A Filipino perspective at a French fair

PARIS — Kenneth Cobonpue and his team were mingling at Elle Décoration magazine’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, where one of his Hive designers, Olivia d’Aboville, had been chosen as one of the 25 international designers in “Generation Design,” an exhibit curated by Gérard Laizé, general director of the non-profit association VIA (Valorization of Innovation in Furnishing). The next day, at the Maison et Objet expo, where buyers from around the world flock to view the latest furnishings for the house and home, Cobonpue toured YStyle around his large space within the Maison et Objet exhibit hall, in the same space as Armani Casa.

In Cobonpue’s space was a mix of his own pieces, including the Cabaret chair released in 2011, and pieces made by designers for Hive under his artistic direction. Hive, a brand Cobonpue created for lighting and accessories, participates in design fairs and shows around the world — including Maison et Objet. There are a total of eight per year. “Initially, I wanted to work only with Filipino designers. There aren’t enough. Now we get submissions from designers worldwide,” he said. The Hive space included a lantern by Harry Allen, an award-winning industrial designer from New York whose work is represented in many museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art; Cebuana Luisa Robinson, whose arresting Dragon’s Tail Setting was not present — smaller pieces were on display instead: lamps by the Dutch designer Danny Fang, a former design manager of the Marcel Wanders studio in Amsterdam and a recipient of the Design for Asia Award; and the Samba lamp by Brad Stebbing. “We don’t commission artists to make products. They submit designs and I decide what goes in,” said Cobonpue, whose Hive began in 2001, when he and a group of friends began their quest to create perfect lighting and accessories. “The designs, of course, have to be manufacturable” in Cobonpue’s Cebu plant. Production techniques are handmade and organic materials are used. On the wall under the large, painted Kenneth Cobonpue sign were posters advertising Manila FAME from Oct. 17-20 — proudly Filipino, and unique, just like Cobonpue, whose other Hive designers include Filipinos Jinggoy Buensuceso, Christy Manguera, Lilliana Manahan, Joseph Laxina and Mona Alcudia. Hive’s next stop: Germany.