Isa is the founder of Back Beat Co., a brand known for its low-impact, high-comfort clothing for "that laid back life." Based in California, Isa's designs are inspired by the area's surf and skate culture, and made from organic or recycled fabric.
Hi Isa! How are you?
I’m doing great. Well, aside from the fact that I am missing home (the Philippines) and my family who all live there. But happy to have my health all good and everyone I love doing well.
We're currently finishing up 'fits for Fall/Winter 2021 and starting development for Spring/Summer 2022. We’re always looking ahead!
We’ve all been spending a lot of time at home lately. What’s your favorite spot in the house?
We just redid our living room (my husband is an interior design enthusiast) and I've been spending a lot of time there. We recently reupholstered a vintage Knoll sofa in a super cool green plaid fabric and I am loving just hanging out on the couch after a long day of work.
What are some of your favorite items in the house?
Our reupholstered Knoll sofa, our George Nakashima coffee table (all Craigslist finds by my husband), and our Raymond Pettibon art. We also didn’t have a dining table for almost eight months because we like to wait until we find something we love, and we finally found an old Eames conference table. Then we spent another three months looking for mismatched cream Eames chairs! We might actually be done decorating our house now, haha.
How do you spend your free time?
I try to surf as much as I can. I took a couple of years off as I was so busy working on the company. Last year’s silver lining was that I had the time to slow down and revisit old hobbies.
I grew up in Palawan, so I'm a water baby and surfing is my alone time.
Any homemade specialties you’ve been making?
I went HAM on cooking last year! But I think I got so burnt out because I was cooking 2-3 times a day. My fave thing that I made are my grandma’s empanadas and dumplings!
Walk us through your area and neighborhood. What are some of your favorite spots?
We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood smack in the middle of Los Angeles. But Platform is nearby and my husband and I walk our dogs (Max and Dude Man) to get Blue Bottle coffee and some Pop’s bagels.
We also have Undergrind Cafe which is an unpretentious, black-owned coffee shop in our neighborhood we frequent a lot. They have really good breakfast and lunch food and the baristas know the regular’s names. Highly recommend!