Ito Kish highlights mid-century modern in new showroom & pop-up

Somewhere in an empty house in the middle of nowhere in Denmark, designer Ito Kish was certain he was going to die. A man had a rifle pointed at him, saying, “Do you think this is loaded?”

He thought, “Shit, I’m going to die and my family doesn’t know where I am.”

Then the man lowered the rifle and laughed, “No, it’s not. I was just joking.”

This is part of the journey of how a hundred or so pieces of mid-century modern furniture got to his newly renovated showroom in Bel-Air, Makati and a pop-up store next weekend at Kirov Model Unit in Rockwell Center.  

But let’s begin the story in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ito was traveling with his operations manager Loida on a buying trip. Towards the end of their trip, they visited an antique collector from whom he had previously bought a few pieces. She said, “I know this man who collects vintage furniture and his warehouse is outside Copenhagen.”

So Ito and Loida decided to go to this guy’s warehouse. The warehouse was about 5,000 sqm. and in the middle of nowhere. It was filled with furniture pieces that this collector had amassed from estate sales or when a house was going to be foreclosed, he’d get a call and buy pieces he could resell to collectors.

“I fell in love with the pieces, but the problem was we didn’t have the budget anymore. After the warehouse, we were on the train and he said, ‘Can we just drop by this house? The owner passed away a few days ago.’”

It was the dead of winter in January and by 7 p.m. it was pitch-black outside. The man took a key under a pot by the gate and they went in.

“The house was dark and empty, but you could still see the towels hanging and shoes on the floor. The DVD was still blinking red. Loida and I stayed downstairs while he went upstairs to the master’s bedroom. When he came back he had a rifle in his hand and pointed it at me. I almost peed my pants.”

When Ito got back to Manila, he began to raise funds and two weeks later he returned to Denmark for another buying trip — this time only mid-century modern.

And that’s why his new showroom (same address for the last five years) is 80-percent Scandinavian furniture. On June 23 to 26, some pieces will be at his pop-up store at Kirov Model Unit.

Kish has pieces by Hans Wegner, Verner Panton, Arne Jacobsen, Steen Ostergaard, Paul Poulsen, Borge Morgensen. Pieces that you’d ask, “Who can afford this?” were sold in the first two days of display. Not all are by world-famous designers, but all are vintage and not refinished or reupholstered. They are in mint condition with some of them bearing slight marks from more than half a century of existence in Denmark.

So why should people or collectors buy Scandinavian vintage, which costs triple or even quadruple similar pieces of the same quality? “If you talk about mid-century, there is no other place but Scandinavia, Denmark in particular. These are classics, they will never go out of style. You go to American home stores, all their collections are inspired by Scandinavian design because it’s timeless for its beauty and simplicity.”

Ito shows me a closet — a beautiful closet with simple lines, but you know it’s not a cheap one, you know it has withstood time gracefully just by looking at it. And you can dismantle the whole thing for transportation just by removing wooden pegs inside.

There are so many more like this — signed original chairs, sofas, closets, tables, lamps, studio pottery, and bespoke hotel ornaments. Wood, stone or metal appear in their natural states. Clever woodworking and handcrafting techniques, including book-matched grains, patinated metal details and elaborate joinery, are visible in the pieces. Their distinguishing marks are a simple profile and organic elements. 

Apart from these, there are the usual fun accessories curated by Ito from all over the world, most especially from Paris. The showroom also carries his own furniture design and other brands including Organic Modernism, KIMU Design, vintage, antiques and one-off pieces.

The reopening of his showroom last week also coincided with the rebranding of Ito Kish the company. “Kish” is the retail comprised of furniture and accessories; “Kish Interiors” is the interior design services provider; “Ito Kish Home” is original Filipino furniture and accessories designed by him.

Go upstairs for Ito’s own collections. You won’t see a more Filipino-inspired furniture pieces. So far, he has launched 13 collections, including the award-winning Gregoria (Baluster), Rodolfo, Basilisa, Binhi, and B-luxe furniture (modern and high-end Batibot chairs).

The Baluster, his first and my favorite of all, was his entry into furniture design and what an entry he made, winning his first of three Katha Awards. The Gregoria console table has seven baluster legs and when one design student saw it at CITEM’s Manila FAME, she told her mother, “See, ma, a table doesn’t always have to have four legs.”

I’ve known Ito Kish for about 17 or 18 years, before he even had his own eponymous branding. I’ve seen his aesthetic grow and change over the years, but my favorite phase of his was when he began designing furniture because he puts our identity out there.

And when I ask him what still inspires him these days, he says, “Just being a Filipino.”

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Kish showroom is located at 233 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air, Makati City. Call 896-8366, email info@kish.ph, log on to www.itokish.com.  A pop-up exhibition is slated to run from June 23 to 26 at the Kirov Model Unit, Rockwell Center, Makati.

Follow the author on Instagram and Twitter @iamtanyalara, visit her travel blog at www.findingmyway.net.