Filipino Design Breakthroughs

Filipino Design Breakthroughs

• Filipino designers are creating innovative products in design, including furniture, lighting, interior accessories, and fashion.
• Haute couture, bridal ensembles, and casual wear are all being designed.

Kenneth Cobonpue

• Multi-awarded designer and creative director of HIVE.
• Designs interior accessories and lighting.
• Known for his fresh concepts and excellent craftsmanship.
• Patronage from discerning clientele and Hollywood celebrities.

Monique Lhuiller

• Fashion designer known for bridal wear.
• Owns a couture fashion house in Los Angeles and Manhattan.

Josie Natori

• Filipino-American fashion designer and CEO of Natori Company.
• Served as a commissioner on the White House Conference on Small Business.
• Awarded the Order of Lakandula in 2007.
• Received the "Peopling of America" Award in 2007.

Rajo Laurel

• Filipino fashion designer known as a judge for Project Runway Philippines.
• Has numerous national and international awards.
• Trained at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and Central Saint Martins.

Lulu Tan Gan

• Known as the "Queen of Knitwear" since 1985.
• Designs beautifully crafted knitwear.
• Extended her design evolution with "Indigenous Couture" line.
• Combines old-world sophistication of Philippine artisan craft with contemporary design.
• Known for her mastery of construction, current yet ingenious lifestyle dressing, and distinctive feminine sensibility.
• Popular with expatriates, tourists, and the jet-set crowd due to the sleek lines, custom-dyed threads, and fluid, flattering forms of her designs.

Dita Sandico-Ong

• Advocate for using local weaving techniques and natural fibers.
• Known as the "Wrap Artiste" of the Philippines.
• Famous for bold-colored wraps.
• First experimented with Inabel (a local weave from Ilocos Sur) and pineapple fibers blended with Irish linen (called piñalino).