29 December 2014 – Filipina fashion designer Ditta Sandico, one of the prominent figures in the Philippine fashion industry, is a featured artist of the Tassen Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Ms. Sandico’s collection of hand bags is on display at the museum from 04 November 2014 to 25 January 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, organized together with Tassen Museum a symbolic opening of the exhibit on November 03. Ms. Sandico held a mini-fashion show with models carrying samples of her products and performed a traditional ceremonial dance to mark the occasion using her famed wraps.

Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda spoke of Ms. Sandico’s designs and products as clear illustrations of the marriage between concept, innovation and the use of indigenous materials. The Ambassador added that it is truly ground-breaking that what works and are used in industrial and construction activities can be converted into an array of bags, wraps, and clothing accessories. “But that is what Ditta has done and continues to do,” the Ambassador said, “innovate in the world of fashion.”

For years Ms. Sandico has embraced an ecologically-friendly design and production process, continuing to make use of and transform natural plant fibers such as banana and abaca – banaca – into fashion art form. 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 into prominence natural plant fibers and inspired an appreciation for the use of these materials in the fashion industry. This has generated the needed support to the weaving industry in the Philippines, where a considerable number of operations are located in the provinces.  END