names to know
Playing with colour, shape and materials to produce ever-more characterful lighting designs, these are the brightest stars of the moment. We introduce a trio of new talents who are brightening the market with their fresh creations
Lulu LaFortune
Los Angeles-based Lulu LaFortune had grown up thinking that she wanted to be a fashion designer, but when she started studying at The Savannah College of Art and Design in 2014, she had what could only be described as a light-bulb moment. ‘It wasn’t until I saw their furniture-design programme that I could imagine myself creating home goods and lighting – after my first class, everything clicked,’ she tells us. ‘I felt like I was still using the same design skills fabricating a new light as I was when sewing a dress.’
In 2020, after cutting her teeth working under interiors maven Kelly Wearstler, LaFortune decided to launch a homeware brand under her own name. Since then, she’s released three highly covetable collections, which include everything from plush quilted sofas to rainbow-bright drink tumblers and striking lighting pieces that reinterpret traditional design techniques in modern ways. LaFortune’s ‘Watts’ table lamp, for example, comprises a powder-coated aluminium base and a stained-glass sunburst shade that’s reminiscent of the Tiffany lamps that became popular towards the end of the 19th century. Her jewel-like ‘Bayes Boudoir’ lamp also has a stained-glass shade, which casts a watery chequered pattern across walls when switched on. Working with a classic materials palette has always been a priority for LaFortune, who is alarmed by the amount of furnishings that end up in landfill every year because they’re no longer deemed as being in style. ‘I’ve realised that my family and so many other people I knew had very treasured heirlooms glittering in their homes; designing and fabricating an object made to last several generations is more worth my time than focusing on trends and cheap materials,’ she says.
Even the production process behind LaFortune’s lights is highly considered – each piece is made to order by a close-knit group of artisans in small-scale facilities located close to where she lives in LA. ‘I want a buyer to see a piece’s handiwork and to remember how special it is to have something made just for you,’ she adds. ‘The connection people can have with an object is amazing.’ lululafortune.com
