Abstract

In the creative economy, the fashion sector is ranked 2nd after culinary in the economic contribution of the Republic of Indonesia and is ranked first in export contribution. This creativity and innovation-based economy opens opportunities to develop competitive Indonesian products. Competing in mass fashion lines with China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh is not wise because they have cheap labour costs and a robust system to manage these fashion lines. The marbling technique, widely known before the 15th century, has great potential in the textile and fashion industry. This technique was initially applied to paper as a medium, with specific tools and materials, grew and developed in West Asia, spread to various European countries, and underwent adaptations of tools and materials. Marbling techniques on textiles are now widely carried out by artists. Even though several big brands have issued marbling kits, the difficulty of accessing them is an obstacle if we want to practice them in Indonesia. Based on this, the author looks for alternative tools and local raw materials that can be applied to textiles using marbling techniques, experimental methods, literature approaches, and historical studies. Tapioca flour is the most suitable local raw material as a thickening medium and an ingredient for colouring in screen printing techniques as a colouring agent in marbling techniques. Meanwhile, the tools used in this engineering practice are simple tools commonly found in domestic environments. Local raw materials and equipment at affordable prices have good potential for small to medium textile industry players. This development can ultimately be justified as a process of cultural evolution manifested in the development of textile processing, which is driven by economic and technological motives.