Kor Landa's R&D steps to a Fab Accessory Collection.
Marketing Manager Alice Uypuanco leads a tour of the Materials Library at the Research & Development Department of Kor Landa Corp., a French-owned manufacturing company of high-end fashion accessories and jewelry. Kor Landa employs over 20 designers and model makers, many of which are women.
Marily Mondejar in the Material Library of the R&D Department at Kor Landa, pictured with a colorful assortment of precious and semi-precious stones, beads, shells and samples from the upcoming 2017 collections of Kor Landa's three in-house brands: Nature, Franck Herval and Ori Tao. Over 700,00 pieces of jewelry are produced at Kor Landa each year.
Reporting from the Philippines!
Marily and I spent the past two weeks traveling between Manila, Cebu, Bohol and Tacloban to re-connect with our members, get acquainted with trending local industries and plan the program for the upcoming the 13th Annual Filipina Leadership Global Summit slated for September 2016 in the Philippines.
While in Cebu, we visited the Export Zone and toured the manufacturing facility of Kor Landa Corporation, a French-owned high-end fashion accessories firm based in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu. Marketing Manager Alice Uypuanco led our tour with an exclusive look at the upcoming 2017 collections of Kor Landa's three in-house brands: Nature, Franck Herval and Ori Tao.
The magic happens at Kor Landa's Research & Development Department where 20+ designers consult industry trendbooks and gather local materials such as stingray skins, mother of pearl, brass, silver, metal, stone and shells from the Materials Library to inspire the design themes for their collections. We then headed to the Production Department and met with Design Teams led by women to observe cutting-edge production techniques of the latest trends in jewelry-making: hand-painting, cutting, weaving, layering, enameling, casting and even soldering of various Philippine-sourced precious stones, pearls and metals.
From there, we toured the factory where we learned that each piece is meticulously handcrafted by only one worker from start to finish. Workers are generally discouraged to rush production to ensure quality standards as Kor Landa offers a lifetime guarantee on all of their products. Workers also receive mandatory breaks three times a day, discounted meals every Friday at the Kor Landa canteen and two weeks paid vacation during the Christmas holiday season.
We left Kor Landa in awe of the high-quality craftsmanship and the trendy ingenuity of Philippine jewelry designers and makers. We were inspired to shop deeply discounted for-export-only items to remember our visit!
The Summit this year will be a trip to both Manila and Cebu. We are captivated by Manila's metropolitan allure and its status as a financial capital, yet drawn to the Heart of the Philippines - Cebu's natural charm, beautiful handicrafts and furniture, and impressed by its emerging IT and tech industries. Watch out for the details.