Bright Spot Jakarta has officially wrapped and, honestly, what an experience.
This was our first ever LINW pop up in Jakarta and I don't think any of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into.
We knew Bright Spot was big. We knew it was one of the most curated fashion and lifestyle events in Indonesia. But until you're standing inside an event with more than 200,000 people moving through over 14 days, you don't really understand the scale of it.
Jakarta absolutely turned it on.
Our First Proper Introduction to Jakarta
Personally, I hadn't spent a huge amount of time in Jakarta before this.
I've lived in Bali for years, so Indonesia is obviously a massive part of my life and the LINW story, but Jakarta feels like an entirely different world.
The scale of the city blew me away.
The malls are insane. Every global fashion brand is there. Then sitting alongside them you have this really strong ecosystem of Indonesian designers, boutique labels and homegrown brands building genuinely world class businesses.
Getting to spend two weeks inside that environment was probably one of the biggest takeaways for me.
I got to meet founders, talk product, compare stories, see how other Indonesian fashion brands operate and understand the customer up there much better.
And from a LINW point of view, the response was unreal.
Week One: Sold Out and Restocking Fast
By the end of the first week we'd sold through most of our tee collection.
That created its own problem because suddenly we were trying to restock Jakarta while the event was still running.
The team was moving fast behind the scenes, getting product together, moving stock around and making sure we had enough on the racks to get through week two.
It was chaotic, but in a good way.
When you're standing inside a booth with five or six people in there almost constantly, watching customers discover LINW for the first time, try things on, put full fits together and walk out genuinely stoked, it's pretty hard not to feel proud.
But it definitely wasn't all wins.
The First Night Was Terrifying
Here's the part that probably doesn't make the highlight reel.
Our first night, we basically made no sales.
Honestly, it was scary.
We'd spent weeks rushing to get there, paid for the event, moved the team across, organised stock and production and suddenly we're standing there thinking: Have we completely misread this market?
Then I started walking around.
I looked at the strongest brands at the event, watched what customers were buying and started comparing price points.
Pretty quickly it became obvious. We'd priced ourselves too high for the market.
That was a big lesson.
You can believe in your product and know what it sells for in Australia, New Zealand, Bali or the US, but a new market still deserves its own understanding.
So we adjusted. And things changed almost immediately.
Plan A Is Great. Plan B Is Better.
Going into a pop up with less than a month of preparation isn't something I'd necessarily recommend.
Production was rushed. One of our manufacturers broke down. We ended up arriving with probably half the collection we'd originally planned to bring.
There were plenty of moments where things could have fallen apart.
But one thing we did well was plan for things going wrong.
What happens if the stock doesn't arrive? What happens if the pricing doesn't land? What happens if we don't hit our commercial targets? What happens if something sells out immediately?
We had a Plan A and a Plan B for almost everything.
That flexibility probably saved the event for us.
I've always been someone who likes moving quickly, but experiences like this remind me that moving quickly only works when the team around you can adapt just as fast.
And they did.
Fourteen Days on the Floor
The team worked incredibly hard.
Ten in the morning until ten at night. Fourteen days. Thousands and thousands of people coming past the booth.
There were almost always five or six customers inside the space at once.
By the end, everyone was cooked.
But we walked away with a massive smile on our faces.
Not just because commercially the event ended up working. It was bigger than that.
It felt like another moment where LINW stepped outside Bali and proved that the brand can travel.
Where LINW Fits in Indonesian Fashion
This was probably the part that excited me most.
Walking around Bright Spot, talking to other founders and seeing the standard of the brands coming through Indonesia right now made me realise how much momentum there is in the local fashion industry.
There's a huge amount of creativity here.
And seeing LINW sitting inside that mix, holding its own and being received the way it was, made me incredibly confident about where we're positioned.
We're right there. Still building. Still learning. But very much part of the conversation.
That's exciting.
Would We Go Back to Bright Spot?
One hundred percent.
We're already looking at what's possible for the next Bright Spot event and December is definitely on our radar.
We've got plenty to refine before then. Better preparation. More stock. Stronger market specific pricing. A clearer product mix.
But that's the whole point.
Every event gives you information. You either use it or you don't.
Jakarta gave us a lot.
To everyone who came through the LINW booth, tried something on, bought a piece, followed the brand or just stopped for a chat, thank you.
And to the Bright Spot team, thank you for having us.
Jakarta, we'll be back.
Shay
Founder, LINW