DAMN, DANIEL!

The word DAMN may sound a little harsh in the ears of many but to Indonesian public figure Daniel Mananta it's not only catchy but also a mix of his own name. So when he decided to set up his own clothing store, he put the word in the brand. Damn can also contain some excitement and if it used a swearing word in Indonesian it would put it out of the context. This also answer the question why it use English words while selling products that appeal to nationalism. The way he saw it, he's promoting Indonesian culture through pop culture and he really wants foreigners to know that Indonesia is more than just Batik.

He creates the brand to show his appreciation towards Indonesia and to inspire Indonesian young generation to be more aware and be proud of their heritage, culture and history. The brand goes hand-in-hand with urban lifestyle and it has grown together with its slogan 'Patriotism Never Looked This Good'.

The vision is to be Indonesian leading Indonesian themed urban street wear and to keep realizing its mission to bring back proud, love and spirit of patriotism in young generation towards Indonesia. Since it launched on Indonesian Youth Pledge Day on 28 October 2008 Damn! I Love Indonesia with its products such t-shirts, jackets, dress, skirts, pants, polo shirts, tank tops and other accessories and stationery, now has five authorized stores in Jakarta (Grand Indonesia, Pondok Indah Mall), Surabaya (Grand City, Tunjungan Plaza) and Makassar (Panakukang Mall).

Daniel Mananta entered the showbiz industry after winning Indonesian MTV VJ Hunt in 2003. He has appeared in the local slasher film Rumah Dara (Macabre) and this year he went from acting talent to executive producer under Damn! Inc. which is collaborated with Merantau Film, Million Pictures and Japanese production house Nikkatsu & Image for a Mo Brothers second film Killers. He has also been working hard to become an entrepreneur and a modeling and talent agency besides a VJ, TV host and an actor.

Now Damn! I Love Indonesia is getting more exposure year after year and it has been getting endorsements from high-profile celebrities who have recently visited Jakarta from David Beckham, David Foster, Backstreet Boys, Javier Zanetti, Adam Levine of Maroon 5 to some Korean artists to name a few, all of whom were photographed while wearing the t-shirt. The most interesting part was when Maroon 5 had their concert in Indonesia, Daniel initiated to contact the concert promoter and gave the shirt as a gift. It turned out that they liked it. Later on, the management contacted him and asked for more. During the concert there was a concert gimmick when Adam Levine talked about Indonesian and one of the audiences threw the shirt. Then Adam Levine wore the shirt and it cheered the audiences. 

As for getting local celebrities, Daniel did admit a few difficulties in scoring agreements to collaborate with them. International brands such as Topshop are know for releasing special collections by celebrities and Daniel has been trying find a way to do this. It's one of Daniel dreams to preserve local patterns through his clothing line. 

It's a long ways from his days as a student in Australia where he would often feel homesick. But it was during those tough times that he came up with idea of rebranding Indonesia's culture in a hip, youthful way. He plans to build new stores in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Papua and he would like to expand to foreign countries. One of his dream is to make Damn! I Love Indonesia as popular as  'I Love NY' t-shirt. Damn, Daniel!