Lady Gaga Shoemaker Finds Perfect Fit In Asian Market

by ABS-CBN News

MANILA – The creator of Lady Gaga’s shoes, which found instant fans in other celebrities like Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian among others, is looking to expand its footprint in a fast-growing, trendy Asian market, according to Rem D Koolhaas, founder and creative director of global footwear brand United Nude.

Koolhaas, who described his brainchild as an “affordable design company” and whose products are “exclusive by design, and not by price,” is on his second visit to the Philippines, following UN’s flagship opening at Resorts World Manila in Dec. 2018.

There are also talks of opening more stores in the horizon, but Koolhaas was quick to add that there was no need to rush into the fresh market.

https://youtu.be/lyzJ9EOBwOc

“One of the reasons I think that we are popular in Southeast Asia is because there have been a lot of economic growth over the past decade. And therefore, there’s a lot of interest and newness, and there’s not so much retrospect in a new market like that,” said Koolhaas in an exclusive chat with ANC’s “The Boss.”

Unlike its European counterpart, which Koolhas has described as “conservative” and “casual” citing the influence of established heritage brands, Asia, he said, has a higher interest in fashion, taking note of the women who tend to dress up “a little bit more.”

 

The California-based Dutch native also revealed plans to venture beyond fashion and into hospitality like United Nude Hotel or into property with Filipino real estate billionaire Robbie Antonio of Revolution Precrafted, the Philippines’ first Unicorn startup. 

“We’re always interested to find a collaborator, but we also get a lot of requests for collaboration,” said Koolhaas. 

Among United Nude’s current collaborations include Lady Gaga’s choreographer Richard “Richy” Jackson, and African-American Shaun Ross, the world’s first albino male model.

Established in 2003 with Galahad Clark, a seventh-generation scion of the Clark shoe brand, United Nude’s shoes are sold in over 50 countries with concept stores in places, such as Vienna, Tokyo, and Beijing, among others. Its roster of other high-profile creative collaborations include Iris van Herpen, Linda Farrow, and the late Zaha Hadid. – Jan Yumul, Eah Antonio, Christel Lagdameo, and Cathy Yang, ABS-CBN News

 

 

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Philippines’ First $1 billion Startup Hopes To Inspire Entrepreneurs

by Cathy Yang and Jessica Fenol, ABS-CBN News

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba53QZoDbBJ/

MANILA – The founder of the Philippines first “unicorn” or $1 billion startup said he hoped his success would inspire more Filipino entrepreneurs to think out of the box.

Revolution Precrafted, builder of designer modular homes, is led by Jose Roberto Antonio, one of the heirs of luxury developer Century Properties Group.

“I hope that inspires Filipino entrepreneurs, brilliant minds out there. Hopefully in our own little way, the company inspires some people going forward,” Antonio told ANC on the sidelines of the ASEAN Business & Investment Summit.

Antonio said he had to be “flexible” with pricing in Southeast Asia to lure more buyers.

“The house is still the biggest purchase of a human being, our business plan is to really establish formidable joint ventures with local business people, developers to streamline business further,” he added.

At Revolution, homes can be built from 3 months to 2 years using advanced robotics, he said.

Read More:  ASEAN 2017   ASEAN Business and Investment Summit  

Related Links: About Robbie Antonio , Contact

Disruptor Robbie Antonio Believes In Extreme Ambition

by Jan Yumul, ABS-CBN News

https://youtu.be/btVbmAR8L5s

MANILA – Visionary developer Robbie Antonio says he ignores naysayers in his quest to become the Philippines’ first “unicorn” or $1-billion startup.

Antonio is the CEO of Revolution Precrafted, a pioneer in modular luxury homes.

“If I decided believing all the naysayers, I would not be doing what I’m doing,” Antonio tells ANC’s “The Boss.”

The 40-year-old entrepreneur with slicked back hair says a boss should be “extremely ambitious.”

“Most successful visionaries in my mind were relatively eccentric, extremely lofty in their ambitions and very steadfast in their goal of achieving it,” said Antonio.

“You could multi-task and do a hundred tasks with specific goals.
You have to have razor sharp focus. And I believe in that,” he added.

Catch The Boss on ANC at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with replays at 11:30 p.m.; Fridays at 3:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Saturdays at 4:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.; Sundays at 4:30 a.m. and Mondays at 9:30 a.m.

Read More:  ANC   ANC Exclusives   The Boss   Revolution Precrafted   real estate   startup  Robbie Antonio

PH Firm Taps Kate Upton In Investor Push

by ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Startup real estate company Revolution Precrafted has tapped Hollywood celebrity Kate Upton as it makes a pitch to international investors.

Upton, who gained fame after gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, accompanied Revolution Precrafted CEO Robbie Antonio in Tokyo to woo Japanese investors. 

The real estate firm is seeking investor support for its project in Southern Luzon which it called “world’s first livable art park.”

The company, which builds prefabricated houses done by international designers, secured a $1.1-billion joint venture agreement with Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Ventura in April on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit. 

Antonio helped seal a venture a few years ago with Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton for his family’s Century Properties group. 

He was featured on ANC’s The Boss, where he related his intention of turning Revolution Precrafted into the Philippines’ first “unicorn” or billion dollar startup. 

Filipino Developer Aims For ‘Unicorn” Status With Modular Luxury

by Cathy Yang, ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Visionary developer Robbie Antonio hopes to become the Philippines’ first “unicorn” or billion-dollar startup with prefabricated luxury homes that he hopes will disrupt the global real estate market.

