Design fair newcomer Shelter by Afternoon Light made a bold debut with fresh talent and standout lighting products, including the annual crowd-pleaser “Jonald Dudd” exhibition—this year playfully titled Grateful Dudd.
Each May, New York pulses with creative energy as the city transforms into a playground of innovation during Design Week. This year, lighting design took center stage in a dazzling display of craftsmanship and function. As I wandered from one fair to the next—ICFF, WantedDesign, Shelter and exhibitions tucked into galleries and ateliers—Love House, Colony, Lyle Gallery and Lawton Mull, to name a few—what struck me most was how lighting has become more than just illumination; it’s cultural storytelling and a clever way to bring the latest cutting edge design home for yourself.
When I asked Shelter co-founder Minya Quirk about the lighting at this year’s NYCxDesign, she didn’t hesitate: “The array of lighting at Shelter was insane!” she said. “Lighting is a great way to change the look and feel of a space in one swift and beautiful move.”
From sculptural pendants that mimic natural phenomena to sustainable sconces crafted from unexpected materials, this new wave of lighting designers are pushing boundaries and brightening interiors with intention. I, for one, couldn’t be more thrilled to see such colorful new introductions take center stage this season. Here are some of ELLE Decor’s favorites.
1. Luminous Legacies
Kinship I and II by Australian artist Lana Launay debuted at Love House which just opened a new location in Dimes Square, New York.
On view at Love House Gallery’s Family Show in Dimes Square, Lana Launay’s Kinship I & II offers a thoughtful meditation on domestic craft. Composed of stainless steel, aluminum, LED, and antique doilies lovingly sourced from a variety of families, the works quite literally shine a light on the interconnectedness of our next of kin. With materials as humble as stockings and heirloom textiles, Launay weaves a narrative that’s equal parts memory and material. It’s a fitting addition to a show that celebrates what binds us—by blood, by choice, or by thread.
Love House
179 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002
info@lovehouseny.com
2. Molten Magic
A new chandelier, Marea, was presented at Shelter by artist Andreea Avram Rusu.
Hand-blown and hypnotic, Marea by Andreea Avram Rusu floats like a jellyfish in an aquatic dream—its apricot-rose-mauve ombré achieved through a molten dance of heat and glass. Each organic form is shaped freehand, capturing motion and the eventual final form, mid-flow. For this special introduction at Shelter, subtle variations in thickness and temperature bring this chandelier to life, casting a glow that’s equal parts art and atmosphere.
Avrum Rusu Studio
810 Humboldt Street, Suite 2C
Brooklyn, NY, 11222
info@avramrusu.com
3. Organic Innovation
At WantedDesign, artist Samuel Aguirre debuted a new collection of lamps made from handmade Mexican Amate paper.
Providence-based artist and furniture maker Samuel Aguirre debuts a series one-of-a-kind table lamps rooted in ancient paper-making traditions and artfully crafted (initially via the RISD paper making studio) with an eye for contemporary interiors. Each piece is formed from natural fibers that are shaped, air-dried, and then finished with an experimental mix of handmade paper, milk paint, and metal leaf. The results are gestural, organic, and archival.
4. Modern Edge
Kristi Bender and Wendy Schwartz of Cuff Studio launched a new, triangular metal sconce as part of a larger exhibit, Within, at this year’s WantedDesign.
Deputy editor Sean Santiago recommends Cuff Studio’s Metal Triangle Sconce, which they presented as part of their exhibition, “Within,” at this year’s WantedDesign at ICFF. Available in a welded solid patinated brass or copper, the vertigris patina is pleasingly graphic yet casts a beautifully diffuse uplight. We’ll take two.
Cuff Studio
5018 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
by appointment
sales@cuffstudio.com
5. Poetic Glass
Lawton Mull’s gallery, tucked away off the beaten path in Long Island City, is a hidden gem for antiques, design and discovery. On view is Ordinary Splendor, a collaborative exhibition by Sri + Lawton Mull.
The Norrlanda Lamp is a striking collaboration between Cordelia Lawton, Patrick Mull and glass artist Jennie Olofsson, founder of Glasstudion Big Pink in Gotland, Sweden. Crafted with sloping brass wings welded by local artisans in New York City, each lamp features thick, asymmetrical glass lobes mouth-blown by Jennie that seem to fall into place against the metal structure. Combining industrial strength with organic form, the lamps float with unexpected lightness and are available with paper, silk, or custom fabric shades, making each one a unique work of functional sculpture.
