For more than three decades, Filipino fashion designer and "Wrap Artiste" Ditta Sandico has championed Philippine handwoven textiles, transforming locally sourced materials and indigenous fibers into contemporary fashion pieces that embody Filipino heritage, ingenuity, and livelihood.

As a plenary speaker at the first-ever Global Textile Congress (GTC) and Philippine Textile Congress 2026 (PTC), spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI), Sandico shared her perspective on Embracing Sustainability for Filipino Fashion. She emphasized that sustainability goes beyond preserving traditional materials and techniques. It also means keeping cultural textile knowledge alive while allowing expressions to evolve.

“Sustainability is not about keeping everything exactly the same. It is about keeping the essence alive while allowing expressions to change,” Sandico said.

Her philosophy is rooted in decades of working with Filipino weavers and indigenous materials. For Sandico, every textile carries a story and reflects the people and knowledge behind it.

Sandico recalled working with Abel Iloco weavers in Ilocos Sur, exploring ways to bring the traditional fabric into ready-to-wear fashion while preserving its identity.