 2013 I finally had the courage to establish Batik Stilir. At the time, I had also entered the same piece in a local competition in Jepara but lost. Then I learned about an international-level competition in Yogyakarta, and alhamdulillah, I won,” April said during a recent interview at her home.

That experience left a deep impression and motivated her to open a workshop and batik training program. Participants were not only young people and students but also local residents, most of whom were housewives.

According to April, this business also provides additional income opportunities for women in the surrounding community. In addition to hand-drawn batik (batik tulis), she has also developed stamped batik (batik cap) with a flexible working system.

“In total, six people help with the work. For the stamped batik, they can take it home, and the helpers are also neighbors from around here,” she said.

Although it is still a home-based business, Batik Stilir Jepara has a fairly wide market. Its customers come not only from Jepara but also from outside Java and even abroad.

“Our biggest buyers are indeed government agencies from Jepara Regency itself. But there are also customers from outside Java and overseas — from Taiwan, for example,” she revealed.

In terms of pricing, one piece of stamped batik is sold for Rp130,000 to Rp200,000. Meanwhile, hand-drawn batik is priced at around Rp500,000 per piece.

Not stopping there, April continues to innovate by developing ecoprint products and plans to expand into painted batik (batik lukis) as the next business development.

“Besides batik, we also have ecoprint, and in the future I plan to develop painted batik,” she said.

As a local batik artisan, April hopes that people will become more aware that Jepara also has its own distinctive batik worthy of pride. She wants Jepara batik to be able to compete with other regions and become the top choice for the local community.

“My hope is that people in the area will become more aware of Jepara batik and realize that Jepara has its own batik. When I wear batik, it should be Jepara batik — not buying from other stores,” she concluded.