As a bespoke scarf artist and avid traveller, she explores the world to gain inspiration from nature.
Prior to establishing her fashion brand, Kei Yanti was a traveller on the lookout for new experiences and inspiration. Life brought her to the front door of a scarf store at the corner of one of the streets in Bali. To her, the scarves were not just beautiful, they also represented the souls of the people who had worked on them. A single scarf that could take up to seven months to produce inspired and moved her immensely. Painted fabrics could be so valuable, she thought, and she realized that she wanted to touch people in the same way.
The result is an own-name scarf fashion brand. Kei Yanti draws inspiration from her life experiences, random objects, nature, and most of all, the people she has encountered on her journeys. Kei Yanti mainly focuses on bespoke, hand-painted silk scarves alongside her personal scarf projects. She usually requests a meeting with the person placing the order to gain inspiration from her customer’s stories and personality before then exploring her own imagination on what to paint. A scarf can take from five days to two weeks to paint.
Naturally, each scarf has its own story. One is a story about a loner, a compassionate, strong woman burying her desire to live free. Another is made to represent the customer with a dragonfly, the symbol of maturity, power and poise, living life to the fullest. A scarf titled “Swan of Four Seasons” symbolizes her wish to stay friends no matter what, just like swans who fly in formation and readily help the tired members so they can continue to fly together. There’s another scarf that depicts antelopes, an indigenous species in Africa and Eurasia which symbolizes agility, the ability to adapt, survive and thrive in the harsh conditions of the wild and dry desert. On the other side,a woman is pictured asthe central figure in the flow of the spiritual realm, whose existence carries peace and prosperity wherever she goes.
Kei Yanti’s travels took her diving in countless seas, exploring exotic places and mountaineering. When asked about her favorite destination, she answered “I always choose travel destinations where I can immerse myself in nature. For me, art is in close relation with me and the universe.” Nepal seems to be the place where she can feel that connection with the universe, hence the numerous times she returns to the place. And yet, she chooses the whole world as her workshop. “I’m building a studio to display my works. But to work on my scarves, I prefer to always change places,” she said. “I believe each place has its own energy.”
