THE GLOBAL spotlight shines on the new Philippine style as the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), through Design Philippines, returns to the April 2016 edition of Salone Internazionale del Mobile. There will be a grand showcase of exemplary Philippine brands.

The exhibition, set April 12-17 in Milan, Italy, will be more than just a presentation of furnishings and décor. Four established brands and a rising designer tackle materiality, form and methodologies in a fresh, contemporary design perspective.

Carlo Cordaro, the Italian designer who settled down in Cebu, showcases, under his brand, Atelier A, the province’s famed handwork and his creative explorations in wood. He harks back to the Art Deco era in a series titled “1930,” a delicate composition of pure lines, quiet colors and discreet textural highlights made from laminated palm inlays.

For its Salone Internazionale del Mobile debut, Zacarias 1925 Home heeds various influences such as pop culture, cinema, architecture and visual arts for its tableaux of small furniture and home accessories. Wicker weaving is the heart of the brand’s design philosophy.

Sustainable style comes to the fair in the Maze furniture collection, made from Permacane, a unique, patented rattan multilayer lamination for furniture and décor pieces. The series also reveals Permacane’s versatile applications as veneer and as a sleek surface cladding.

First-time exhibitor A. Garcia Crafts shows its dexterity with metal and plastic in a tightly focused assemblage of chairs. Clarity of form is expressed in the rigorous skeletal frames, with a dynamic sculptural quality that changes the mood of the spaces they occupy.

Rising talent Kit Blancas introduces her award-winning family of luminaires called “Bahandi.” The young designer’s restraint is evident in the volumes and the precise incisions on the lighting series’ resin surface, and in the pared-down palette of solid colors.

The show represents a powerful collective statement that also reveals the remarkable transition of Philippine style. It will be design with rich narratives.

The exhibit will be at Pavilion 12 Stand F08.