Patti Carpenter takes us to an interwoven journey for Manila FAME’s Artisans Village

By Aly Dela Peña

After her first time in the Philippines at Manila FAME in 2024, Global Trend Ambassador and principal of carpenter + company Patti Carpenter is back in the country, not as a guest speaker, but an Artisan Development Mentor for the 73rd edition of the trade show.

She is the first international designer to spearhead Artisans Village, a mainstay component of the trade show that puts a spotlight on the country’s handcrafted sector. Carpenter has been consulting with the enterprises in the provinces of Bohol, Ilocos Sur, and Quirino to create new products in time for the October fair.

A driving force for the long-term success of artisan communities with over two decades of experience in the industry, Carpenter is an expert in Color + Trend research, trend forecasting, product design, and consultancy.

The FAME+ team spoke with Carpenter after her visits to the three provinces. 

FAME+: Can you please walk us through your design process for the Artisans Village?

Patti Carpenter: It's been so interesting to work with the provinces across the country. The way that I often approach things is that I look to see what they make, the capacity that they have already, what the raw materials are like, and where they're sourcing them–because those things play into the capability that they have.

Once we identify what those capabilities are, then we get into costing and pricing. My last question is always, what is it that you'd like to do? Often, creatives have ideas that maybe they haven't been able to flesh out, but what [the artisans] think they'd like to grow into can often influence what we do with them.

FAME+: We’d like to know more about the theme and colors that you chose: ocean blue, olive, and terracotta. What was the thought process behind that?

PC: One of the things that certainly can separate traditional products from looking more dated to bringing them forward into a more trend-directed look is color. Color is 85%, they say, of the reason that even a buyer, a customer walks over to a product. So having the right colors was very important to me.

Also, because of where the province is and who we're working with, having color that spoke to the places, the earth tones, the things that took us back to the handmade, were very important.

I was always working in the back of my mind with this theme of interwoven journey. It spoke to not only the textiles and baskets being woven; we even came up with some woven textures for the wood. We're really looking at how all of us are connected, both culture and tradition, to the present.

Carpenter with artisans and DTI and CITEM representatives at Flowery Hue, a maker of fossilized flowers based in Quirino.

FAME+: You've guided Philippine exhibitors from start to finish. You had the online business development sessions, then you visited them in their provinces. What was it like going to their factories and seeing their work up close?

PC: Going to their factories and seeing the work up close is wonderful. I love, as an artist myself, being able to get in there and see how things are done, especially for handcrafted things.

Just tiny shifts can really open up the opportunity to create some new products. Have you ever considered that type of product, which can be made with your same skill sets, with your same raw materials? And so to watch the light in their eyes come on, to watch the little light bulb above their heads light up, for me, that conversation, that back-and-forth between creatives was really, really important. It's one of the things that I most enjoyed about getting to be here in person.

FAME+: Designing many prototypes with our local artisans must have been fun. You must have been so inspired!

PC: We were really fast. We must have been moving really quickly. On average, I would say we probably have 10 to 20 prototypes for each company. A lot of it had to do with what they had the capability and capacity to do and the timing.

We tried to give two things: we tried to give enough that it makes a statement when they're in the booth, but also some things that maybe they'll build on when we're gone.

Also, because we work with similar materials with maybe two or three companies, we want to make sure that each one of them had something separate so that they brought something different to the table–it was a reason to exist at the show for each of them.

Carpenter and a staff from Let’s Go Natural, a Bohol-based manufacturer of bags and accessories, during their consultation session.

FAME+: What are your takeaways from the trip?

PC: I learned so much this trip. First is I love how many people work with recycled and upcycled materials. This sense of sustainability and not taking any more from the earth, but being inspired by these wonderful things that are found. Whether it's leftover yarns from the weavers who created these beautiful new stitches and colorways, or whether it's finding roots by the river that they then use for the wood. Those kinds of things were just so inspiring because it's that sensibility of, for me, it's just reinforcing how creative they are.

We can be creative without taking more. We can be creative by giving back, too. That's really that cycle that we saw a great deal when you move out into the provinces.

Those are the kinds of things that I continue to learn from artists and continue to try and have this wonderful discourse back-and-forth.

FAME+: What makes the Philippines different from other artisanal communities you've visited and worked with? 

PC: One of the things that I've been saying nonstop since I first began working with the Philippines–which is now over two years ago–is that there is just an abundance of creativity here that you don't find everywhere. This is a very creative country, and design is what a lot of countries lack.

One of the things that I think certainly separates the Philippines from other places is that there's wonderful design thinking, not just from the indigenous and the small craftsmen, but also from those that have been trained in design and the way they bring them together.

FAME+: What is your advice to Philippine enterprises who wish to enter or stay competitive in the world of exports? 

PC: If I had a piece of advice, it would be to open themselves up a bit, to look at what else is out there, and have a point of view about why you exist. Who is your target customer? Who are the people that will resonate with what you're making? 

We didn't create anything that was really going after a design competition type award. We tried to make things that were saleable and reproducible in mass so that they can build a business. Because the idea here, for me specifically, is about economic and cultural sustainability. I want them to keep doing it.

Look for some influences that may be just outside their particular reach because they're creative. And artists will grow, and artists will bloom, and the flowers that they will create will help the next generation. And that's what's important.

Catch Patti Carpenter and the creations of Bohol, Ilocos Sur, and Quirino at the Artisans Village in Manila FAME 2025. The sourcing show is happening at the World Trade Center Metro Manila on October 16-18, 2025. Manila FAME is organized by the Center for International Trade Exhibitions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Go to https://fameplus.com/registration to register.