Lawton Mull
10-03 44th Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
info@lawtonmull.com
6. Braided Light
Los Angeles-based Soft Geometry showcases material innovation and personal history with their new collection of “Long Hair” sconces at Lyle Gallery in New York.
At Lyle Gallery’s Outside/In exhibition, Soft-Geometry founders Utharaa Zacharias and Palaash Chaudhar present the captivating “Long Hair” sconces inspired by the intimate rituals of our mothers oiling, massaging, combing, and braiding hair—an often unseen yet important domestic practice. This series also marks the duo’s first foray into hemp-lime composite, a sustainable, carbon-negative material adapted from architecture to a tactile scale. Balancing ritualistic handcraft with industrial innovation, the sconces evoke both sculptural beauty and emotional resonance, transforming personal memory into a luminous celebration of care and tradition.
Lyle Gallery
24 Rutgers Street, 1st Floor
New York, NY 10002
info@thelyle.gallery
7. Witty Wattage
Brooklyn-based designer Scott Newlin presents a new collection of colorfully striped Stack Lights.
At the Jonald Dudd exhibition at Shelter, Scott Newlin introduced a series of whimsical lighting pieces that transform slip cast ceramic into versatile floor and table lamps. With a keen eye for playfulness, color and form, Newlin’s designs invite the viewer to imagine endless possibilities packaged within a familiar form yet unexpected color pairings that makes us want to add to cart.
Scott Newlin Design Studio
info@scottnewlin.com
8. Petal Play
In Tribeca, Colony featured a new work by Marmar Studio at their new “The Independents” exhibition celebrating past, present and future American design.
Founded by Jean Lin, Colony’s The Independents exhibition, the Ette Sconce by Marmar Studio captivates with its delicate blend of architecture and nature. Crafted from ash wood and hand-painted dye, its draped shingles evoke both the crisp lines of roof corners and the soft curves of blossoming petals. Light filters gently through soffit-like openings, casting a warm, inviting glow that feels both sculptural and poetic.
Colony
196 W Broadway
New York, NY 10013
info@goodcolony.com
8. Delicate Glow
Brooklyn-based FDK Florals founder Fernando Kabigting launches a new porcelain lighting collection under a new practice, FDK Junior Studio.
Kabigting’s new porcelain lighting collection, unveiled at Shelter by Afternoon Light, offers a poetic reimagining of traditional forms through the delicate medium of porcelain. Each fixture is meticulously handcrafted, capturing the innate beauty of the material and celebrating moments of imperfection.
FDK Junior Studio
@fdk_florals
10. Fluid Forms
Also presenting at Shelter, Japanese born Brooklyn-based glass artist Michiko Sakano, merges traditional Japanese aesthetics with innovative glassblowing techniques to create sculptural lighting.
Michiko Sakano’s new glass lighting collection, Droplets, feel like they’ve fallen directly by the sky and landed in your living room. Each piece is a testament to her skillful craft, transforming simple forms into luminous sculptures that evoke a sense of organic fluidity. The warm, translucent hues and soft contours invite both tactile and visual engagement, making them not just light sources but captivating art pieces too.
Michiko Sakano Studio
232 3rd Street, E001
Brooklyn, NY 11215
@michikosakanostudio
11. Birds of a Feather
Designers Audrée L. Larose and Félix Guyon stormed ICFF and presented their Saule collection, immersive and transportive.
At this year’s ICFF, Larose Guyon’s Saule collection stood out as a poetic ode to nature, reimagining the elegance of the willow tree in hand-formed brass and softly glowing glass set within an immersive gauze-y exhibition booth. Created in their Verchères, Canada studio, the collection brings together high craft and high design, balancing movement and stillness in a way that feels both graceful and grounded.
Larose Guyon
621 Marie-Victorin, Verchères
Quebec, Canada, J0L 2R0
info@laroseguyon.com
12. Desert Light
The RBS Nopal Chandelier is designed and created by Steven Haulenbeek and featured prominently at Egg Collective in lower Manhattan during NYCxDesign.
Egg Collective’s Tribeca showroom was transformed into a sculptural oasis during NYCxDesign, and at its heart hung Steven Haulenbeek’s RBS Nopal Chandelier—a masterstroke in material innovation. Crafted from resin-bonded sand using a subtractive process akin to marble sculpting, each fixture is a one-of-a-kind creation that blurs the line between art and lighting design. The chandelier’s organic forms, reminiscent of desert flora, cast a warm, ambient glow, making it both a functional light source and a captivating centerpiece.
Egg Collective
151 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
info@eggcollective.com
