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Journeys

A collection of articles featuring the journeys of Ditta Sandico in her fashion career. 

 

Filtering by Tag: Ditta Sandico

The ANNUAL SALE 2019: Sexy at Sixty!

Ditta Sandico

Its that time of the year again!

Ditta Sandico’s Annual Sale is happening on May 25 to June 2, 2019 at the Balete Gallery. Get as much as 50% off your favorite #DittaWraps, as well as other creations on special discounted prices.

Sexy at 60 Com 4.jpg

Stocks are limited, items are on a first come first served basis. The gallery will be open from 9am to 7pm at No. 5 Mabolo st. corner Balete Drive, New Manila, Quezon City.

Come and join Ditta’s special celebration. See you there!

Ditta Sandico receives an award at the 2016 Agora Awards

Ditta Sandico

Ditta Sandico was awarded for her Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship - Small Scale Winner at the 37th Agora Awards held last October 27 at the PICC.

We look forward to your continued support to our local and award winning #banaca industry!

Considered as the “The Oscars of Philippine Marketing,” Agora is a highly regarded and prestigious award in the marketing field. According to Ms. Alpha Allanigui, Director-in-Charge of Agora, “The Agora Awards are a testament to the passion, dedication, brilliance and commitment of excellent individuals and companies in the marketing industry.”

http://theagora.ph/2016/awards/ 

#Marekting #Excellence #EcoCouture #EcoFabulous #Banaca #DittaWraps#Awards #ProudlyPinoy #DittaChannel #Fashion

Ditta Sandico: The Queen of Wraps wraps up 30 years of trailblazing fashion

Ditta Sandico

Designer Fernandina “Ditta” Sandico celebrates three decades of eco-chic, the innovative use of indigenous, natural fabrics.

Along the way, she has persuaded women to wrap themselves in abaca as a radical but easy-fitting alternative Filipiniana attire. After years of perseverance and promotion, Sandico’s wraps under her eponymous label have become mainstream.

A graduate of Wood Tobe Coburn fashion school in New York, she pioneered in transforming the lowly abel, the blanket fabric sold in the Ilocos markets, into fashionable daytime and evening wear. She collaborated with weavers from Santiago, Ilocos Sur, to produce blue and white printed abel and later developed plaids, stripes and geometric patterns.

Sandico says it has taken 30 years for the abel fabric to become a luxury item. From a P350 blanket, abel now easily fetches five figures. Aside from clothes, it is also used for home accessories and upholstery.

Collaborating with weaver Elisa Reyes in the late ’80s,  Sandico diversified into dressy clothes and barong Tagalog, using piñalino, a combination of delicate piña and linen.

Turning point

A turning point came when she met a weaver from Catanduanes, Virgilio Apanti, who showed her rough samples of abaca weaving. Although the fabric was dirty, stiff and knotty, Sandico saw the potential. Working with artisans from Baras, she made the fabric silkier, more pliable and colorful.

Sandico coined the term “banaca,” a combination of banana and abaca, for branding purposes. She explains that the abaca, whose scientific name is musa textilis, is a member of the banana family, the Musaceae. The hemp plant looks like wild bananas. When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, they discovered that the natives produced soft and silky fabrics from abaca and traded it with other countries.

Sandico’s first products were voluminous wraps in dramatic colors, hand-painted or spray-painted for effect.

“They were overwhelming. A strong, confident personality can get away with those wraps,” she says.

When women requested easy-fitting wraps that didn’t need too much styling, Sandico added slits for armholes and loops for belts. Called the Mariposa, the wrap was basically a bodice that crossed around the body and was tied by a matching belt. Because of its tautness, the collar could either stand up to lengthen the neck, or flap down to cover a flat or heavy bosom. The Mariposa also came in color-blocked versions and metallic colors.

Younger designers who use abaca

fabrics have paid homage to Sandico’s Mariposa.

“At first, women were resistant, but after several decades, the Mariposa has become mainstream,” says Sandico.

The other styles care called the Hikina, which is inspired by the native pañuelo; the Lucrezia, the three-tiered collar; the Mori, a kimono-inspired silhouette; and the Mira Lukot, made of mushroom pleats which gives the wrap a linear quality.

Versatile

Versatile wraps can be worn in various ways with just a play of knotting, twisting, puffing and fluffing. It can either be geometric and edgy or be a romantic frou-frou. The woman can look like a flower in bloom in a flounced wrap, or a rock chick with angled flaps.

