Gabriel Scott Launches Welles Reimagined Lighting Collection

Canadian luxury handmade furniture and lighting brand Gabriel Scott has launched its latest lighting collection, Welles Reimagined, in collaboration with six global designers and architects to celebrate Gabriel Scott’s tenth anniversary in 2022.

The established designers have reinterpreted the studio’s most iconic fixture, the Welles Chandelier. The six fixtures, first showcased at Milan Design Week 2022, have now been formalised into six capsule collections which include chandeliers, sconces and pendant lighting.

Scott Richler, Gabriel Scott’s Founder and CEO, explains: “The Gabriel Scott brand launched on a manifesto to furnish the architectural community with exactly what they needed, and we’re still doing this through material, size and form ten years later. Inspired by jewellery, the Welles Chandelier is a true representation of our design philosophy – to design and make modular products to custom specifications. The Welles Reimagined capsule collections celebrates our brand ethos and the collaborations we undertook with each designer perfectly demonstrate how we like to work together with our design and architecture clients to achieve something really special and tailored to their requirements.”

David Rockwell

The David Rockwell capsule collection celebrates the Welles Chandelier’s classic geometric form, while creating a contemporary light fixture inspired by clusters found in nature, such as crystals, chemical compounds, and clouds. Ultimately, Rockwell drew from botanic forms to create an organic assemblage. The hollowed glass polygons act as metallic light points that come together at varying heights and dimensions to form a floating light cluster. The feature chandelier is defined by its luxe volume and organic nature.

“The collaboration allowed us to create something very special that combines Gabriel Scott’s modular approach to lighting and expert craftsmanship with our focus on storytelling and materiality. We experimented with volume, color, texture, and scale to create organic assemblages of light that have a dramatic impact on the atmosphere and our perception of space.” – David Rockwell.

Kelly Hoppen

Crafted from white clay and inspired by a collection of ceramics she is currently designing, the Kelly Hoppen capsule collection comprises a single flush-mount sconce suitable for both wall and ceiling installation, a pendant light, a single sconce on a banded arm and the Welles Long Chandelier in three sizes. The overall form has been scaled down from its original size to create an elegantly delicate aesthetic.

“When I was asked to do it, obviously it’s a very iconic piece already, but instantly I knew I wanted it to be a chalk white, clay, very organic piece, because that would make it incredibly different from anything Gabriel Scott had done before.” – Kelly Hoppen, CBE.

Alessandro Munge

Alessandro’s capsule collection has a beautiful narrative infused with dynamic and bold fashion references inspired by rhythmic dance. It includes the 12-module central chandelier as seen in Milan, a scaled down 8-module chandelier, a larger 18-module chandelier and an arm sconce. While its volume is radically different, the modular qualities are still able to extend for extra tall ceilings and multiply for larger spaces. This flexibility makes it a truly versatile and playful product that invites designers to create bespoke configurations.

“One of the key features that inspired us was how architectural the Welles is, yet extremely detailed and jewellery-like – even the slightest of components like the bracket is beautifully designed. It felt like a sculptural piece of art. So, we drew inspiration from couture fashion, from dance, and when we immersed ourselves in this world, we thought about deconstructing the original piece and rebuilding it in a completely different way.” – Alessandro Munge.

Michelle Gerson

Michelle turned to nature to add a floral element that represents growth and bloom, alluding to a rebirth of a classic Gabriel Scott design. Uplifting and joyful, Michelle Gerson’s capsule collection includes a vertical sconce and small, medium and large versions of the chandelier first seen in Milan.

“The vision is nature. We tried to take a more geometric, modular, masculine type fixture and break it up and create what we thought would be blossoms, branches and leaves. We mixed up the materiality a little by using mesh to create a lightness, we wanted it to feel spacey, alive and happy.” – Michelle Gerson.

Sybille de Margerie

As a contrast to the sharp metal and glass silhouette of the original Welles, Sybille’s interpretation reveals the feminine side of her signature design style. Couture-inspired, elegant and smooth, the capsule collection shows a gradient composition from emptiness to full, with a variation of hollow and plain shapes. It comprises a sconce, cluster sconce, the standard chandelier as seen in Milan, and a smaller version. All fixtures include padded vegan leather to create a subtle 3D effect and rounded corners to add softness.

“We love leather because we find it’s a very elegant finish and combined with a soft bronze, this is our vision of luxury which is very understated.” – Sybille de Margerie.

Guan Lee

Guan’s design is a striking floor installation, illuminated by light bulbs and made from POLiROCK, a new material developed by Material Architecture Lab. The fired clay has unique characteristics, somewhere between ceramic and rock. It appears natural but is made by recycling manufacturing waste. Due to the nature of this design, it can be customised from the original form that was shown in Milan. For commissions, Guan and the Gabriel Scott’s design team will work with the client to deliver something bespoke.

“The first thing I thought was that it would be nice to have a contrasting material, so instead of something transparent something solid that allows light to go through in a very particular way.” – Guan Lee.

Cover image: Sybille de Margerie for Gabriel Scott

If you’d like to feature your product news here, get in touch to find out more. 

If you’d like to become SBID Accredited, click here for more information.