People I Admire: Kenneth Cobonpue

(Published in Personal Fortune Magazine, January 2006)

More than Kenneth Cobonpue's artistry, it is his understanding of the importance of branding that I found noteworthy. I also found him very laid-back and humble, despite the success he has met.

Cebu’s treasure trove of wonders has inspired many an artist. Its gleaming waters -- home to the lushest sea grasses, the most ornate of shells, and the most stunning marine creatures -- and its emerald hills and mountains, resplendent with dazzling greenery, create a glorious spectacle that nature itself finds hard to replicate.

Of course, people can at least try. Furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue, current toast of the Asian and European furniture design circuit, has attempted to bring these images to life in his works – with superb results. Using natural fibers, mainly rattan, Cobonpue has thoughtfully crafted luxurious, curvy furniture with novel hand-made production techniques. The result: playful and refreshing takes on the shapes and images of nature.

This design philosophy would unexpectedly catapult him to the big league. The 37-year old designer first made his mark at the Milan furniture Fair 2001, when he showcased his works with that of other Philippine designers in a joint show called Movement 8. Newsweek took notice of the “remarkable stuff” made by young “Southeast Asian designers rethinking steel-and-leather minimalism with breezy, tropical charm.”

Kenneth has since gone up several notches in the furniture design arena, with “Wallpaper” magazine recently nominating him as one of the icons of contemporary design, alongside leading lights Philippine Starck and Antonio Citterio. His works have appeared in the 2002, 2004 and 2005 editions of the prestigious International Design Yearbook, curated by Ross Lovegrove, Tom Dixon and Marcel Wanders, respectively. Kenneth is a seven-time winner of the Japan Good Design Award, and his list of awards continues to grow. His list of clients includes Bradd Pitt (who bought the Croissant chair, Pigalle chair, Voyage bed and doughnut bed) and Warner Brothers, which commissioned him to do the casino set for the movie Ocean’s Thirteen.

Kenneth’s quick ascent is by no means a mere stroke of luck, but the result of years of hard work and discipline. As a child, he witnessed how his mother, Betty Cobonpue, started a furniture business right in their own backyard. “I’ve always envisioned myself making things, like building boats,” he relates. Hoping to follow in his mother’s footsteps, he went on to study Industrial Design at New York’s Pratt Institute, before apprenticing for a leather and wood workshop in Florence, Italy. He then studied furniture marketing and production at the Export Akademie Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany under a private and state scholarship program.

Kenneth could have chosen to stay on in the United States but the recession made him decide to head for home in 1996. “It was not so good in the US then,” he recalled, and he thought it would be good to help out in managing the family business, called Interior Crafts of the Islands. It turned out to be a propitious move.

Back in his studio in sun-blessed Cebu, Kenneth perfected designs that would win him international acclaim. His trademark curvilinear designs and rounded look had a character that many appreciated for their freshness and uniqueness. His first design was called the Yin and Yang, whose see-through look was meant to showcase the elements of nature. It also featured the detailed hand techniques that would mirror his careful attention to detail. Yet Kenneth does not let design get in the way of functionality. “There is nothing superfluous or decorative about my design,” he points out.

Using fastening techniques culled from traditional boat building, Kenneth also experimented with an array of natural and synthetic materials from his native Cebu -- carbon materials, bamboo, sea grass, leather, stone, paper and naturally, rattan. Half of the materials used in his designs are sourced from within the Philippines; the rest are imported. His carbon chair, for instance, uses high tech material fashioned by local craftsmen. “The application is limitless for a thing that is well made,” he says.

Such cutting-edge designs do not always come to Kenneth in a flash. Though most of his designs are inspired by nature or more mundane items (the much-awarded Lolah chair was inspired by a can of coke), Kenneth admits that designs necessarily come by design. A design, he says, is something that one has to work on. “Design is a discipline. It’s important that you spend time for it. You really just have to make it happen. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t.” He reveals how a design can take as long as a year or two to complete. “If it doesn’t work, we come back to it and find a solution.”

What differentiates Kenneth Cobonpue’s creations from other Philippine-made furniture, however, is the very brand it carries. “Philippine furniture is usually sold under a different name. There is no real value other than the manufacturing component which Vietnam and China can easily copy,” he notes. To ensure the integrity of his designs, Kenneth took the route that no other Filipino designer has done before: “I branded it.”

In branding his furniture, Kenneth sees himself creating the “model for the future of the industry.” The idea, he says, is to “sell Filipino culture, to make it truly global.”

Today, Interior Crafts of the Islands employs 3 craftsmen and 50 weavers, all trained by Kenneth, who help him stock showrooms across the globe, from Shanghai to Madrid to New York. Kenneth Cobonpue is one of the few furniture makers that publishes its own catalogue. He admits a certain pride to have someone like Bradd Pitt buying his works. “It’s flattering that he can choose anything in the world and he still chooses these things.”

Kenneth, though, sees beyond the glamour of his celebrity buyers “Fame from Brad Pitt buying (my works) is one thing, but respect from my contemporaries is more fulfilling.”

He is proud to be able to exhibit his works alongside those of Marcel Wanders and Ross Lovegrove, and professes an admiration for the works of Philippe Starck and Issey Miyake. “I’d like to do to furniture what he did for fashion,” he says.

A pragmatist, Kenneth recognizes the difficulty of selling his own brand in a world dominated by major brands. “It’s difficult selling a Philippine brand but we do it anyway,” he says. That, of course, will entail building the name. “You build the brand—brand is not about furniture, but about the lifestyle.”

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Certainly, there is no stopping Kenneth Cobonpue from turning over new stones and in advancing Asian design. “I always want to reinvent myself, surprise myself, and carry the look further.”