31 January 2018
Published also in Business Mirror
SHOWCASING innovativeness in manipulating renewable sources, 15 Philippine lifestyle brands are set to participate in the upcoming Ambiente 2018 trade event in Messe Frankfurt, Germany, on February 9-13, 2018.
Home decors from Freden Arden Classic Inc., Artisana Island Crafts, Celestial Arts Inc., ChanalH, GSG by Flora Cereatives, MARSSE Tropical Timber Plantations, Nature’s Legacy Eximport Inc., Pumice Unlimited Ventures, Red Slab Pottery, Larone, Finali, Silay Export Inc., Tadeco Home and 33 Point 3 Exports Inc. will embody the theme of “Sustainability through Design” for the Philippines’s third collective participation at Ambiente.
Sustainable design has risen in popularity in recent years for its social, economic and ecological principles, such as emotionally durable design, recyclable properties and use of low-impact and renewable materials.
It is a general reaction to the global environmental crises, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems and the environment, among others. With an emphasis for ethics over aesthetics, there is a misconception that sustainable design lacks inspiration.
From conventional local materials like abaca and rattan to hardened lava, the Philippine participation will highlight the inventiveness of Philippine artisans in transforming renewable materials into premium modern pieces.
Pumice Unlimited Ventures creates home décor and accent pieces from all natural volcanic stone taken from the Mount Pinatubo eruption site. The lava rocks are nontoxic and any rock waste is donated to the local government for road construction.life
MARSSE Tropical Timber Plantations creates sustainably made home, kitchen and dining accessories from responsibly logged wood. The company is an avid promoter of sustainable management of forest plantations, as well as promotion of modern forest technologies.
A maker of sustainable and innovative materials, Nature’s Legacy is a global manufacturer of home furnishings and garden accessories. The company only uses agri-forest debris as raw materials for products, ensuring buyers that no trees were cut for their products.
“We as designers and manufacturers have a responsibility in minimizing the negative impact on our country’s resources and at the same time, connect with international trade buyers through our products,” said Clayton Tugonon, executive director of the Center for Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Ambiente 2017 attracted more than 4,400 companies and exhibitors from 94 countries. The trade fair also branches out to international markets, holding shows in the major Asian cities of Tokyo, New Delhi and Shanghai.
Citem is the organizer of the Manila FAME—the second longest-running trade show in the Asia-Pacific, and the only trade event in the Philippines approved by Union des Foires Internationales, a Paris-based association of trade-fair organizers founded 90 years ago in Italy.
Manila FAME is a biannual business-sourcing platform of export ready and finely crafted furniture and home furnishings, holiday gifts and décor and fashion accessories. It showcases the best of Philippine design and craftsmanship.