Island Girl prides itself in pieces that are not just beautifully designed, but also thoughtfully made.
One aesthetic that’s a staple for Island Girl is pandan woven in the traditional style of banig, which can be seen in our fruit purses and bags. Banig weaving using pandan is a reflection of Filipino ingenuity and heritage that’s essential to our culture and identity. Along with the abundance and convenience of cultivating pandan is the process that goes behind creating our pieces.
As our brand’s thrust to highlight natural materials in every product, we literally source from the ground up. We went around remote areas in Cebu and its neighboring provinces, and experienced firsthand how our raw materials are gathered, prepped, and made into the final component product for us to sew, embroider, and string into finished products. What was more amazing was seeing the change of hands in every step of production – from the gatherers, to the dyers, to weavers, and finally to our designers and sewers.
We do what we do because even though the production process can sometimes be challenging and dependent on many factors, we are privileged to be able to do meaningful work, knowing that the success of the brands means success for so many, especially for those in the grassroots level.