TAPESTRY OF LIVES

A social entrepreneur and Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2023 Laureate, DENICA RIADINI-FLesch is bettering the lives of Indonesian rural craftswomen in the garment industry while improving the health of the planet.

- LYNETTE KOН

Since starting Indonesian farm-to-closet clothing company SukkhaCitta which means happiness in 2016, Denica Riadini-Flesch has helped to create hundreds of jobs with fair pay for rural craftswomen. But the 33-year-old Jakarta-based social entrepreneur does not believe in the concept of simply helping people in impoverished communities.

She spoke about her work on a recent visit to Singapore, where she was honoured as one of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2023 Laureates. Aimed at supporting exceptional individuals spearheading initiatives that advance human well-being and knowledge, the Awards are part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.

Said the trained economist, who wore a chic embroidered black blouse and pants by SukkhaCitta, “Sometimes, coming from development aid, we go into these communities with the mindset of ‘we want to help you’, which I think is wrong. Because then, it’s as if they’re helpless and you have to help them. But these people have the skills and the determination to change their own lives—what they need is someone to believe in them.”

It’s an effective philosophy. While SukkhaCitta started eight years ago with just three women, it now works with more than 400 people, including farmers, dyers, artisans, weavers, and seamstresses. Women who have teamed up with the ethical company have seen an average of 60 percent increase in their income, giving them a greater say in their families and communities. SukkhaCitta has impacted over 1,500 lives—and with Rolex’s support, RiadiniFlesch aims to reach 10,000 lives by 2030.

The company works with individuals along the supply chain to find better, sustainable solutions: The farmers who grow cotton, the weavers who weave fibres into fabrics, and textile dyers and batik artisans, as well as seamstresses. Riadini-Flesch, who used to work with the World Bank in Indonesia, has also started four textile craft schools there, with a fifth on the way.