Designer finds own ‘Empire’

Empire Designs’ works embody understated luxury.

Looking at the world through her mom’s eyes proved to be the perfect formula for her own success.

Interior designer Vianca Anonuevo-Favila grew up wanting to be everything her mother was—a highly respected president of one of the biggest mall operators in the country.

“When I was young, I always saw myself in corporate, this is because I grew up seeing my mom and how successful she was. She was my role model both as a mother and as a professional,” Anonuevo-Favila shared.

Her mother, Marivic Anonuevo, previously served as the vice president of Ayala Land and was also president of Ayala Malls and Ayala Hotels back then. Growing up in such environment, it came naturally for Anonuevo-Favila to want to tread the same path.

“In my mind, I would grow up to be like my mom—a president of a big company. I finished my college degree in Business Management Minor in Marketing at the Ateneo de Manila University and then continued to pursue a career in corporate,” Anonuevo-Favila shared.

Corporate world

Anonuevo-Favila recalled that when she was in college, she got invited to compete for a spot at the first ever Management Trainee program of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Philippines. Fortunately, she was one of the lucky ones who was hired to join the prestigious program a month after graduation, and just two years after, she became one of the youngest managers in the company.

“J&J was an amazing company. A value-centered company that gave me a good training ground should I wish to follow in my mom’s footsteps and climb up the corporate ladder,” Anonuevo-Favila said.

She however knew then that something was amiss because despite the evident success and excellent learnings she was already starting to enjoy, there remained a void that she felt needed to be filled. She knew then that it had to do something with the previous trips she had with her mom while growing up.

“Since my mom worked at Ayala Land, I would be exposed to several different projects—residential buildings, malls, resorts and even hotels and she also loved to travel and bring us her kids almost annually all over the world. This is when I fell in love with interiors,” Anonuevo-Favila noted.

“I realized my passion wasn’t in corporate. I dug deep into my core and took a risk. I quit my amazing job and I told myself, maybe I can try something I am truly interested in, and that was Interior Design,” Anonuevo-Favila shared.

Turning point

Anonuevo-Favila was 22 when she decided to move out of the corporate world to enroll at the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID). The brave move proved to be the perfect turning point as this allowed her to journey onto a path that was more than perfect for her.

“I never really put a lot of thought into studying interior design growing up. It was more of an interest—designing my own room, taking note of details of historical sites and studying the materials used in the hotel rooms we stayed at whenever we travel,” she further noted.

It was also at the PSID where she met her current design partners—Idr. Jc Arcega, Idr. Mark Steven Perez and Idr. Julie Anne Mangio—who helped her further realize her dream of creating a company. And it didn’t take long for her and her friends to put up their own design firm, Empire Designs.

“When we first met, we did not think of putting up a firm. We were just drawn to each other, having similar tastes and grew to be great friends. Empire Designs started with an idea during our final thesis at PSID, which was our batch exhibit. We were thinking of what to do next. It all scared us knowing that we will again start from scratch,” Anonuevo-Favila said.

“We put up our firm at the guest room of one of our homes in 2009. We got stuff from our homes—a worn out desk, several chairs and an old white board. We would go to meetings with clients in the morning, source for materials or do site visits in the afternoon and continue our drawings at night. We worked almost 20 hours a day including weekends and holidays accepting all kinds of projects coming our way,” she added.

‘Understated luxury’

According to Anonuevo-Favila, one of their first projects was a three-bedroom unit at The Residences at Greenbelt, which embodied the design aesthetic that Empire Designs wants to be known for—understated luxury. It was a style that is timeless and mature for the group’s age back then when the trend was more Asian Contemporary or Neo-baroque.

“Our main challenge when we were starting out was to be able to get big companies to see us not as kids because we technically were young competing with seasoned designers. It was very difficult to show clients that our design aesthetic was a bit more mature so we had to really bid for projects to show them our designs. When we got our first break—a model unit at Tagaytay for Alveo Land Inc. we are proud to say that our work and our professionalism led us to have a continuous relationship with a big company such as Alveo Land Inc.,” she said.

And after eight years of being in the industry, the group was able to grow the firm from handling small projects to designing hotels, resorts, residential buildings, corporate offices and showrooms for big names such as Ayala Land Inc., Federal Land, AnchorLand, and Sta Lucia Land Inc.

The group also recently bagged a 5 star award for Best Showhome at the Asia Pacific Property Awards in Bangkok, for its The Gentry Residences design. This is what Anonuevo-Favila and her partners consider as their biggest achievement yet: being able to represent the country in a prestigious award body such as the International Property Awards.

Anonuevo-Favila said they are hoping that this recent win will open more doors for them and eventually allow them to live their dream: to design for international hotel chains.

Driving force

Asked what was the greatest lesson she learned from this journey and Anonuevo-Favila only has this to say: “Do what you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

“My staff earlier asked me how I do it, seeing the amount of work I needed to juggle apart from now being a mom of two. My answer was simple: I loved what I was doing. Although of course, things can get stressful at times, but what doesn’t? Better to get stressed with something you love to do,” she said.

“Passion is really my driving force. I try my best in words and in action to inspire my employees and my students as well. Empire Designs is a passion-based company. We encourage our team that work can still be fun. We have flexible work hours, an office environment that is relaxed and fun without compromising on our professionalism. My background in business management as well as my training in Johnson and Johnson helped me create this mix of creativity with business,” Anonuevo-Favila concluded.