The 40-year-old CEO of Revolution Precrafted has partnered with 44 architects, including the late Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid and American rock singer Lenny Kravitz, to create modern designs. A restaurant, he said, could be built in as fast as 3 weeks.

The son of Century Properties founder Jose Antonio hopes to earn his first $1 billion in 2 to 3 years. He recently secured a $1.1-billion joint venture agreement with Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Ventura.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRSazi1jVR-/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=fc3f1b44-51cc-4ede-a2e9-002838e2bb89

“You have to be extremely ambitious,” Antonio told ANC’s The Boss, after arriving in a jet black BMW 7 Series.

“To be different, you have to think differently. You can’t force to think differently you just have to be inherently different,” he said.

Potential “unicorns” have to be “relatively eccentric, extremely lofty and ambitious and very steadfast in their goals of achieving it.”

Revolution Precrafted CEO Robbie Antonio speaks to Cathy Yang for ANC’s The Boss. ABS-CBN News

Antonio said he was in talks with, among others, a Victoria’s Secret model and a “major” NBA player.

“I need to curate them personally,” said Antonio, referring to his partnerships. “I shun the outside consultants for this.”

Working with the family’s Century Properties, Antonio helped seal ventures with Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton and US President Donald Trump, when he was still a reality TV and real estate mogul.

Revolution Precrafted’s first Philippine project will be an art park in the south, Antonio said, adding he is having more pre-fabricated built abroad to be closer to his clients. The company is present in Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and Indonesia.

Luxury Preb Developer Eyes Low Cost Housing Market

by ABS-CBN News

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJPeyTeANkQ/

MANILA – A Filipino developer of designer prefabricated homes said Tuesday it was hoping to partner with government for low-cost housing projects. 

Revolution Precrafted CEO and founder Robbie Antonio said the modular homes would be affordable if the scale reaches “hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands.”

Antonio’s venture is poised to become the Philippines’ first “unicorn” or $1-billion startup. Aside from designer homes, the company is targeting prefabricated condominiums, hotels and pop-up retail shops.

“We’ve been really trying to serve that base of the pyramid,” Antonio told ANC’s The Boss. “The affordable market is a goal from the CSR (corporate social responsibility) perspective.”

“It’s about design democratization. We would go to the bottom (of the pyramid). It’s a thick market and needs homes and if we can do that for the country, we can do it for the region.”

The government needs to build some 5.7 million homes in six years to address the country’s housing backlog, according to analysts.

 

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Related Links: About Robbie Antonio, Contact

PH property developer’s P650-M house featured in US mag

by ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – Century Properties has made a name for itself in the Philippines with its luxury residential projects, often attached with famous names such as Trump, Versace, Missoni, Starck and even celebrity Paris Hilton.

Now the property developer’s managing director  Robbie Antonio is getting attention for having convinced world-famous architect Rem Koolhass to design his 25,000-square-foot house in Manila.

In its July issue, US magazine Vanity Fair came out with an article about Antonio titled “The Museum of Me.”

Vanity Fair said the Koolhaas-designed house, which Antonio called “Stealth”, reportedly costs “upwards of $15 million” (approximately P650 million).

“Indeed, the building, under construction on a small lot in Manila’s most exclusive neighborhood, has been kept largely quiet until now. It’s a series of boxes stacked together in an irregular pattern, with scooped-out windows that call to mind Marcel Breuer’s Whitney Museum, all wrapped in a charcoal-colored concrete-and-polyurethane ‘skin’; the roof features a pool flowing into a dramatic waterfall,” the magazine reported.

Koolhass was asked why he took on the residential commission, his first in 15 years, and he simply answered, “Well, basically Robbie.” The Dutch architect seemed to have been impressed with Antonio’s “enormous vision.”

“Then we decided to basically not be our normal, occasionally dogmatic self but to completely adopt his point of view and see where it would end,” Koolhaas was quoted as saying.

Koolhaas, who founded The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), is a Pritzker Prize-winning architect and was named one of Time’s most influential people in 2008. Among his famous works are the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, Casa da Musica in Portugal, Seattle Central Library and Seoul National University Museum of Art.

Antonio had originally wanted Koolhaas to design a building that could be rotated, but he told Vanity Fair it “would be detrimental to my budget.”‘

His house will also have a gallery, where he will display around two dozen of his portraits by some of the world’s top artists such as Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, David LaChapelle, Julian Opie and Takashi Murakami.

Vanity Fair said Antonio spent $3 million (around P130 million) on these portraits.

Antonio is known to have made valuable connections with celebrities such as the Trumps and Hilton in New York. He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a degree in Economics from Northwestern University.

He spent 5 years in New York, where he worked on the The Centurion and enlisted the help of Pritzker Prize Award-winning architect I.M. Pei to design it.

Antonio is the son of former Ambassador Jose Antonio, whose wealth is estimated at $300 million and was 25th in Forbes magazine’s Top 40 list of richest people in the Philippines. The family owns listed property developer Century Properties Group, whose projects include luxury condo Essensa in Bonifacio Global City; Trump Tower Manila, Acqua Iguazu by yoo inspired by Starck and Azure Urban Resort Residences, whose beach club was designed by Paris Hilton.

Read More:  Century Properties Group   Vanity Fair   Robbie Antonio