"Empowering!". They thrill to Pelangi's way (her name, aptly, means "rainbow") with silky tie-dyed and batik Islamic clothing; how she plugs into fashion trends just enough, but not so much as to compromise a girl's modesty or provoke other Muslims' disapproval.

"OMG! I just fell in love with her power, her craziness, her dresses, her everything!" This was a typically impassioned thread among many more posted by young Indonesian women after a photo-strip of Pelangi's designs recently went up on blog spot "Hegab-Rehab".

Earlier this week, in the elegant forecourt of Melbourne's Indonesian embassy, six models posed in designs by Pelangi and veteran Jakarta fashion identity Iva Lativah. The designers were here with a traditional dance troupe and small contingent of Jakarta journalists for a fashion show hosted at the Grand Hyatt by Indonesia's consul-general for Victoria and Tasmania, Budiarman Bahar and its ministry of culture and tourism.