THE LEONARDI

We recently had the pleasure and honour of interviewing one of Indonesia’s brightest stars in the wedding fashion industry, the multi faceted and multi talented, Oscar Daniel. We were lucky to have Oscar fit us into his already hectic day of designing intricate wedding gowns, being a makeup artist for some of the most beautiful brides in the country and also designing detailed headpieces for photo concepts. We find out more about this talented artist who blurs the lines between art, design and fashion into his works and daily life as he shares with us his stories and processes to give us a little bit more insight into his journeys.

Oscar jumped right into the world of weddings in 2001, right in his second year of studies at Tarumanagara University, when he teamed up with a couple of friends to run a Wedding Organiser (WO) company. “Back then it was still quite a rare thing to have in Jakarta, and there were not too many of such companies,” he said as he reminisces.

“One of the base jobs as WO is the “Morning Call”, where I have to pickup and send the bride for makeup. I usually love this part of the job as I get to wait and see the process of the bride before and after which is amazingly transformative. After the make up session, you can see how the bride gets so happy with how she looks and makes me think about how magical it is that our hands have the amazing abilities of making someone else happy,” he added as he sheds more light to as to why he is so passionate about being a make-up artist since day one.

Having his beginnings firmly rooted in makeup in 2006, Oscar continues to wow his clients in designing wedding gowns concurrently and also headpieces from 2008 onwards. His headpieces have not only been worn during weddings and fashion shows but were also featured during the photo-shoots of Asian Next Top Models, which is a huge achievement for any designer on its own.

He explains further into his work process of designing wedding gowns and headpieces to be quite similar. “In choosing or creating a wedding dress, its best to really look at the bride herself, do not follow friends or other brides that might not fit the theme or even the bride’s body shape. Instead look for very good references that fits the bride’s wants and needs and discuss and communicate thoroughly with your designer. Most importantly, you have to give the designer you choose the fullest amount of faith and trust you possibly can, to maximize his/her potentials.”

Oscar turns to Dita von Teese as his muse overseas for her fashionable and upmarket vintage style while he refers to his kind hearted client and good friend Fitria Yusuf as an inspiration closer to home. He believes in natural beauty and it is his job as makeup artist to accentuate the client’s physical features to make her not only look but feel beautiful.

“I always want to display my client’s natural beauty and not to copy someone else. This is one principal I hold dearly to my heart. Complexion is also key, which is harmony between makeup and skin, which will naturally blend in the makeup naturally and will look flawless live or in photos. I always focus on letting my clients know how important it is to have healthy skin.”

Oscar plans to keep on working hard as a makeup artist and aspires to have his own studio. When asked of his plans and final words, he said, “ My dream is to continue being a makeup artist for weddings and also have my own studio or wedding gown boutique. (I want) To keep working hard and give my brides the happiest day of their lives.”

We wish you all the love and success you can possibly have, Oscar!

Photographed by: Luke – The Leonardi
Make Up, Dress, & Headpieces by: Oscar Daniel
Studio: The Leonardi Studio & Art Gallery