Ketut Riyanti is a female tailor and designer located in Ubud. Ubud has a large number of yoga tourists, and over the years, Ketut has specialized in lounge wear and clothing with a relaxed fit that are comfortable to wear, and her unique designs and skilled craftsmanship are immediately noticeable upon entering her small tailor shop.
Ketut comes from a small village in the Klungkung province, about 35 km from Ubud. She tries to visit her hometown a couple of days each month, but otherwise, she spends most of her time in her tailor workshop. During the pandemic, the tourists disappeared from Ubud, and many small businesses suffered a lot. For 22 years, Ketut had a tailor shop on one of the busiest streets in Ubud, but she was forced to cancel the lease and move to a smaller location in a more quiet area.
One of Ketut’s all-time bestsellers is her version of yoga joggers/harem pants. Her small shop is located in a neighborhood with a lot of yoga travelers, and Ketut started noting, that many of them were wearing these baggy, loose-fitting, drop-crotch pants on the way to the yoga studio, so one day, she decided to design her own pants, combining the drop-crotch style with locally made, handwoven, ikat fabric, that she buys from weavers in her home village. The pants are truly unique (most of them are one-of-a-kind), and so comfortable, you’d want to wear them all the time. Perfect for meditation and for relaxing at home, but can also be styled with heels, for a chic, boho, party look.
Ketut also makes beautiful clothing from upcycled silk, which she buys at the local market, where fabric left over from Indonesia’s textile industry is sold to local tailors and designers. Ketut often visits the market and spends a lot of time browsing the stalls, looking for the nicest silk fabric in patterns and colors that suit her style. Ketut has designed a range of silk clothing items, including a beautiful silk robe that can also be used as a wrap dress. Ketut puts an honor in not wasting any of the fabric, and the silk scraps, which are left over after cutting the fabric, are used to make stylish scrunchies and headbands.
