Iittala and Byredo launch Ljus, a collaborative collection first announced earlier this year that explores light through glassmaking and scent. The collection includes a candle stand, a candle ornament, a light refractor, an incense holder and a diffuser, merging Byredo fragrances and Iittala’s heritage in glassmaking.
'We wanted to create a small collection that explores the material expertise of both brands and enters the world of the home with this more ritual approach,' says Janni Vepsäläinen, Iittala creative director. 'Lighting a candle is a beautiful, meditative moment. The scent enters your nose and fills the room, and glass works as a beautiful companion for that living light. They sort of complement each other. This conversation between glass and light really was the beginning.'
Light in particular is a concern of Vepsäläinen and an element that becomes integral to the everyday rituals both Iittala and Byredo represent. 'Being from Northern Europe, we also share an understanding of the northern light, which shifts from complete darkness in the winter to eternal sunshine in the summer,' she explains. 'This is a theme I often approach in my projects at Iittala, because it’s such a unique quality for a brand that lives and breathes in this Nordic environment.'
Glass and flames come together in the objects, which carry a timeless quality and whose forma reflect the warmth of their craft. Each object is handcrafted in Iittala's glass workshop, resulting in subtle variations that enhance the personality behind their design and manufacturing.
The pieces of the ‘Ljus’ collection combine classic home fragrance designs with new ways to approach such objects. The ornate forms of the pieces are declined in a series that includes a thick candle stand, an ornament designed to sit on top of a candle to refract and enhance its flame, and a 'refractor', imagined to encase the candle to create a mesmerising interplay of light and glass.
The last is the piece that, for Vepsäläinen, most reflects the collection's spirit, and the starting point of the series. 'It’s a piece that really beautifully demonstrates the conversation between crafted glass and living light,' she notes. 'There’s something about the integrity and the intricate details of crafted glass in this object. You can almost feel the process of glassblowing, how the molten glass has been formed.'
The series also includes an incense holder, and the same silhouette found in the Refractor is translated to a fragrance diffuser vessel.
'The strongest shared value [between Iittala and Byredo] is a belief that objects can carry emotion and meaning, as well as function,' concludes Vepsäläinen. 'There’s this Nordic understanding of design: that it should always serve a purpose and be part of people’s everyday lives.'