About


Julia Villamonte (Bicol, 1986) is a weaver and designer based in Milan. She was born and raised in Bicol, a region along the eastern seaboard of the Philippines with access to durable plants and climbing ferns whose leaves and stems sustain a crafting culture. Women who come from generations of weavers taught Julia how to weave.

Formally educated in architecture and interior design and working previously on residential projects, she migrated to Italy, where she explores the intricate relationships between material, place and culture through her work. Hanging mobiles, vessels and other domestic objects with or without function serve as a link to her heritage and the crafting traditions of her homeland.

In 2019, she established Fili, a weaving and design studio anchored on experimentation, research into natural materials and sharing learnings among designers, workshops and practitioners of the ancient craft. These explorations in abaca, rattan and other native plant fibers have yielded soft intuitive forms of varying degrees of success, either shelved, shown or brought into production in small batches. The availability and readiness of the weaving materials is a major consideration. (Some leaves can only be harvested during the dry season.) So too are the opinions of the weavers themselves. Each object is the outcome of both friction/disagreements and the exchange of knowledge.

The textures and rhythms of her weaving process: looping, tying and interlacing multiple strands to form a shape; then joining individual shapes to form a larger piece become a rich personal space in which to meditate on the places that are important to her, that she desires to stay connected to.

Since moving to Milan, Julia has started incorporating stems harvested from her urban environment, as well as gifted branches from the South. She continues to be fascinated by the internal activities of a house, particularly, the objects that surround the inhabitants.



Exhibitions

2026Shared Matter presented by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Milan Design Week
Prix Paille, Schweizer Strohmuseum, Wohlen, Switzerland
3daysofdesign Galleri Sonja, Copenhagen

2024Chorus, San Mei Gallery, London

2021

1000 Vases, Milan Design Week

2020

Weaving Ties: From Manila to Milan, Philippine Consulate General, Milan


Press

June 2026
Domus

April 2026
Dezeen
Forbes
Lampoon Magazine

October 2024
Homes & Gardens

September 2024
Vogue UK

January 2023
The Hambledon

October 2022
Remodelista

October 2021
L'Officiel Ukraine

July 2021
L'Officiel Philippines

November 2020
CNN Life

October 2020
WWD

July 2020
Mix Magazine 60 Tatler Homes Philippines

November 2019
Goodmoods

October 2019
Sight Unseen

February 2019
Lifestyle Asia