BLOOM: Manila FAME 2026

I dropped by Manila FAME to catch what they have this year. As always, there is much to appreciate: the ingenuity of our designers, the resourcefulness of our makers, and the remarkable ways Filipino hands continue to transform local materials into objects of beauty and purpose.

This year’s theme, “Bloom,” means to come into one’s own, to reveal what has been growing quietly beneath the surface. For our creative industries, it is an invitation to draw from the richness of our natural environment, our cultural memory, and the ingenuity of our people — and translate these into products that can find their place in the world.

But walking through Manila FAME also brings a sobering realization. While buyer attendance has increased over the past three years, this has not automatically translated into higher export sales for our producers. The creativity is there. The craftsmanship is there. What remains difficult is turning interest into orders, and orders into sustainable businesses. This is where design becomes more than aesthetics. Design is strategy. It is the bridge between what we know how to make and what the world is ready to buy.

It was lovely to see designer friends bringing their creative input to the fair. CITEM has once again engaged established designers to curate exhibition spaces and work with manufacturing exporters, recognizing that products need more than a place on a shelf. They need a story, a point of view, and a cohesive identity.

The Design Commune, the central exhibition curated by Tony Gonzales, was so eye-catchingly elegant, moving between display and art. The hyper-creative ideas demonstrated how an exhibit space can bring together representative pieces from all exhibitors within a space bordered by a cornucopia of organic rattan and paper, with contrasting paper curtains wrapped in plastic. The result … a compelling conversation between materials and forms for contemporary living. Tony’s own booth also received the Katha Grand Award — a fitting recognition of the possibilities that emerge when design thinking leads.

Milo Naval brought his sensibility to Home at FAME, working with furniture manufacturers to develop designs and a more coherent presentation. These collaborations are important because they allow manufacturers to see beyond individual products. I was also happy to encounter community weaving groups we had worked with in the past under GREAT Women. Their presence at the fair, with support from their provincial governments, is encouraging. Yet I sensed that many were still approaching the market largely through retail, selling directly to individual consumers.

There is nothing wrong with retail. But if we are serious about growing exports, we must also understand the requirements of business-to-business markets. International buyers need collections that can be reproduced consistently, prices that work commercially, dependable lead times, and products that answer a clear market need. Craftsmanship opens the door; design development and business readiness help keep it open.

The micro-producers had their own marketplace, bringing together regional and provincial brands. I remember this model from decades ago. And while it continues to provide visibility, I could not help noticing how many products remain familiar, even repetitive — so same-same. Our regional identities are rich, but identity alone cannot carry a product indefinitely. We must keep asking: What else can this material become? What new function can this craft serve? How might we reinterpret what is inherited without losing what makes it ours? Central to this questioning is the need for innovation.

One promising development is CITEM’s ResiDisenyo initiative, which brings designers into closer collaboration with provincial manufacturers. Milo Naval’s work with Bicol producers illustrates how a designer can bring cohesion to a group presentation while helping manufacturers explore new possibilities. This is the kind of sustained engagement our industries need — not simply a beautiful booth for a few days, but a process of product development that continues beyond the fair.

There are encouraging examples of what happens when innovation meets material mastery. Tadeco’s Katha award-winning product highlights bamboo’s elegant surface finish, showing how refinement can elevate a familiar resource. Pete Delantar’s Nature Legacy continues to explore sustainability through the transformation of waste into contemporary products, including polymer-based applications. These are reminders that our natural materials and environmental challenges can become starting points for new design thinking.

Yet our exporters are navigating difficult times. Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, changing supply chains, and rising production costs affect purchasing decisions across international markets. Buyers may visit, admire, and express interest, but the orders do not always follow. Meanwhile, manufacturers must continue investing in prototypes, better finishes, new collections, and improved production capabilities.

We cannot ask our producers to innovate and then leave them to carry the risks alone. What is needed is a stronger ecosystem, which CITEM is aware of: designers working alongside manufacturers from the beginning, deeper research into bamboo, abaca, rattan, weaving traditions, and other local materials, and more deliberate connections between product development and export-market intelligence. Our makers need opportunities not only to exhibit but also to learn, refine, scale and build lasting relationships with buyers. Perhaps this is the deeper meaning of Bloom. Growth is not a single spectacular flowering. It requires cultivation, patience, and the right conditions.

Now is the time to support local. For our buyers, retailers, hospitality businesses, developers, and consumers, choosing Filipino-made products is an investment in the people and communities behind them. For our institutions and industry partners, it is a call to sustain the work of design, innovation, and market development. Manila FAME gives us a glimpse of what is available. The next task is to ensure that what blooms in the exhibition halls can take root in the marketplace — and grow.

Manila FAME runs from 15 to 17 October 2026, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City.