Five creative industry leaders congregate to answer the question “From idea to icon: How do you succeed as an artist in business?” Kenneth Cobonpue (Furniture Design), Rajo Laurel (Fashion), Ivy and Cynthia Almario (Interior Design) and Raymund Isaac (Photography) generously share their experiences to an audience of aspiring designers, press and enthusiasts. The notable speaker lineup is especially relevant as SoFA launches its brand new School of Interior Design. The Almario sisters have partnered with the original SoFA owners to establish this innovative interior design school.
“Invisible” furniture, gowns, shoes and bags made of plastic, glass, mirrors and sheer materials by both well known and up and coming designers make up the avant-garde exhibit. Large topiary made with used plastic water bottles invite viewers to come close to appreciate the intricacy of the leaves and branches carved out from the plastic. These extraordinary sculptures were produced by inmates from the maximum security compound of the Muntinlupa Prison. SoFA’s collaboration with the inmates is aligned with SoFA’s mission to develop passionate, visionary, creative and entrepreneurial individuals.
The highlight of the cocktail hosted by SoFA on the 21st of September is a model wearing a Michele Sison et Kleid transparent gown sitting on an invisible chair. There is literally no chair and the model takes a cross legged seated position while floating in the air, resting her weight on what appears to be nothing. This fascinating display is testimony to the fact that good design, like magic, can captivate and amaze spectators.
In the past three years, SoFA has built a sound reputation as a specialized fashion college. It is the home school of Project Runway Philippines and a partner of Europe’s leading design school Instituto Marangoni. Its students have won design competitions such as CITEM’s, been awarded by fashion publications such as Preview and embarked on promising fashion careers.
Today, SoFA introduces its new identity as the SoFA Design Institute. Within this Institute is the School of Fashion and the Arts and the new School of Interior Design. Opening like fashion did with a set of appealing workshops, the interior design school aims to eventually offer a complete range of programs including those that will prepare students for the board exam.
As it expands to other creative fields, SoFA remains committed to providing an education that sparks innovation and ingenuity and develops globally competitive design entrepreneurs. Find out more at www.sofamanila.com.
and also check out their workshops
Broadening its reach beyond fashion, the SoFA Design Institute unveils a new School of Interior Design. This grand educational endeavor is being pursued by SoFA in collaboration with industry leaders Ivy and Cynthia Almario. The partners want to create a school dedicated to developing passionate, visionary, creative and entrepreneurial individuals. Honing these qualities may well promote the Philippines to being among the world leaders in the realm of interior and furniture design.
SoFA Interior Design’s “Professional Series” of courses ranging from 1 to 2 year diploma programs will be introduced in January 2011 and will cater to students who want to seriously practice, start a career, make their marks and change the world. The “Personal Series”, on the other hand, includes short workshops for the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) hobbyist students who want to learn about designing their own homes or businesses.
The fact that a whole cable network (HGTV) exists solely for DIY design is testimony to the huge number of enthusiasts. These include those who want to decorate their own rooms and don’t know where to start; or those who collect interior design magazines, hoping that one day their homes will be as stunning as those featured. Practical workshops offered at SoFA beginning in September include Visual Editing, Staging your Home for Sale, Renovating on a Budget, Entertaining in Style, Furniture Styles, Design Presentation in 3D and Christmas Decorating.
The impressive line-up of workshop teachers includes Ivy Almario for Visual Editing, a class which helps you make sense of your magazine clippings and create your own, personal, cohesive style. Ferdi Salvador, Creative Director for the Discovery chain of hotels and partner of The Event Architects (TEA) teaches Entertaining in Style. Furniture Styles is taught by Metro Home magazine’s Associate Editor Barbie Pardo-Tiangco, and Design Presentation in 3D is taught by the first placer of the 2009 Interior Design Board Exam, Carla Leonor.
Tristan Jovellana, former of host of TV show “House Life” teaches Renovating on a Budget, and seasoned professor John Basbas, also a contributor to Condo Living and My Home magazines, teaches Staging your Home for Sale.
Nobel Prize poet W.B. Yeats wrote, “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire”. In other words, education should not merely be the dispensing of information and not merely provide the answers to What? should be done but instead provide the answers to Why? and How? things should be done. A good education should inspire students to do great things by innovating rather than imitating.
In the words of Ivy Almario, likening design to baking, “students should not only know how to follow a recipe but to make a recipe”. Taking that a step further, they would need to learn how to market and sell the cake they baked. Hence, SoFA believes that it is in merging the design and business worlds where creative industry leaders are born.
The new school will be launched through an exhibit at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall from September 16-26 entitled “SoFA Speaks on the Power of Invisible Ideas”. A forum will be held on September 21 from 3-6 p.m. at the Rockwell Power Plant movie theater featuring icons Kenneth Cobonpue (Furniture Design), Ivy and Cynthia Almario (Interior Design), Rajo Laurel (Fashion) and Raymund Isaac (Photography). The compelling topic for the talks will be “From Idea to Icon: How do you succeed as an Artist in Business?” Due to limited seating, advanced ticket purchases are recommended and can be made at 55 Paseo de Roxas Makati (8928807 or info@sofamanila.com).
