Milan-based Filipina designer Mirei Monticelli turns Philippine abaca into LVMH prize-winning light sculpture

Vogue Philippines has profiled Mirei Monticelli, a Milan-based Filipina industrial designer who won the innovation award at the fourth Premio Maestri d'Eccellenza run by Métiers d'Excellence LVMH for a lamp made with Philippine abaca and banana fibres.

Mirei Monticelli, a Milan-based Filipina industrial designer and sculptural lighting artist, won the Maestro dell'Innovazione d'Eccellenza (Master of Excellence in Innovation) award at the fourth edition of the Premio Maestri d'Eccellenza, Vogue Philippines reported in a profile published on 5 October 2026.

The Premio is an initiative of Métiers d'Excellence LVMH. LVMH announced the 2026 winners with Confartigianato Imprese, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Fondazione Bvlgari, and said the award ceremony took place at the Bvlgari Hotel Roma. Monticelli was named in the innovation category, which recognises professionals who preserve historical savoir-faire and skills and reinterpret them in a modern way.

A lamp inspired by Botticelli

For her submission, Monticelli presented her "Aphrodite" lamp, which Vogue Philippines said takes inspiration from The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. The lampshade is made from banaca fabric, made from Philippine abaca and banana fibres, while the lamp base is cement reinforced with abaca fibre.

"I liked the play between how it seems so fragile, but it's actually strong because it's the strongest natural fiber in the world," she tells Vogue Philippines.

Made between the Philippines and Italy

LVMH described her work as stemming from a dual-origin production process: banaca takes shape in the Philippines, where her mother, a fashion designer, collaborates with a community of weavers, and is completed in Italy, in her studio, where she designs and sculpts each piece.

Vogue Philippines reported that Monticelli was introduced to the material at an early age, as her mother's atelier works closely with local weavers and farmers who produce the fibres and fabrics in Catanduanes and Bicol. Monticelli earned her master's degree in Design and Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano.

What the prize brings

According to LVMH, each winner will be awarded €10,000 by Métiers d'Excellence LVMH, to be reinvested in the recipient's business, along with media exposure, up to three mentoring sessions with professionals from Bvlgari Group, and visits to Maison Bvlgari production sites.

Monticelli told Vogue Philippines the award almost felt like a surprise, as she expected it to go to a "100% Italian brand". She said she hopes the award draws attention to Philippine-made materials. "There's an importance in the material, especially our natural resources, because that's the strength of Filipinos," she said. "If we give value to it, the whole world will see it too."

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