Bio-based leather takes forefront of sustainability
Konstrata produces bio-based leather alongside by-products such as leather goods, bags and shoes, while remaining open to collaborations with industrial designers and other brands
Long before Tal de Guzman’s sustainable brand Konstrata Leather became a topic of conversation on material innovation and sustainability, she had early on moved through design, footwear and social enterprise with an unshakeable resolve and passion via her various projects and advocacies.
Raised within a family of business owners whose careers included culinary, hospitality, engineering, fabrication and construction, the specific terms of operations and long-term goals were familiar. While her siblings gravitated toward aligned industries and finance, Tal took a different route — one which leaned toward stewardship and material experimentation.
TAL de Guzman
Photograph courtesy of Ethan Yamamoto
An all-girls education at Miriam College influenced her formative years, followed by an initial foray into Management at the Ateneo de Manila University. An eventual shift to a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Management degree signaled an early understanding that art and systems could coexist.
Work experience followed, then formal fashion training at the School of Fashion and the Arts — where she would later return as a faculty member — and further entrepreneurship studies at The One School, a non-traditional personalized college.
MICCA Amor, Tal De Guzman and Vinz Mamalateo, the three visionaries behind Konstrata Leather.
Her academic path continued with a Master in Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprise Development Track at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, where she graduated with two commendations and a gold medal under the mentorship of the late Dr. Eduardo Morato Jr.
Footwear entered her professional life in 2011 through Risqué Designs, her social enterprise rooted in craft and collaboration. Risqué has since grown into a respected name for custom shoes and made-to-order models for its own clientele. Likewise, she runs small-batch manufacturing, working with premium local brands. Materials, craftsmanship and community are constant reference points. Her design sensibility — once upon a time more experimental and avant-garde, as evidenced by her pioneering designs — has evolved into subdued wearable forms infused with Filipino textiles, techniques and narratives.
