Raphael P.

KONUS DESIGNS was created through the innovative vision of Raphael Pangilinan, a Filipino-born French artist. Raphael possesses a creative eye for detail and his innate talent in furniture design was further developed while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in architecture in the Philippines. His passion inspired his early drawings and work pieces, making up most of KONUS’ collection today. Raphael credits his unwavering passion to create new designs to his vast experience as a Product Development Manager in a parfumerie in France for seven years. During this period, he sequentially developed prototypes and sold limited pieces of his work. Realizing that this was his life’s calling, he decided to turn his artistic skills into a business and registered KONUS DESIGNS as a legal entity in the Philippines in 2007. In 2009, Raphael and Lalena Perez, a college friend and Marketing Management graduate who initially collaborated on his designs in 1998 reunited. Discovering that they share the same creative passion, they decided to become business partners. Lalena has spent 10 years in the securities trading and investment banking industry in New York. Most recently, she served as Senior Management Officer for Merrill Lynch’s Global Markets and Investment Banking Business. Having envisioned of starting up her own business, Lalena seized the opportunity and joined Raphael in officially launching KONUS DESIGNS to collaborate on all design pieces, as well as oversee the financial, marketing, and operational aspects of the business. As two budding entrepreneurs who have left behind the corporate world abroad to return home and pursue their passion, this is an extremely promising joint venture. Their unconventional approach to furniture design is characterized by conceptualizing and producing original pieces by incorporating the use of indigenous materials and other natural resources. Subsequently, they integrate natural shapes and themes; artfully enhancing both raw beauty and sinuous forms to captivate a myriad of design inspirations for today’s global trends. Each Konus piece is an elaborate design detail; a fusion of modern art and Filipino ethnicity, showcasing the one of a kind Philippine ingenuity.