Haberdashery
/
Leaf Installation at FBC
On a recent visit to FBC London on Francis Street I was introduced to the wonderful works of Haberdashery. This young and exciting company is taking lighting design to another level. Their stunning leaf installation is so delicate and striking it makes for a real showstopper in the FBC showroom. FBC are the exclusive UK stockists of the LEAF product range, available in a variety of sizes, finishes and any drop height desired. Many designers are loving the effect this installation creates within their client homes, both from the product system and Haberdashery's bespoke large-scale LEAF installations.
I have managed to get an interview with Haberdashery to learn more about who the company is. From their bold and clever public installations, to the way in which they play with light to create abstract and ingenious new dimensions, taking the lighting world to a whole new level. The multi disciplined creative team spend a huge amount of time working within the research and design process, and have a chance to enjoy the experimentation of ideas which often leads to new and exciting developments for in-house projects or for specific design briefs.
Read on to read my interview with Haberdashery and get a feel for behind the scenes in their design world.
What is the story behind Haberdashery?
Haberdashery was founded in 2008 by Ben Rigby, Mac Cox and Daniel Siden; we all shared common interests in light and its ability to create wonderful experiences. With backgrounds in cinematography, film production design and engineering respectively, we combined creativity with a can-do attitude all underpinned by solid engineering principles in order to create sculptural works and lighting effects.
What is Haberdashery’s vision?
Haberdashery has now evolved to be a company of 25 with a board of directors working around the world, and its vision lies in the merger of light, space and interaction through sculptural form. In 2016/17 our work is being installed in some of London's most prestigious spaces, and many ambitious spaces around the world, with an emphasis on more public work in the future. Through mastery of materials and research to uncover design narratives, each bespoke creation responds to the space it sits within and combines beautiful aesthetics with the latest lighting technology designed in-house.
Where is Haberdashery based?
Haberdashery is based in a studio in Dalston, London; it is a mix of design space and prototyping assembly workshop. In 2016 autumn/winter the practice is moving to a larger space nearby, which will be fitted out during the next few months.
Haberdashery works with innovative new lighting technologies, can you give us a brief insight into these?
Haberdashery develop our own designs for LED light sources as we are able to exactly control how the lighting experience unfolds in our work. Over the years we have worked with lasers, holography, persistence of vision, and are experts in how to reflect, refract and split light. We are also now pushing to develop and evolve how light is controlled and can add a time-based element to our sculptures.
Your work combines this avant-garde lighting with a multi-discipline of creative talents, can you talk us through how you are inspired and driven to design and create the new lighting concepts pushing the boundaries of lighting design as we know it?
We often prototype new lighting technologies within our own art collection represented by the Serena Morton Gallery, and in general it is through play and experimentation that a new technique or design direction can evolve that then gets worked up into a reliable technology to embed in future bespoke works.
How do you combine your lighting skills with various materials and finishes to create your luxury lighting. Is everything created in-house or do you outsource various components, for example the Leaf sculpture that can be found at FBC?
We are a design studio, so whilst we prototype here and experiment to prove design concepts, it is through managing a network of carefully chosen manufacturers and craftspeople throughout the UK that enables us to deliver such a range of bespoke creations. For the Leaf range in FBC we work closely with a ceramics company in Stoke-on-Trent whom mould and hand finish each leaf. We find it is always best to outsource to the best supplier affordable in each discipline; for ceramics there is only one place to go in the UK and that is Stoke.
What most excites and thrills you in your creative process?
Its always the 'what if?' moment that can come from anyone of our staff as when getting creative we have a very flat structure initially. Being creative is exciting at the beginning, and then becomes a huge list of intricate challenges and problems to overcome. This can be hard work but the reward at the end is clear when people ask 'how on earth did you do that?'.
You not only provide luxury and bespoke lighting but also create public light installations. Can you share some of your most exciting sculptures to date?
We have developed many public sculptures over the years; from sculptures in the windows of Selfridges&Co on Oxford St to 60 tonne environments based on termite mounds on London's Southbank. We are currently working with British Land to install a huge sculptural piece in London's most prestigious address opposite Green Park, due to go live in 2017 summer, and also a top secret project with Selfridges again.
What exciting collaborations or instalments can we look forward to seeing from Haberdashery in the future?
Our projects are getting larger, but also the lead times get longer, so many projects are in the process of being finished and will come to light by the end of the year, showing what we have been busy working on recently. We are also launching a completely new lighting brand in January 2017 selling our own contemporary lighting products so watch this space : )
To learn more about Haberdashery, check out their website www.haberdashery.com
This is not a sponsored post
All images courtesy of Haberdashery, FBC and Pinterest
