When travelling the world for Kotur, one of our very favourite pastimes is to sneak off someplace and do a little shopping. Last week, in Manila, such an opportunity presented itself, and who were we not to make the most of a few free hours in this ever changing city. Thanks to a tip off from a friend, we found ourselves in a an area of town made up mostly of warehouses. Down an alley, wiggling though, we found two total treasure troves of design shops. The first we came across, Warehouse 17, was a wonder. Stocked with both it’s own original line and finds from around the world, it’s the brainchild of Andres Vasquez Prada, a former department store buyer and clearly a man with impeccable taste. Cleverly taking a lot of the materials that the Phillippines is know for (shell, resin, wood,) he’s clearly a fan of the natural look, with these wonderful natural materials featuring heavily thoughout his amazing shop. A giant resin tortoiseshell lit up from within, silver leaf pieces from Thailand, blown glass pieces from Germany, shagreen stools and boxes, coral lamps and some Alessi thrown in for good measure all made for an eclectic assortment that hung together beautifully. Factor in the proprietor’s own custom rug designs and beautiful bone china and you have several extremely good reasons to go visit this store!
Further down the street is another gem of a shop. The Pietro Collection is a total treasure trove, an interiors store that’s all about colour, taking European style pieces and delivering them with an Asian twist. Not shy of a statement, their huge space was full of oversized chandeliers and ceramic Chinese stools, mid century knick knacks and bamboo lamps, bright accessories and table accents, and if we’d had a container ready and waiting, we would have taken a hell of a lot of it home with us! For an incredible assortment of pieces full of life and colour and with a brilliant feel that’s both Asian inspired and rather 1960′s modern to boot, The Pietro Collection was a truly inspirational space.
Click through our gallery above for some of our favourite finds from both stores.
For information on both, please see below.
Warehouse 17 - 2241 Pasong Tamo, La Fuerza Compound, Makati, Philippines, www.w17home.com
THE PIETRO COLLECTION - La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Phone: +63(2)3105164