?THE WORLD DOESN?T NEED (just) another chair or table because there are (already) enough out there.?

It was Kenneth Cobonpue talking in the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition last week.

The Cebuano furniture designer who has gained world fame (Brad Pitt has his bed and chair, among other designs) knows only too well what the Cebu furniture/home industry is up against and what must be done.

?It?s time for all of us to look and see how we can make something more unique and essentially Filipino that appeals to a global market,? he continued.

Cebu?s furniture export industry is bracing for the world economic downturn.

Known as Cebu X, the annual four-day event gathers the biggest design-driven companies in Cebu and the rest of the Visayas. This year, 55 exhibitors displayed their best furniture and accent pieces.

Cebu X marked its 20th year with the Department of Tourism as major sponsor. Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, who touts Cebu as the ideal destination for the design market, opened the event at Waterfront Hotel.

How to produce recession-proof pieces was the main challenge for exhibitors.

Some presented design-statement pieces made, for instance, of ?techno? fibers; others had smaller, one-of-a-kind gift items fashioned from an unusual mix of materials -- fossilized wood, resin, galvanized iron.

Lost year

?Our company has been in business for 35 years, and it doesn?t get any worse than this. It?s terrible,? said Charles Streegan, president of Pacific Traders Corp. and external vice president of Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation.

?The current situation is a challenge as well as an opportunity for companies and designers to reinvent themselves, both in design and operations. For many of us, however, this year is already lost.?

Furniture and accent pieces generated a total of $304 million in export earnings for the country last year. The 300 Cebu furniture manufacturers and exporters comprise only 20 percent of the country?s total, but they account for 40 percent of export earnings generated from these items.

The industry provides direct employment to 80,000 Cebuanos, while another 140,000 individuals benefit indirectly from it.

?From July 2007 to December 2008, the industry has already laid off 12,000 workers, and we?re still counting,? said Ruby Salutan, executive director of Cebu X.

One exhibitor, Janice Minor, had to trim her workforce from 300 to 90. She did so ?in tears,? as some of her employees have been with the company for more than two decades.

?I had to make some of them undergo counseling,? she said.

Best pieces

Instead of presenting boring pieces, however, many participants displayed their most imaginative pieces to date. It was optimism and survival that led them to do so.

?We hope to experience a turnaround late this year or early next year,? said Salutan.

As the furniture market gets tighter, exporters such as Noreen Hazel Yu, general manager of APY Cane Inc., have deemed it wise to invest more on expensive ?occasional? pieces by design stalwarts Carlo Tanseco and Morocco-based Joseph Crisanto.

?If you can hardly afford to pay for your house, chances are you can?t afford to buy an entire set of furniture,? said Yu, referring to the US market. ?You might as well limit yourself to one or two items to inject something new into your living room.?

One of APY Cane?s newest designs is a woven rattan chair in black and white, for the lanai. Another, in red and white, is made of plastic strips.

The ?Mombasa? showcase includes accent pieces made of contrasting dark wood and laminated shell to liven up a small corner.

Minor Inc. used locally sourced fossilized wood (which, after millions of years, has turned to stone) for benches, chairs, console tables and coffee tables.

?The collection conforms with the market?s demand for modern-looking yet organic pieces,? a company official said.

Since the main material has distinct patterns produced by nature itself, no two pieces are alike. Minor also has smaller, less expensive, but unique gift items -- jewelry boxes, lampshades and candleholders.

?People may not be buying too many chairs anymore, but they can?t do without gifts to give their loved ones,? she said.

Untried areas

Designer Debbie Palao of Design Ventures Inc. said that creativity need not be limited to designing.

?Designers are looking into other forms of creativity, like how to sell on the Internet and improve their image,? she said. ?We have enough good products. Maybe some people don?t know these products exist.?

Although the world may have had enough of new chairs, the challenge for designers and furniture makers to create something different will always be there.

?A client may say he doesn?t need another chair. Our challenge is to produce something so unique that he?s got to have it,? said Palao.