Expanding our directional perspective beyond fashion, the UNIVERS Market houses home lines, fragrances, and novelties that exhibit the breadth of the UNIVERS lifestyle. As Christmas approaches, we put our Market lines front and center, and partner with award-winning production designer, Gino Gonzales, for an off-beat approach to this year’s holiday gift guide.
A lot of these objects have an innate sense of humor, and I don’t think they were designed to be taken too seriously. You will probably find them displayed in luxurious, designer homes. But I think it was also fascinating to see them in more literal and visceral contexts such as a kitschy aquarium for the fish decanter.
On a more personal level, the objects take me back to a childhood. I remember trips to the cemetery in Tarlac, when I see those neoclassic casts. I see the public market in Dapitan, when I see the porcelain slices of meat. The Bearbricks remind me of elevated versions of the plastic goods in Zurbaran market and the kitschy dwarves in the neighbor’s garden. And the glass, cutlery trays I see in the tubs filled with hot water in eateries like Ma Mon Luk. And I think that is the beauty of these objets d’art. They spark memory. They connect you to something...
As a scenographer, I was trained to situate actors in confounding situations. In a way, I’m also doing that with these objects, putting them in a different real world context.
- Gino Gonzales
