--- Renowned international “Wrap Artiste,” clothing designer, and indigenous fashion advocate Ditta Sandico reveals her 40-year journey in the fashion industry with the book, It’s A Wrap: Unravelling the Future of Fashion.
Published by Far Eastern University, written by Francine Medina Marquez, and edited by Gayle Zialcita, It’s A Wrap draws inspiration from indigenous communities, most notably the Mangyan tribe in Mindoro, whose hardworking and skillful women and their craftsmanship are sometimes overlooked.
Ditta’s innovative use of her signature banaca (banana-abaca) wrap—woven fabrics sourced from a small fishing village in the island of Catanduanes— proves the importance and value of material culture research in understanding creativity and aesthetics.
Ditta narrates how a dream and vision changed the quiet lives of weaving communities and turned them into self-reliant hubs of social enterprise. She hopes that her story will challenge and inspire the new generation of young clothing designers who will see the value of the Philippines’ indigenous crafts in nation-branding.