The show this year was very interesting and exciting. We felt pride as we went around and saw the different designs that each booth offered. The whole place was oozing of creativity, originality, and world-class quality. On top of all of these, one of the major themes of this year’s show was to integrate and showcase our Filipino culture everywhere in the venue, while infusing contemporary ideas and interpretations with it. The after effect of this will surely be amazing, as some form of ‘culture revival’ is taking place in the design industry and will surely be wide spread right after F.A.M.E. Filipinos (who usually long for Western culture) will now realize that cultural manifestations of our nation, if interpreted in contemporary way, will attain a renewed identity – something that can definitely compete globally.

Here are some snapshots of our rounds.

Manila FAME, curated by my friend Ito Kish!

The Gregoria, by Ito Kish. Last year's winner for best furniture design. The piece is a tribute to his mom. Fabulous in actual!

A new release by Ito Kish too. Spin-off floor lamp from the Gregoria.

A tesselated lamp design from Robles Heritage made in Capiz. Interesting!

Color seems to be popping up more now.

Center Table by Vito Selma

Nikki Boncan-Buensalido, with batchmate Charisse Ong and Vito Selma

Jason Buensalido with Charisse Ong and Vito Selma

Fabric Designs by Inigo Elizalde for Catalina Embroideries Cebu. Notice how the designs are reminiscent of traditional Filipino weavings. We bought a few for ourselves!