ANGLES
A furniture family that works hard, indoors and outdoors
KC: I was immediately drawn to the beautiful, clean lines of
the stools, particularly the AA and Ishinomaki stools. Then
there is the heartwarming story behind it, how this brand
started as an effort of designers and locals to rebuild an area
most devastated by the 2011 tsunami.
The brand works with distinguished designers from all over
the world. Keiji Ashizawa, one of the founders and designers
of Ishinomaki Lab, is a renowned architect. To have their trust
and confidence in our Filipino craftsmen to produce their
designs is an honor for us because their names are attached to
these designs. By being a part of the Made in Local program,
we are now making these designer pieces easily accessible to
the Filipino community. The products are made of high
quality and sustainable materials for indoor or outdoor use.
They are multifunctional, and are great for condos, resorts
and hotels, restaurants and even offices. They are easy to
envision in any space.
We are offering the market a Japanese designer brand
at a good price point as they are locally made. We can even
accommodate a buyer’s choice of wood so, in a way, every
piece can be custom-made.
You are now the proud owners of Ishinomaki Lab's
Philippine outpost run under the Made in Local
program. Can you tell us a little more about this?
When we inquired on how to bring in Ishinomaki
Lab to Manila, we were told of an existing program called
Made in Local, whose goal is to explore how existing
designs adapt to new environments, as well as encourage
collaboration among local designers. They had no partner
in the Philippines at the time. Instead of importing, we
would be manufacturing the products locally, using materials
that are sustainable and accessible to us. This is even better
than importing because we get to be a very active part of
this amazing and well-respected brand! We found ourselves
becoming big Ishinomaki Lab fans. After meeting its
founders, and getting to know their design and production
processes, we knew that this is a brand we’d like to support.
We think we are at a point where many of us have
started to appreciate the Japanese way of living. The
simple, uncluttered spaces that the Japanese are known
for are becoming popular here. We have so many new
Japanese restaurants, too.
Can you tell us a bit about the training and production
process on the road to the store launch? How hands-on
were the Ishinomaki Lab founders?
Chiba-san is one of the two founders of Ishinomaki
Lab and is also the workshop leader in Japan. He came
over to train our workers. Before he arrived we already
made a few pieces, and he gave his input on those. Our
craftsmen built prototypes based on drawings from
Ishinomaki Lab. Chiba-san was happy with the work of
the Filipino craftsmen.
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