Rattan lights up rooms in more ways than one with this new capsule collection

by September Grace Mahino

“Not your lola’s rattan. But she’d definitely approve.”

It’s a cheeky and brash statement that only a young and ambitious furniture brand could make, which makes Jed Yabut Furniture & Design the perfect company to declare it. Though barely five years old, it has been making bold strides that most young businesses would be wary to take.

For example, for its third time joining Manila FAME, the brand is pivoting from showcasing only big furniture pieces by preparing a capsule collection of smaller home items such as lighting fixtures and wall art. “People have actually been asking us to produce smaller items, so I finally said, ‘Okay,’” shares brand founder and designer Jed Yabut. “Although we’ve made them before, this time, we’re building a collection for them to be the main attraction.”

Designer Jed Yabut continues to elevate the use of rattan through his furniture design company. Photo by September Grace Mahino.

It’s a risky move, given the company’s modest production capabilities. “We have to be more particular with smaller items because they’re easier and obviously cheaper to buy,” Yabut explains. “That makes the clients’ decision-making process quicker—which means production has to keep up with the demand, and the SKU (stock keeping unit) has to scale up.” 

Jed Yabut Furniture & Design takes pride in its “slow” furniture-making process, which involves deliberate thought and a more meticulous, artisanal approach to executing concepts. However, the designer is getting the company more used to an increased production pace to meet the needs of both existing and future customers. “Some manufacturers do only big furniture or only small pieces, because both categories are their own monsters. That’s why we’re starting with capsule collections first to get ourselves used to a quicker pace.”  

An artisan at the Jed Yabut Furniture & Design factory working on a hanging lighting piece. Photo by September Grace Mahino.

A play of light and shadows

Forms found in nature have long been sources of ideas for Yabut, and it’s no different this time. Under his direction, artisans manipulate and weave rattan into chandeliers and wall sconces with shapes reminiscent of oysters and kuhol (apple snails). Light bulbs are then placed in strategic positions so that once the lighting fixtures are turned on, they not only emit soft light but also cast interesting shadow patterns. With sustainability an overall recent trend in furniture design and interiors, the pieces fit right into what people are looking for: a marked shift from crystals and shiny metallics to something that more seamlessly brings the outdoors indoors, but still bold and striking. 

Rattan has been one of the main materials Jed Yabut Furniture & Design has been using since it started. Yabut describes it as both traditional and iconic, and has praised its flexibility, utility, and unassuming beauty. “I keep in touch with the trends here and globally to see how we can keep using rattan to create very modern forms. As important as it is for a furniture piece to look beautiful, it has to be made with something from nature and with intention.”  

It has been an effective approach, so far. Although the company’s market consists of local buyers, its clients have been very supportive. One in particular is Pia Wurtzbach-Jauncey, who has collaborated with Yabut to create all-weather home pieces that have striking structural design, such as the throne-like, high-backed Binibini accent chair with its flowing, Filipiniana-inspired lines. It was such a hit that Yabut had to make a Munting Binibini version with a lower back rest to accommodate buyer demands. 

Jed Yabut Furniture is also becoming a go-to brand for local productions looking to spruce up their set design. Its Pabo chair, a contemporary reinterpretation of the iconic peacock chair, was prominently featured in the popular revenge series Dirty Laundry, and several home pieces have also livened up the set of the 2024 flick Un/Happy For You. 

“I think [clients support our work] because they haven’t seen rattan furniture done in such unique forms the way we do,” the designer posits. His company’s pieces also let the natural beauty of the raw materials shine. “A furniture item doesn’t have to be entirely perfect to be appealing. Rather than present rattan in an extremely manicured way that it looks like plastic already, we strive to keep its earthy and mundane appeal, and people respond to that well.”

 

Forging a path for the next-generation designers

Yabut has a long-term vision of seeing his pieces enter the export market, but for now, he’s happy fulfilling the needs of local shoppers, from homeowners to hospitality businesses and even government offices. He also wants to push for more brand awareness in the Philippine market. After all, he wants his company to be not just a business but also a proponent for the progress of the Filipino design industry. “That’s why it’s eponymous: I’m literally putting my name on the line,” he says. Coming from having zero background in furniture design, Yabut wants to show aspiring designers that they, too, don’t have to be “born” into the business to make a name for themselves and ensure the industry’s sustainability.

“The influence I think I have on design students, interior designers, architects, and clients, the value I bring to their work or lifestyle, their homes, their learning—all these motivate me,” he says. “They see that we’re not simply making run-of-the-mill cookie-cutter furniture, that there’s a story behind each piece. I want my company to shake up the furniture design industry through the materials we use. That actually motivated my decision to join Manila FAME in the first place, back in 2023: To make people realize that rattan can be made into something else we can be proud of and grow further as a Filipino craft.”

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Banner images from the Jed Yabut Furniture & Design . 

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Explore more home, fashion, and lifestyle brands at Manila FAME 2025 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila, Pasay City, Philippines on October 16-18, 2025.