Tea with Fornasetti

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OPULENCE’S latest store combines things they’re already good at (Italian luxury home decor) and a relatively new concept (a café).

At 380 square meters in Greenbelt 5, in the space formerly occupied by True Value, the previous tools and things have been replaced by shelves and shelves of plates, vases, clocks, chairs, and everything except the kitchen sink through brands Fornasetti, Versace Home, Jonathan Adler, and Polspotten. Political spouse and actress Heart Evangelista graced the opening on Dec. 15.

For the opening, owners Gerry and Jinky Tobiano Sy sought the help of interior designers to make a space using the store’s various brands and themes. Cynthia Almario Ivy Almario did the seasonal display, Geewel Fuster did the space for Fornasetti, Anton Mendoza did the space using Jonathan Adler (the vases of breasts were hard to ignore), Myze Bangayan lit up Versace Home, Grace Tan used Polspotten in that space, and Cyndi Fernandez of Moss Design did the interior of the store.

This is their biggest store yet: since 2019, they’ve been building branches across the city — in San Juan, The Podium, and Newport World Resorts.

“I was fortunate that this space was available,” Mr. Sy told ����ý. “We’re expanding our brands, and furniture is bulky,” he said about the store’s size (they’re welcoming the home line of Dolce & Gabbana next year). “We need space to display beautiful things. We don’t want it to look very cluttered.”

Mr. Sy is in the tech business, but partnering with an electronics company allowed him to work on the interiors of some of the country’s most expensive real estate. “It just kept expanding,” he said about the move from tech to luxury. “We love beautiful things.”

Speaking about his preference for Italian brands, considering the number of them in-store, he said, “I think Italians have (some) of the (best) tastes, in fashion, in furniture, in accessories. They always have this exquisite taste in design. And the quality is also very important.”

Aside from expanding into luxury, Mr. Sy is also in the food business through the Supersam chain of casual dining restaurants. He combines both sensibilities in the Opulence Caffé, a relatively new project. “I’m already into food. It’s just expanding; natural,” he said of opening the café.

They’ve converted their Podium branch to host a similar concept, while opening a café-only concept in Greenhills. Aside from serving delicate pastries, selling food from, of all brands, Dolce & Gabbana, and using tea and coffee from Milan, the café has the distinction of using china from Versace and Fornasetti (among other brands they have in the store). “We thought of having a café that uses these brands, and for the guests to experience drinking in a Fornasetti cup.”

The newest Opulence Design Concept store is now open on the 3^rd floor of Greenbelt 5 in Makati. — Joseph L. Garcia