MANILA -- For Kenneth Cobonpue, designing furniture involves a continuous search for fresh and unique ideas.

The world-renowned furniture designer gets inspiration from everything around him -- from the beauty of nature to everyday objects such as crushed soda cans.

He also likes combining different materials, as seen in his newly released collection. Among these are Loop, a set of hanging lamps made with cotton rope and steel; and Barnacle, which is translucent lighting made by hand from rice paper.

Aside from lighting, Cobonpue's collection also includes chairs like the Zaza, with its dramatic plume inspired by palm leaves.

Exclusive offers for his newest pieces were made available to Metrobank credit card holders, with select clients and members of the media given a preview of the collection last week.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Cobonpue said he saw a silver lining during the pandemic as he had time to pause and reassess his creative process.

"I think I just looked at it as a respite from everything. We were just always pressured to come up with new collections season after season, and I think that (pandemic) gave us a breather," he admitted.

"It also gave us time to look at our designs and see, 'Do we really need this? Is this really relevant?' It was a time to take away things that were not selling as well in the collection, and to just put the iconic ones there," he added.

When asked to share advice to aspiring furniture designers who are looking to make a mark in the world, Cobonpue spoke of always striving to offer something that will stand out.

This, he said, can be done through constant experimentation.

"I think that there's so much out there, so many designs, and you always have to find something, that new and fresh thing," he said. "I know it's difficult, but the only way to do that is to keep on experimenting."

"Keep on trying to find new materials, new ways of doing things, new forms, silhouettes," he continued. "Hopefully, you'll find that one thing that's going to characterize your work."

Cobonpue also stressed the importance of maximizing one's skills, as well as the materials and resources available in the country, to add value to their products.

"If you plan to manufacture in the Philippines, it's quite expensive to do things from here. So it has to be something really special," he said.

"Chances are when you design, when you think that it's something new, it's already been done. So it has to mean something that uses our skills, our resources," he added. "It has to have a high level of craftsmanship to be able to compete in the world."