November Round-up: Best Design Brands that Reimagine the Retail Experience

Just like that, November is over. The month has been filled with celebrations and festivities, from anniversaries to product-launching events. Since face-to-face events are slowly coming back, people are excited to gather around and celebrate milestones from one brand to another. Before the holiday season comes in full blast, here is a recap of the brands that launched new collections and celebrated their anniversary this month. 

Collaboration was a trend this month. Many brands have teamed up with artists for their collections, while others continue to work together in creating high-quality products suitable for every space. 

Kuysen and Hansgrohe Celebrates 30 Years of Partnership

Kuysen started as a small start-up business in Caloocan City while Hansgrohe was already a well-known shower specialist and pioneer in the modern sanitation industry for several decades. At the time when bathroom fixtures were starting to sell to the Philippine market, both brands were underdogs to the heavily influenced American trends. It was a decision by Hansgrohe to partner with Kuysen and to trust its founder, Mr. Kuysen Go who was committed to making Hansgrohe successful in the industry.

Kuysen and Hansgrohe formed a partnership and took industry foresight to guide them despite the competition. Over the years, the collaboration between the two players has paid off, and is now celebrating their three decades of partnership. They acknowledge that a big part of both companies’ success is attributed to the industry partners, local architects, designers, and property developers who adopted Hansgrohe designs and European specifications. It is the industry partners that propelled Hansgrohe into becoming the luxury household name that it is today, as noted by the President of Kuysen, Mr. Jensen Go.

As the companies celebrate 30 years of partnership, they are more resolute in bringing to the country innovative and exemplary products that match the style of contemporary Filipino homemakers. They aim to continue bringing excellent quality and ground-breaking bathroom and kitchen fixtures that will make partners and designers continue their trust in the Kuysen premium brand of service.

(Photos Courtesy of Kuysen and Hansgrohe)

B&B Italia Outdoor Celebrates 15 Years with New Collection

In celebration of its 15 years in the industry, B&B Italia Manila relaunches its B&B Italia Outdoor showroom on the ground floor of the Twenty-Four Seven McKinley building, BGC—the perfect space to showcase a collection dedicated to elevated outdoor living. The new B&B Italia Outdoor collection is a project born from the desire to bring to the outdoors the quality and care that have always distinguished B&B Italia’s contemporary design, capable of defining new spaces and expanding its boundaries. 

The fresh new showroom breathes in a new life, as its overall design came straight from the creative direction of renowned Italian designer and B&B Italia mainstay Piero Lissoni. Atmospheric elements that bring the outdoors in are incorporated into the space.

Apart from the beautiful designs of every piece, one of the highlights of the collection is the use of sustainable materials. Circularity and recyclability are at the core of the design and innovation process of B&B Italia Outdoor. The brand ensures to create furniture pieces without harming the environment. These efforts include the use of fibers from recycled PET bottles and employing wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. They used materials that can be separated and disposed of concerning the environment at the end of the product’s life cycle. 

B&B Italia partnered with celebrity fashion stylist Liz Uy, to curate outdoor furniture pieces that suit her taste, lifestyle, and her home. The collection was on display during the event at the brand’s showroom in BGC. 

(Photos Courtesy of B&B Italia)

Dis/Order: Casa Bella Home and Living Hosts A Special Jinggoy Buensuceso Exhibit

Sharing the passion for connecting people to a world of design through different methods, Casa Bella Founders Joseph and Stephanie Tay collaborated with contemporary sculptor Jinggoy Buensuceso for an exhibit entitled “Dis/Order” at Casa Bella Home and Living showroom in Jupiter street, Makati.

The collection is inspired by the universe. Each piece is made with a lot of folds using powder-coated metals, a material Buensuceso is already familiar with. As the name suggests, the collection is “all about the infinite folds of the universe and how we are all deeply connected to it.”

“The universe is forever evolving and unfolding in an infinite sequence which presents us with unfamiliar landscapes. This repeated occurrence becomes therapeutic to our body and soul such that this seemingly disrupted reality slowly becomes our chrysalis, our cosmos,” Buensuceso further explains about this 24-piece collection. 

It took a year for him to complete this, giving everything he had to each piece. “Solidifying a concept, executing it into a tangible piece, and finding the right balance of mind, heart, and soul is my biggest challenge. It’s about overcoming the uncertainty of how materials will work with the concept and putting your story and soul in every piece.”

The culmination of this collaboration is presented through an evening of celebration and thanksgiving, where Casa Bella puts Jinggoy Buensuceso on center stage with his works strategically displayed in their showroom.

Casa Bella has invited interior stylist Glenn Cuevo to create exceptional vignettes where Buensuceso’s artworks are given the spotlight. For Cuevo, design transcends composition, balance, and control. Beyond aesthetics, his creations are subtle, elegant expressions of that rarely shared vision that can emerge only from a close collaboration between designer and client.

“I want them to feel their deeper connection with the cosmos and realize that they are made of stardust. They can traverse any door and rediscover their existence,” says Buensuceso about his works.

dis/order will be on display until December 18 at the Casa Bella showroom at 8 Jupiter Street, Makati City.

(Photos by Ed Simon)

A Cool Sleeping Experience with Uratex Senso Memory Frost Collection

The perfect way to top off November is to have the coolest sleep experience. Uratex Philippines has recently launched its Senso Memory Frost collection which promises to provide Filipinos with a cooler sleeping experience thanks to the new DuoFrost Technology, which is a first in the country. The brand celebrated the launch through an experiential event called “A Dreamland of Ice.” Guests like Cheska and Doug Kramer, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Alyssa Valdez, and Verniece Enciso were able to experience just what this technology offers: an icy yet cozy and relaxing environment.

During the event, Uratex executives including Bigboy Cheng and his family welcomed the guests. They were greeted with a special message from the brand’s ambassadress Heart Evangelista, “We all know how much nicer it is to sleep in a cool room, and with Uratex’s newest technology, we get great quality sleep products that add up to that cooling experience.”

Uratex’s Senso Memory Frost is made of memory foam coated with cooling technology. It offers instant and long-lasting cooling comfort and relief while absorbing and regulating body heat. The Senso Memory Frost Mattress has DuoFrost cooling technology, which is the first of its kind. This feature is up to five times cooler than ordinary memory foam mattresses. 

Another highlight of the Senso Memory Foam feature is its ability to adapt to the body’s contour which helps alleviate pressure points in the body for a deeper and more relaxing rest. It also comes with a sanitized and advanced cool-to-touch fabric for an instant cooling sensation at the touch of fingertips. 

(Photos Courtesy of Uratex)