Constantly evolving, Sandico recently came outwith sculptural, show-stopping wraps for red-carpet events in her fashion show titled, “Dolce Ditta.” A basic jersey dress or pantsuit became dramatic with an additional wrap or a bolero top with banaca sleeves.

The structured wraps can emphasize the shoulders, the neck and the face while hiding unflattering curves.

“Wear them with a tube dress, and you’ll instantly look slimmer,” says Sandico.

The wraps come in warm tones of red, orange, gold and rust; cool greens and turquoise and the classic black and white stripes.

For an instant terno, Sandico developed a bolero with butterfly sleeves, with open weaves, inspired by native baskets. The formal wraps are embellished with hand-painted flowers and delicate beadwork. The edgier boleros feature zippers hidden under the bouffant for a boxy look.

For women on the go

Clearly, Sandico has fun with wraps. Some of the shorter wraps can work as instant scarves, structured sleeves, a neckpiece with a flower, visors, slippers and cowl necks. The excess banaca are shaped into earrings, wrist cuffs and evening purses.

Sandico adds that the wraps are designed for the woman on the go. They don’t wrinkle, and always stay in shape.

“It travels well because it’s flat. You don’t need to iron,” she says.

The wraps are worn by influential women such as Korina Sanchez, Christine Bersola, Cherie Mercado, socialites and diplomatic spouses.

While Sandico’s collection is thriving at Rustan’s Makati and Resorts World, she prefers to meet clients at her atelier in Quezon City. She started her business in the same neighborhood and, after 30 years, she’s back in her mother’s home, working in her newly renovated atelier.

Between those years, she raised a family, opened shops in different locations, and broke free from a relationship.

“Regardless of the venue, people will look for these wraps. The banacahas life because I put a lot of work into it. I bring out the soul of fabric,” she says.

Ditta Sandico’s store is located at 5 Mabolo St. corner Balete and E. Rodriguez, New Manila, Quezon City. Visit the website www.DITTAchannel.com


 

Textifood: food for clothing

Ditta Sandico

The Milan 2015 exposition, which has been running for the last six months, has seen 140 countries showcasing its most innovative and effective technologies that could provide solutions to one of the biggest global problems – guaranteeing everyone healthy, safe and sufficient food without harming the balance of the planet.

But it wasn’t the solution to this problem that really caught the attention of so many people.  And it wasn’t just one problem that was solved but two.

Fashion, as with all industry, has a responsibility to give back what it takes. And what does the industry take most of? Natural fibres – used to create the clothing we wear. With companies now pouring money into research and development schemes, it seems we have found a solution – clothes made from food.

This may sound like something only Lady Gaga could pull off, but this is slightly more innovative than the infamous meat dress. Within the expo, Pavilion France together with Lille Europe put on the incredibly successful exhibition entitled Textifood, with the objective to demonstrate the different possibilities of creating textiles from the food waste industry.

Roughly one third (approximately 1.3bn tonnes) of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets wasted. And with it taking approximately 7,000L of water to produce a single pair of jeans and 2,700L to produce one shirt, not to mention the long process of dying the fibres, this innovative way of creating textiles could be the answer to two major sustainability problems the world has.

Lille3000, a cultural programme within the city of Lille, sought out designers and stylists to produce designs using fibres that have been harvested in part or solely from food residues. Such tasty fibres included orange, lemon, pineapple, banana, coconut, nettles, algae, mushroom, coffee, rice, soya, maize, beet, wine, beer, fish and shellfish.

“These textile fibres come from all continents,” said a Lille3000 spokesperson. “They are studied by researchers around the world to meet the needs of an increasingly responsible world.”

Designers such as Em Riem and Ditta Sandico created dresses made from banana silk fibre. The produced fabric has a silky finish, is flexible and waterproof, and is already in use in Japan, Nepal and the Philippines.

Other designers such as Christine Phung and Moragne Baroghel-Crucq collaborated to create an organic dress made from metal thread, flax yarns and fish collagen. While eco clothing brand, L’Herbe Rouge, made clothing created entirely from coffee – weaved, dyed and finished in a coffee bath.

This kind of technology is still in the early stages of development but it does give us a hopeful insight into the types of alternative textiles available. Sustainability in many industries through collaboration is now a reality and effectively provides us with many solutions to the world’s problems. The future suddenly looks (and tastes) a little bit better now.

