About Us & FAQs
Greetings from Manila, Philippines!
Rubbertree Design Studio is headed by Ruben and Trina Flores. With backgrounds in industrial design and studio arts, their design method is grounded on a shared aesthetic and a dedication to materials, technique and process.
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Our pieces are made to celebrate the material and to establish clean silhouettes. Each item is made with the utmost care and attention by our small team, to ensure you enjoy each piece for a long long time. Due to the nature of genuine leather, with every hide having its own distinct story, each product has its own identity.
Our wood tag has your bag number and our signatures, marking our dedication to every piece that we make in the studio.
All bags and cases are not lined.
We hope you will enjoy using your piece for a long time. We welcome stories that you will share, as a commitment to giving you a purposeful and trusted piece that will be with you for many years.
To read more about our story, click here: The Story So Far, July 2021
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What’s with the wood tag?
Even in our early study phase, we knew our works needed an identifying mark. That comes in the form of the numbered wood tag each bag now carries. Think beyond the little square and picture the rest of the rubber tree extending from the draped roots.
Rubbertree Design Studio is mainly us, Ruben and Trina Flores. We currently have one assistant, and our team of three hand-cuts and hand-stitches all the bags that we produce. We take the time to plan out and assemble each item we make, and it is with much pride that we number and sign each bag behind the wood logo tags stitched unto them.
Do you customize?
We can, but sadly we don't. We're always thrilled by new ideas, but between ideation and actual production is a lot of planning, drawing, testing, redrawing...etc. We do continuously try new stuff out and release one-off products from time-to-time.
Can you add a lining to your bags? Zippers?
We do not line our bags. We veer away from doing so because we think that good leather should be highlighted inside and out.
Also, a piece will only last as long as its weakest component and it’s typically the lining that gives the earliest.
It's the same case for zippers for now, as our small production doesn't allow us to test zippers long-term.
Do you ship world-wide?
Yes! Kindly email us your complete address including postal code and we'll send you a formal shipping quote. Shipping options are DHL, FEDEX and EMS.