Bali and the lockdown inspire Ito Kish's new collection

“If there is one thing I’ve learned after more than 90 days in quarantine, it’s that you have to be hopeful about tomorrow,” designer Ito Kish says.

In April, the idea for “Ito Kish Retail Season 2” started germinating in his mind in the early morning hours (he would start at 4:30 a.m.) when he would take a walk in Legazpi Park. The rest of the day that he spent in lockdown in his flat, he would daydream about the trip he took to Bali in February last year.

“I am not sure how the lockdown affected my creativity. I know I was lazy but at the same time, I imagined how the retail space and a collaboration would look,” he says.

Thus was born “Ito Kish Retail Season 2,” a selling show happening in July through early August, with three collaborators: his close friends Len Cabili of Filip + Inna and Apol Massebieau of Good Luck, Humans, and potter Joey De Castro.

Ito’s Bali trip with Len and Apol last year started in Ubud and wound its way to Seminyak. “It was their first time, so I was basically their guide. It was very inspiring.”

Planning a retail show without ever having a meeting with your collaborators is a huge challenge, not to mention the lack of face-to-face with manufacturers who would produce your designs. “It was all was via email. Production was slow because of the logistics, like my lamp supplier could not find rattan due to the quarantine, so the base was finished a day before the shoot last week. 
Since GCQ was extended, we also moved the event. But working with Len and Apol, who are two of my terrific friends, was easy, and I also did not have any problems with Joey.” 


“Life in quarantine has also taught me the importance of friendship,” he says. “With each brand, I am doing a collaborative piece. Proceeds of the first piece of each collab will go to World Vision to support the education of less fortunate kids.”

He adds, “Inspired by our trip to Bali last year, Len is coming up with an exclusive collection of clothing that mixes traditional Indonesian and local fabric. Gregoria II is our collaborative work. She took the Gregoria accent chair and wrapped its balusters with handmade materials from the different indigenous groups that Filip + Inna works with.