Sustainable Fashion Designers Spotlight: Ditta and Abaća (banana fiber) silk

Ditta Sandico

It's Banana Week here at The Future King & Queen, so we are exploring and celebrating all the amazing things that are made from Banana Fiber - because it's a Future Fabric with a lot of good qualities, as we discovered in our earlier post explaining what it is, and why it has so much potential as an eco-friendly fabric.

 

DITA SANDICO ONG

All of these gorgeous items in this post are made by Ditta, an accessories label based in the Philippines, which is the creative outlet for Dita Sandico Ong.

As a fashion designer with almost 30 years experience, Dita Sandico Ong was one of the earlier designers working with alternative fabrics.

She designs wraps & soft bags made from Abaća fibre, which accentuates the beautiful lustre of the fabric. It's breathable and therefore perfect for the tropical conditions of the Philippines, where the Abaća fabric comes from.

ABAĆA FIBER IS MADE FROM BANANAS?

Abaća is a species of banana native to the Philippines. The fruit is not edible, but the stems are made into multiple items. The inner part of the stem yields the silkiest fibres, which are woven into the beautiful fabrics used by Ditta for their wraps.

Handbags are made from both the silky fabric and the thicker woven Abaća leaves.

 

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-savers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”

— CECIL BEATO

Filipino designer’s local weaves featured in Amsterdam museum

Ditta Sandico

Filipina fashion designer Ditta Sandico is a featured artist of the Tassen Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Sandico’s collection of handbags is on display at the museum from Nov. 4 to Jan. 25, 2015. The Tassen Museum houses the world’s foremost collection of bags.

The Embassy of the Philippines in The Hague, in cooperation with the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Amsterdam, together with the Tassen Museum, organized the exhibit opening on Nov. 3. The mini fashion show had models carrying samples of Sandico’s products and performing a traditional ceremonial dance clad in her famed wraps.

Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda described Sandico’s designs and products as clear illustrations of the marriage between concept, innovation and the use of indigenous materials. He added that what was truly groundbreaking was how plant fibers can be converted into an array of bags, wraps and clothing accessories. “But that is what Ditta has done and continues to do: innovate in the world of fashion,” Ledda said.

For years Sandico has embraced an ecologically friendly design and production process. She has continued to make use of and transform natural plant fibers such as banana and abaca—banaca—into fashion art forms. The Sandico design is considered both innovative and timeless and is noted for its elegance.


Her advocacy on the use of local materials has helped elevate natural plant fibers and inspired an appreciation for the use of these materials in the fashion industry. This has generated the needed support for the weaving industry in the Philippines, where a considerable number of operations are located in the provinces.


 

Dita Sandico’s ‘banaca’ is the new eco-chic

Ditta Sandico

Once used to make common products such as slippers and ropes, the abaca is repurposed into a luxury eco textile.

A pioneer in the local eco-fashion movement, designer Fernandina “Ditta” Sandico sustainably produced her signature fabric from the exotic plant musa textilis. She christened it “banaca,” because abaca belongs to the banana family called Musaceae.

“I’m leveling up the look by adding more embellishments and coming up with bigger wraps,” she says. Sandico is underscoring her forte as the “Wrap Artiste.”

In the shoot with Anna-Maria Heidorn, the spouse of the German ambassador, Sandico shows how her garments could be twisted, scrunched and rolled into bulbs, rosettes, petals, scallops, cabbages, butterfly wings and other interesting shapes. The shirred and gartered capes can be worn like a column, puffed like an onion bulb or fluffed like a tutu.

“That’s our new story. We’ve come a long way,” says Sandico, who redefined contemporary Filipiniana. Unfussy and low-maintenance, the wraps are designed for the busy career woman who wants to wear local without looking too traditional.

After graduating from Tobe-Coburn in New York, Sandico worked as a fashion merchandiser for the now-defunct, family-owned C.O.D. Department Store. Meanwhile, she also started producing her line of clothing using inabel from Ilocos Sur. These native handwoven cotton fabrics were used for bed sheets and towels.

She gave the inabel a new fashion spin. She also developed other fibers such as piñalino or pineapple fibers blended with Irish linen.

MINAUDIERE made of kamagong,mother-of pearl and ethnic patterns by the Mangyans

“A few years back, I realized I wanted to focus on the local. We were doing linens and cottons which had to be imported. The supply for pineapple fibers was limited. On the other hand, abaca is abundant. We’re one of the top three producers of abaca in the world,” she says.

She credits weavers Elisa Reyes for showing her the possibilities of abaca.

