The fabled Kenneth Cobonpue
For the multi-awarded, world-renowned designer Kenneth Cobonpue, inspiration lies everywhere—from the constellations in the sky and the waves of the ocean, to the insects and animals that inhabit his physical and imaginary world, to crumpled soda cans with their undulating forms. Such lofty and mundane objects are transformed into covetable furniture, furnishings, and fixtures to fill every corner of your habitat with warmth, wonder, and a bit of whimsy.
This famous industrial designer hails from Cebu and has reaped recognition for his well-made, well-designed pieces that can be found in the homes of Hollywood stars; in American movies; in showrooms in Cebu, Manila, North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The collections range from indoor to outdoor pieces, lighting, sofas, chairs, beds, and storage.
Every item tells a story and literary allusions abound. From the Bible to Aesop’s Fables, from The Jungle Book to Hans Christian Andersen, from The Little Prince to Gulliver’s Travels, the varied collections of Kenneth Cobonpue are akin to a library filled with fantasy, fantastic flora, talking creatures and mythical beings.
Not surprisingly, he loved reading as a child.
“When I was young, my mom used to read to me these bedtime stories—the classics, Bible stories—it was a ritual for us. My mind would drift off to all these faraway lands and castles and forests. The next morning would find me making recreations of those stories and that’s how I became who I am,” he explains.
Reading played a big part in shaping the imagination that created all these wonderful furniture designs.
“You have to imagine these worlds,” Kenneth says of the difference between books and movies. “It’s different when you are fed images. I had to recreate what they must have looked like.”
The result includes bestselling designs that range from chairs that bloom like oversized flowers, fit for the tiny Thumbelina of Hans Christian Anderson tales. Overhead lighting fixtures made of small human figures were inspired by Gulliver’s Travels. Conch shells spin their stories and fishes tell their tales also as illuminating fixtures. The branches of a baobab tree, which readers of The Little Prince know must be controlled lest they take over small planets, inspire the rattan poles that hold up tables.
Kenneth grew up exposed to furniture design because his mother Betty had a rattan factory.
He says, “I studied business first because my father said there was no money in arts and design. So I went to UP Diliman and took up business. In the middle of my Accounting class I decided I couldn’t take these numbers anymore, so I walked over to the Fine Arts Department and secretly applied. I failed the entrance examination because I couldn’t draw well enough.
“Interestingly, about 15 years ago, that same school of fine arts asked me to be a commencement speaker.”
He continues, “I took a year off learning how to draw, then I went to New York to study design at Pratt, my mother’s alma mater. From there, I went to Europe to continue studying but when I graduated, there was a massive recession. I went back home and took over my mom’s furniture factory. That’s when I started to create my own designs, my own collections under my name, which was very unusual because back then, everyone was just a plain manufacturer.”
“Even until today, big brands will take your designs and put it under their name. That’s just how it works,” he said.
“But I insisted that they use my name and the big brands didn’t want that. So for about two years, we had no clients.”
“I said, hey, this is a different game now. You have to say this is from the Philippines, you have to put my name on it. So for two years, all our best craftsmen were just sweeping the floor.”
“My mom said, 'What in the world are you doing?' I explained, this is branding. Back then, no one did that.”
The big break came for him with Movement 8. “CITEM brought this group of designers (including me) together to exhibit all over the world. I found a new set of clientele who had never bought from Asia and only bought European. They respected designers.”
The new showroom at BGC is located at the corner of 8th and 36th Streets, which is part of the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences. Although it was scheduled to open in 2025, I was able to walk through the two-story space that contains his collections that have been selling for more than two decades.
Fable, on the other hand, is the adjacent café and lounge.
“Fable was originally a café for my clients, but it took a life of its own,” says Kenneth. “It was inspired by Maurice Sendak—when you enter it’s like a forest and you discover a different world.”
Sendak wrote Where The Wild Things Are, Kenneth’s favorite book (and one of mine). In this charming tale, a forest grows in a boy’s room and in his dreams, he sails off to the land of the Wild Things, who make him their king.
“In a way, Fable is like that—a little boy in a boat goes to a different world,” says Kenneth. In his collections, “There’s that reference to the voyage bed or beds that look like pods.”
