As design division chief of the Design Center of the Philippines, Carla Mae Leonor is innovating Filipino creative industries
It’s not unusual for a child to be interested in art. Drawings and paintings are often the earliest creative expressions we have. But from a young age, Carla Mae Leonor, who today serves as the Design Center of the Philippines’ design division chief, knew that her art was more than decorative—it could change lives. “Design was a calling that I answered early with the help of my family, who prized innovation over convention,” she recalls. “It was more than a hobby; it was a lens through which I viewed the world.”
Leonor started studying interior design at the University of Santo Tomas in 2005. In 2009, she placed first in the Interior Design Licensure Exam. “Formal training taught me that my art can have a functional purpose and influence people’s behaviour,” she says. “I wanted to reinvent ordinary objects, making stories out of spaces.”
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Diving into the world of design
Carla Mae Leonor studied interior design and also has a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship from Ateneo de Manila University
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Over the past 16 years, Leonor has developed a multifaceted approach to design. She enhanced her education by earning her master’s degree in Entrepreneurship from Ateneo De Manila University. In 2021, she became a Merit Scholar at the Asian Institute of Management. There, she joined FIRE (Female Innovators for Radical Change), an organisation dedicated to empowering women in business and entrepreneurship.
She also followed her creativity wherever it led her, from being a creative director at a home furnishings brand to designing fine Filipino jewellery. Wherever she went, she was fascinated by the fusion of design, business and technology. “Technology helped me elevate each design, making them not only immersive but more impactful,” she says. “I wanted people to rethink their assumptions. As my understanding of design broadened, I started to see it as a problem-solving tool for enhancing culture, identity and well-being.”
Her first brush with the Design Center of the Philippines was in 2018. At an initial interview with executive director Rhea Matute, Leonor was asked an important question: What kind of project do you want to lead? “I said I wanted to build a sandbox for creatives where they can freely ideate, prototype and create without fear of failure,” she recalls. Still, Leonor wanted to pursue her own path before working with the Design Center of the Philippines.