Another weaver and entrepreneur, Virgilio Apanti, showed her samples of abaca fabrics produced by Tupas ng Baras Multipurpose Cooperative in Baras, Cantanduanes. Unlike the rough abaca used for ropes and slippers, the artisanal abaca exudes a sheen and softness. It is stiff enough to hold unique forms, yet pliableto follow the movements of the body.

Since 1995, the designer has been working with this cooperative. “I wanted to help them. So we started from scratch. I didn’t know how the plant looked like. We stripped off the trunk to get the yarns, knotted them from end to end, bleached and dried them. Although it is very labor-intensive, this is how we keep the tradition.”

The weavers were trained in natural dye extraction and advanced weaving techniques for abaca.

“Instead of migrating to Manila to work as domestic helpers, we’re giving them jobs. Even the out-of-school youths learn this craft. This will encourage them to stay. That’s the social entrepreneurship aspect.”

MINAUDIERES made by Mangyans are part of Sandico Ong’s livelihood program

Sandico Ong admits she had to establish a rapport with the abaca. “I couldn’t cut it like most fabrics. The fall wasn’t the same,” she recalls. “I had to think out of the box. I commanded, ‘Perform! Do what you want.’ I asked for divine help. With His guidance, the design just flowed. I shaped and reshaped, wound it around, according to how it draped the body. I never went against it.”

In keeping with the spirit of eco-friendliness, she recycled the scraps by making them into visors, tiny scarves and pouches. When she wears her uniform of a linen tank top, dark slacks and thongs made of banaca and mother-of-pearl, she coils a scarf around her neck or covers her shoulders with these easy-wearing scarves.

Sandico’s clients include ABS-CBN president Charo Santos Concio, actress Chin Chin Gutierrez, the Friends of the Cultural Concerns of the Philippines, and the diplomatic corps.

One of her patrons is Madame Heidorn, who googled the designer after receiving a banaca purse as gift.

Her wraps are sold in major department stores such as Takashimaya in Japan, the Banyan Tree resorts in Thailand, and high-end shops in Singapore.

She recently went on a tour to promote her fabrics and wraps in Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, sponsored by the Philippine embassies and on a grant from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.

THE VERSATILE banaca can be used to wrap presents.

The collection included her Mariposa line, which consisted of the modified wraparound panuelo; the Mori, the long banaca tunic with slitted armholes; Mira, which is distinguished for its pleated fabric. Mira Nila is cut on a bias and worn like a bolero or jacket.

“This is the way to go in the international market. Banaca is easy to maintain. You can travel with it and it will stay in shape. And it’s unique to the Philippines,” she says.

To the designer, the banaca is a metaphor of the Filipino. “It’s resilient. Our people have been through a lot but they bounce back.” Just like the banaca, it will always retain its original shape after all the manipulating.

Ultimately, Sandico debunks the perception that the fashion world is all about appearances: “It’s about working with materials that can sustain the environment and communities.”


Read more: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/98257/dita-sandico-ongs-banaca-is-the-new-eco-chic#ixzz44f82cZBM 

That’s a wrap: In vogue

Ditta Sandico

A new creation that is set to make environmentalists happy and the fashionistas curious is emerging from the Philippines and is slowly making its way across Europe and the UAE.

The wraps, made from the natural fibre of abaca (known globally as Manila hemp), has been trending in the Philippines for the past years with local women celebrities, as well as, diplomats abroad wearing them.

A brain-child by Dita Sandico Ong, a well-known Filipino fashion designer and owner of Cache Apparel, the “pieces of fabric” can be wrapped around like shawls and used as accessories or as complement to an outfit.

“They are very versatile you can wear them in several ways. One piece of wrap can be worn in six to eight different ways, or even more, depending on your own creativity,” explained Ong.

She was in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this week to present her signature creation after a promotional trip to Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, where she held several fashion shows.

Speaking to Khaleej Times about her aspiration, Ong said: “I would think that this fabric is now getting its place... It’s now getting into high fashion and looks like eventually reaching the (European and UAE) markets.”

“And I think it’s pioneering because we are really trying to break through the market just now,” she added.

The banana-like plant, abaca, comes from the banana family and is indigenous to the Philippines. Abaca fibre is obtained from the leaf sheath and considered three times stronger than cotton, and its fat content more resistant to salt water decomposition, making abaca suitable for the production of specialty papers (such as currency paper and cheques), ropes, furniture and textile/fabrics.

“I’m probably leading the pack of designers who can actually experiment and draw from this fabric so much potential,” stated Ong who has worked with powerful Filipino women that included broadcast journalists Mel Tiangco and Corina Sanchez, and Filipino amabassadress.

