Philux Fix: Showcase of Filipino craftsmanship, ingenuity

Philux Fix exhibit vignette

Philux Fix, Philux’s latest campaign, was launched through a furniture and photo exhibit last month at the SM Mega Fashion Hall.

Philux, a contemporary furniture retail and custom shop, collaborated with influencers of different backgrounds to customize furniture of their choosing while infusing their own sense of aesthetics.

“Philux, 37 years ago, started as a mom-and-pop business in the backyard of my mother’s ancestral home with two skilled carpenters creating rattan furniture,” shares Stephanie Kienle Gonzalez, Philux’s head of sales and business development, and eldest daughter of Max and Zelda Kienle, founder of the furniture company.

“This is very telling of how personal the business is to us and how deeply passionate we are about Filipino craftsmanship and local furniture making. We are now a growing team and our vision is for our clients to feel the same way when choosing and owning a Philux piece. That the experience is personal and that furniture can be more than just mere objects,” Stephanie explains.

This is the context by which Philux Fix was founded. The exhibit showcased the versatility and ingenuity of Philux’s all Filipino craftsmen through the creation of customized, high-quality furniture pieces that are distinctly its clients’.

“We selected people, most of whom are friends, to collaborate with us. We asked them to choose an existing Philux piece and customize it according to their needs, taste and preference,” says Jessica Kienle Maxwell, head designer, and youngest of the Kienle sister duo.

“They are a good mix of different personalities, career paths, and different tastes so it has been such a creative and exciting experience for us and for them,” she adds.

“Majority of our clientele used to be older and more traditional since the classic designs by my dad very much appealed to them,” says Jessica.

When she began heading the design department four years ago, she created more contemporary pieces and the brand introduced more wood and fabric selections. With both her and Stephanie at the helm, Philux is slowly being embraced by even the more experimental.

Design collaborators include top photographer BJ Pascual, who designed his own piece as well as photographed all the other collaborators with their chosen furniture. BJ had photos he took on a trip to New York printed on his Fulton chairs.

Actress and artist Heart Evangelista Escudero, whose artwork on Birkin bags got everyone raving, opted to paint on her chosen Philux Polk chair and added embellishments and stated: “it’s my first time to work on furniture so this is quite new to me and I love it!”

Erwan Heussaff, on the other hand, went for a simpler piece stating, “I’m all about understated elegance. I’m not too showy so this Embla chair is just perfect.”

For the more sentimental like new mom Bianca Gonzalez Intal, actual hand prints of her, her husband’s and baby Lucia’s were printed on her Marquis Meridienne.

“It’s going to be placed in our play room. We wanted something very comfortable and immortalize how little Lucia is right now, thus the hand print. It’s a nice thing to look back to when she is older. It’s really a family piece,” she says.

Stephanie explains that Philux clients can indeed semi-customize their furniture by choosing from an in-house selection of wood, wood finish, fabrics, and accents such as mattings, handles, and glass tops.

“At the end of a hard day’s work, we ultimately want the passion to come full circle. From my parents who are founders of this brand, my sister and I who are growing it further, our great team, and ultimately to our valued clients.”

Apart from my Mason wing back chair design, other furniture pieces were jointly designed with Karen Davila, Joey and Angie King, Chris and Clarisse Tiu, Pam Quiñones, Philux’s power duo Stephanie Kienle Gonzalez and Jessica Kienle Maxwell, Stephanie Zubiri Crespi, and Cristalle and Justin Pitt.

A few of the Philux Fix pieces are currently on display at Philux Rockwell and Philux Megamall. Also available at Philux Shangri-la at the Fort are furniture pieces that may be ordered for a limited quantity.