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Tina Maristela-ocampo - known Celestina bag by hollywood celebrities

A FILIPINO model turned entrepreneur is being featured in Vogue, the bible of women’s style and fashion, for her handcrafted bags that sell for as much as $8,000 a pop.

Tina Maristela-Ocampo’s evening bags—under the label Celestina Maynila New York—are now sold in high-end boutiques in the United States, Hong Kong, London and Russia, and by next year, Germany, according to her husband Ricco Ocampo. (Tina was in Hong Kong marketing Celestina—actually her first name—at the time of the interview.)

The December issue of Vogue, with Australian actress Nicole Kidman on the cover, carries a half-page feature on Tina and her bags.

(One of her bags is featured as well in W, another US magazine devoted to high fashion.)

Ricco, himself an entrepreneur who has ventured into eyewear, clothes and restaurants, says Tina started selling the bags only in September, but already Barneys New York has placed a repeat order.

Celestina is displayed alongside such brands as Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Bottega Veneta, Prada, Balenciaga and Lanvin (which carry price tags equivalent to the year’s pay of a Filipino minimum wage earner).

Local talent, materials

But with a fundamental difference: Celestina uses local materials and once more illustrates Filipino skill and talent.

Per Ricco’s account, Tina employs about 68 artisans aged between 40 and 60 from all over the country to make different parts of each bag.

The materials used include silver, copper and brass from Baguio, filigree from Bulacan, ebony (kamagong) from Pampanga, stingray shagreen (raw hide) from Zamboanga, crocodile leather from Palawan, and shells and mother-of-pearl from Cebu.

Two pieces from Tina’s spring/summer collection for next year—minaudieres that cost from $850 to $995 at Barneys—are featured in Vogue.

Minaudieres, which were in fashion in the 1960s, are tiny jeweled cases that can hold a woman’s lipstick, powder and a little cash for an evening affair. These do not have straps and are hand-held.

Difficult entry

It was not easy for Tina to penetrate the US market, Ricco says.

Tina sought appointments with proprietors of high-end boutiques and editors of American fashion magazines, but they snubbed her because she was an unknown in those parts.

The only shop that immediately carried her line was Joyce in Hong Kong—but then the owner is Joyce Ma, a close friend of hers.

It was only when another friend, Rafe Totengco, a successful Filipino bag designer in New York, vouched for Tina that Vogue granted her an appointment.

When the magazine editors saw her collection, they agreed to do a feature. But when they asked where the bags were available, she had to say nowhere—yet.

Vogue subsequently helped set up an appointment between Tina and Barneys, with a happy result: The store immediately placed an order. (Its repeat order is for Tina’s spring collection, Ricco says.)

Accidental foray

Tina’s foray into bag-making was quite accidental, according to her husband.

After a successful modeling career in the 1980s, she ventured into designing clothes and put up The Black Shop. And then two years ago, Ricco went about developing a homeware brand using local materials.

The materials that Ricco’s workers were using to make homeware prototypes caught Tina’s attention, leading her to use these same materials to make evening bags for her personal use.

At one point, Ricco noticed that her collection of bags was getting bigger. He suggested that she start selling the stuff.

Tina decided to take up her husband’s suggestion. But she realized that she had to target the foreign market because of the steep price tag that the materials and the craftsmanship would entail.

So she traveled abroad in search of boutiques to carry her line.

In the last six months, Ricco says, Tina has traveled nine times to market Celestina.

“The beauty of these bags is that they are unusual. Each piece is handmade and produced in a limited edition (only about 50 to 100 pieces for each design),” Ricco tells the Inquirer.

He says what inspired Tina to pursue the foreign market was the realization that Filipinos can produce quality products at par with the best in the world—and there are consumers ready to pay for them.

Over the past decade, local industries have failed to compete in the global arena because of China’s capability to manufacture cheap goods. As a result, many local industries have folded up.

The ones that have succeeded (including the furniture sector) targeted the high-end export market.

Proud of her roots

Ricco explains that the use of Maynila in the Celestina brand was deliberate to ensure that the Philippine factor is present.

Tina’s minaudieres are named after known Filipinos (like artists Juan Luna and Anita Magsaysay-Ho) and popular places (like Cebu).

“She is proud of her roots and wants to put meaning to true Filipino heroes and talents,” Ricco says.

At present, Celestina is the only Philippine-made bag line with price points at par with foreign brands that are known the world over (like Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs).

So far, the most expensive Celestina bag is a crocodile piece with mother-of-pearl handles that sells for $8,000 (at P50 to $1, P400,000). For the smaller bags, the most expensive price tag so far is $3,600 (P180,000).

And yes, even at those prices—enough to buy a car or a tiny house in the Philippines—American, Chinese, British, Russian consumers are buying.

There are as yet no plans to sell Celestina in the Philippines.

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