The idea to create a wrap out of the abaca fabric came out of “desperation”. Ong related how she fell in love with the fabric and couldn’t bear the thought of cutting it for apparel.

“So I wrapped it around myself, looked in front of the mirror and I danced. I was just making it run through me, feeling the energy. It felt very soulful,” she said.

What makes the banana-abaca wrap different?

“It is very unique; quite exotic, because not everyone has seen this fabric. It has its own sheen. If you notice, the fibre is silky silvery and has its own structure,” Ong explained.

Through mix and match, or combination, the wrap also creates that “new look”, evolving the Filipiniana (traditional formal wear) style into the twenty-first-century fashion.

“This one has more edge and can be worn on formal or casual occasion. And it comes in different colours (through natural dyes),” said Ong.

And because of its natural composition, the fabric “breathes” making it ideal for tropical climates. “It is nice to actually have air moving around you,” Ong pointed out.

“On the other hand if it gets too cold, you can wear thermal underwear and long sleeves. You can top it with a pretty scarf and you’re off to another country,” she added.

Another important element of the wrap is that it can be worn by everyone.

“We don’t have a size, it fits all sizes. No limitations in terms of who can wear it,” the designer pointed out, adding that because it is lightweight, you can easily pack or roll this in your suitcase or hand bag when travelling.

It is also very easy to maintain. You can handwash it using a mild soap and water, hang to dry and press using a flat iron. It doesn’t require dry cleaning. And because it doesn’t get brittle, the lifespan of a wrap can go down generations “as long as you care for it and you don’t cut,” cautioned Ong.

However, with price tag ranging from €100-500 (Dh470- 2,350), Ong’s creation is not for everybody.

“It has a niche market; it’s the upper crust, and mid-level too, because a lot of women in the offices and a lot of balikbayans (overseas Filipinos), the diplomatic corps and celebraties like to wear these things,” she said.

And that’s for a very good cause too, as the abaca textile gets woven the traditional way, thus creating livelihood and sustainable income for the villagers in Catanduanes, a province in the Philippines’ Bicol Region. The use of abaca also helps spur the fibre industry and bolsters the country’s cultural heritage through the conventional weaving process.

Ong said this is her way of giving back to the community.

Grace Relucio-Princesa, Philippines ambassador to the UAE, underscored the importance of creating job opportunities in distant provinces that could impact the financial status of the family.

She said that local economic development would help minimise the outflow of Filipino migrants and potentially “make migration by choice” in future.

“These are dreams that we are weaving together and hope to help humanity in future by giving more livelihood projects,” said Ong.

In additon to banana-abaca, Ong also works with a combination of other natural fibres in her creations. These include pineapple and linen or “piñalina”, and pineapple with silk or “pinyasilk”.

Asked if she would consider designing apparels suitable for Arab women using natural fabrics, “I’m sure we can toy with some ideas,” Ong simply said.

For now, she is looking at tying-up with other designers here and perhaps hold a fashion show in future.

Tea and Fashion with Dita Sandico

Ditta Sandico

Its not everyday I get invited to a Tea Party! And not only that, one hosted by Ms. Dita Sandico Ong herself. Fashion with a cup of Tea.. An intriguing combination difficult to resist! So when Jen asked me to go with her to the event last February 1, I immediately jumped at the chance despite the shocking fact that its NOT about Coffee but about TEA (haha.. the coffeeholic side of me cannot believe I just did this!).

As a coffee lover, I must admit that drinking Tea was difficult in the beginning. I kept on comparing it to coffee which you really shouldn't do. Trust me, I ended up eating every single negative word about Tea coz well.. I got hooked! LOL. It took a lot of convincing but Tea did ended up romancing me over to its side (naks chos.. ganun kalakas ang tama sa coffee sensibilities ko! hahaha!). This must also have been the case for Ms. Dita Sandico Ong. Tea that touches us on a "soulful level" has brought this talented fashion designer to share a different kind of art -- the art of drinking tea.

The Tea Party was held at the DSO Boutique in San Juan, Greenhills. It was my first time to see her fashionable craftsmanship and I'm just simply amazed by her pieces. As far as I know, what makes Dita Sandico Ong unique is due to the special hand-woven cloth that was made by weavers in Catanduanes and the innovative designs that is well-loved by women all over the world. Here are some samples of her amazing work that would make any Filipino or Filipina PROUD!