MANILA – Manila FAME, the country’s premier design and lifestyle event, returns to its April season to bring the global trade buyers to the optimal buying cycle at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on April 21-24. For its 63rd show edition, the trade fair evolves into a boutique show featuring a more sophisticated, more exclusive and tightly curated show.
With the theme “Iridescence,” a portrayal of the colorful character of the design and lifestyle event of Asia, Manila FAME will headline an ever-growing showcase of export-quality Philippine designer pieces for the home, holiday, and fashion sectors in a well-coordinated boutique setting. It is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions arm of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“Manila FAME is more than just a trade fair. It is a journey of discovery of globally responsive products that celebrate color and style under one roof. Buyers who visit Manila FAME on a regular basis always comment that they enjoy and benefit from the multi-dimensional experience that only Manila FAME offers,” said Rosvi Gaetos, the executive director of CITEM.
This April, the Manila FAME: Boutique Edition will feature a special setting called Spring Forward which will showcase seasonal and festive product categories in special settings that celebrate indoor and outdoor lifestyles, with award-winning visual storyteller Ito Kish at the creative helm. In this setting, Philippine home décor and furniture manufacturers will highlight their versatility and the potential of their indoor and outdoor home products.
An exhibition project titled Y’ari: The Fluent Object will highlight the intersection of artisanal production in various Philippines villages and the interventions used to modernize this production, with Marian Roces as lead curator. The exhibition will include select antique pieces to convey the level of quality that is being matched by modern transformations. With a haute couture display concept on hand, its exhibition design will depart from typical trade show approaches.
Spring Forward and Y’ari: The Fluent Object are Manila FAME’s special highlights this April under CITEM’s Design for Exports program, a multi-tiered and multi-faceted assistance program which provides Philippine exporters, manufacturers, and designers with a full range of design and product development services. The program brings together both local and international designers and business experts, as well as both young and seasoned industry players to create finely crafted products in the home and fashion sectors designed for the global market.
Trade buyers and visitors will also get to experience the Philippines’ distinct character and rich inventory of traditions and talents through the Artisan Village, which plays a significant role in protecting, preserving and promoting the arts and crafts of the islands. It aims to celebrate the work of local artisans and master craftsmen highly skilled in weaving, wood carving, metal forging, marquetry, and other various forms of traditional crafts.
As in previous Manila FAME show editions, Red Box will continue to inspire design enthusiasts with an inspirational showcase of fresh home and fashion ideas. Red Box is a design development that continues to develop junior designers through an ongoing talent and development and mentorship program. For the April 2016 edition, Red Box will feature the iconic designs of junior designers Joseph Rastrullo and Rachelle Dagñalan who will develop a conceptual display based on Manila FAME’s theme “Iridescence,” under the mentorship of Budji Layug, the creative director of Manila FAME.
The OTOP (One Town, One Product) Marketplace will once again exhibit handcrafted products made by skilled Filipino craftsmen from various local communities. It is a project of the DTI-Bureau of Domestic Trade Promotions (DTI-BDTP).
Manila FAME will coincide with the celebration of Design Week Philippines (DWP), which fosters connections between creative industry practitioners and design enthusiasts in an interactive sharing of knowledge, ideas, and trends.
Now on its 9th bi-annual staging, Design Week Philippines will provide “the richest, most exciting, most meaningful ways to group, gather, and bond people.” The theme for April 2016 is “Connection” which refers to the creative attempt to bring together people from diverse backgrounds and culture to interact and share their creativity with each other, with Intramuros as DWP’s first design district.
Manila FAME is the second-longest running trade show in the Asia Pacific. It is the only trade event in the country approved by the Union des Foires Internationales (UFI), or the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, a Paris-based association of trade fair organizers founded 90 years ago in Milan, Italy on 15 April 1925.
For more information on Manila FAME: The Boutique Edition, interested parties may visit the official Manila FAME website at www.manilafame.com.