Fable does, indeed, bloom like an enchanted forest, with giant birds of paradise and other exotic flowers growing on the walls.
“These are an abstract representations of nature,” Kenneth says of the flowers. “Even in artificial guise, they are beautiful.”
Lighting fixtures filled with curious objects—colorful insects, horned skulls, shellfish bearing giant pearls—are suspended over the dining tables and chairs which, of course, are part of his collection, too. On one wall is a turquoise sculpture by Roland Ventura, his interpretation of an angel as described in the Bible. The DJ’s corner is helmed by three elegant carabaos.
This fantasy setting, unique in a city filled with dining options, becomes an even more desirable destination in itself because of the delicious fare. For brunch last Sunday, my kids and I enjoyed the French toast brulee which had a delicious texture, like a cross between a bread pudding and a tres leches. The lighter-than-air ube pancakes are like the popular souffle pancakes. A yummy breakfast burger consisted of a homemade longaniza patty, a hash brown and omelet spiked with vinegar, all contained in a brioche bun. We enjoyed all this with a purple berry tea.
The scrumptious appetizers include dumplings done in fantasy colors of pink and green, a trio of lamb tacos and mozzarella balls I’d rather have over mozzarella sticks any time. The black truffle tortellini with a few shavings of actual truffle is as beautiful to look at as it is to eat.
Just as the food at Fable reflects cuisines from all over the world, so does Kenneth draw inspiration from his travels.
“I like to try to go to a major capital city every year, and then exotic places like Nepal, Machu Pichu, the Pyramids, the Galapagos, places that are off the beaten path. I find more inspirations in those places,” he explains. A case in point is his Gobi collection, where tables have stands that look like cacti. This was inspired by a desert in Arizona.
It’s hard for him to say what his favorite pieces are because they’re all like his children, so to speak. “I like certain pieces because they represent milestones in my career,” he says.
“Like the dragnet—that was really was my first design that veered away from natural materials because in the Philippine furniture industry, it’s usually either wood, or wicker or rattan or something native. It was a challenge to create something out of fabric, something that’s imported or not really inherently Filipino, and to transform it into something different.”
Kenneth points to the chair he’s sitting on.
“A lot of the work here is now out of fabric,” he says of the Parchment armchair. “These are like pages of a book, they’re like old books which you tie up. The materials are all imported because we don’t have a fabric industry, but it’s the craftsmanship that is distinctly Filipino.”
Asked to define luxury, he says, “Luxury is aspiration. When people aspire to own something that they can’t, that’s luxury.” In his opinion, “there’s really only one luxury brand today and that’s Hermes. Luxury has to do with history, tradition… ‘this company has been around since 1800.’ Luxury brands play up these generations of craftsmanship so you think, they must know what they’re doing.”
He observes, “Even till today, there’s no Filipino luxury brand to speak of.” Italians, for example, are raised by Filipino nannies and so they have a hard time equating Filipino with luxury.
But that could change as a younger generation of artists draws inspiration from the standards of excellence a consummate artist like Kenneth Cobonpue displays in his work.
“It’s my personality—I want things to be perfect, I always want to improve,” he explains. “A lot of the designs here are 20 years old and they still sell. They are really well made, they have to be built to last for generations.
“Talking about sustainability, that’s really important,” he adds. “My professor said, ‘Why is a Louis Vuitton bag, even if it’s made of plastic, sustainable? Do you ever find anyone throwing a Louis Vuitton bag away?’”
He concludes that his pieces “have to be so well designed and so well made that after generations you don’t throw them away.”
Step into Fable, or Kenneth’s new BGC showroom, and it’s clear to see that he has, indeed, created his own universe of magical pieces that transport you to faraway, fantasy lands. To own a Kenneth Cobonpue is like buying a ticket to explore new imaginary worlds within your own home. And since his stamp is great design, built to last, his pieces will live on—the hallmark of a truly great, world-class Filipino artist.
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Kenneth Cobonpue’s showroom and the adjacent Fable Cafe + Lounge are at the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences at the corner of 8th and 36th Streets, BGC.
