Producing a film or designing a space or creating a product are all a similar process in the sense that you’re starting out with this big idea that you’re trying to get across and then working through that concept. It’s also a very collaborative process in both the film and design worlds. In film, you’re working with these other experts, whether they are the camera person, or editor, or sound person. And in interior design, you’re working with the engineering consultants and the environmental graphics person. Everyone is coming together to make something real. 

For me, designing a space is also about telling a story. I think of the way that a visitor will be using the space, and what their experience will be. What kind of emotion is being brought through the design? And what are the experiences or important moments that people will have in these spaces — whether that’s celebrating your friend’s birthday, or toasting a big milestone, or just finding a place to relax. Thinking about spaces as the backdrop to these big moments in people’s lives is kind of special.

I have always been interested in art and design — even as a kid, I remember making pillows for my bedroom, and changing the paint colour and putting up different posters. Design is something that I was very aware of, but I never thought to study it in a formal way. In undergrad, I studied religion and African American Studies because I really love history and culture. I found film as a way to further explore that and share those stories with a larger audience.

It was my mom who had always told me, “Study architecture.” I started to wonder what she saw in me that I didn’t see, so I listened to her. In between productions, I did a program at Harvard, the GSD Career Discovery Program, and that was my introduction into studying design. It was life changing. At first I thought I wanted to do landscape architecture, but when I worked at a firm doing that for a bit, the scale and the timelines weren’t what I was looking for. Then I landed in interior design, graduating from the Interior Design Masters Program at Pratt Institute.

In terms of product, whether you’re designing a hotel or a museum, you’re always designing custom pieces — custom light fixtures for guest rooms, or collaborations for blankets. That was just a part of the design process, so it was a natural transition into product development for the studio.

I met RBW at their first show at ICFF and then we worked together on Sister City, which was a project by Ace Atelier. We developed a custom light fixture for that, Dimple, and that was a good experience. From then on, I just kept working with RBW — on other Ace Hotel projects, and then additional projects when I started my own firm. Their fixtures were just always a good fit and made sense for the projects.

I knew when I started my firm that I wanted to do not only interior projects, but also product development — that was the mission. I had been collecting ideas and thinking about it, and eventually I went to RBW and asked if they would be up for a collaboration.

I had lots and lots of ideas. We talked through all of them and kind of edited down to a few that we thought were strong and could move forward with, thinking that through the development process more would kind of fall away. But we ended up keeping the original four that we started off with. They each feel very different — in terms of aesthetic and material — but they all came from my brain, so in that way they’re connected.

I started Cape thinking about industrial lighting, like the caged fixtures that you might find in a construction site, but wanting to create something that’s more refined and elegant than that — and also thinking about colours, but colours that would feel kind of neutral. In this case, that ended up being a very deep blue, a warmish red, a terracotta beige, and a high-gloss black.

Cuff was born out of my mom’s jewelry collection. My mom was a modern dancer and a model, and she has really great taste and style. I was thinking about the way that jewelry nestles together, like in a stack of bracelets. In this case, the diffuser kind of nestles into the metal frame.

Copia came out of my collection of cast glass objects, and thinking about the play of light that results from transparency. So the diffuser has this ziggurat shape. I’d been struggling during development to get the glass diffuser into the glass collar and then RBW came up with the idea to make it in silicone. When I saw the sample, it looked like glass, but when I touched it, it moves. That allowed us to squeeze it into the glass collar while still keeping the form, which was a really important element to me.

Crepe again explores my love of vintage and glass, and thinking about the way that light is playing — it’s reflecting off the glass plate, but then you’re also seeing the wall behind the glass plate. It was interesting to me to think about the different perceptions and textures you get from that fixture.

Because of my experience working as a designer in different typologies, I was able to think about the different ways that architects and designers might use the fixtures. As I was designing, I was thinking about how I would use them in spaces that I would design, thinking “this is a sconce that could be used at a bar,” or, “This sconce could be in the hallway of a hotel.” Cuff is so elegant, that I was thinking about using it in more intimate spaces — whether that’s a bar or a dressing room where you could get close enough to see the texture and appreciate the patina. Cape I imagined by a pool, or at a resort. 

I wanted to give as many options as possible for myself and for other people in the industry. All of these are indoor-outdoor to give that kind of flexibility, and they can also be plug-in or ceiling-mounted. Plus, RBW is so open to making adjustments depending on what designers need. My favourite colour temperature is 2,700K — that’s my default. But I know that some people want it to be cooler or warmer, and RBW always gives that option.

We’ve had initial discussions about how you could translate these fixtures into a pendant or chandelier. We’ve also discussed different materials — could you do Copia in ceramic? So we’ll see.

For now, I’m working on some interior design projects in early stages — we have a residential project in Manhattan where we’re using Copia in the bathroom, and I have another project that I’m using Cape and Cuff in. So it’s great to now be getting to use the fixtures in my own projects.

I started that in 2017 after working on the National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC. It was such an amazing experience working with so many Black designers on that project. And so, for the past two years, we’ve done a Spotlight exhibition that has been really successful both in terms of getting designers exposure but also commercially. So many of the products have sold, whether to be part of people’s personal collections, to be used in commercial projects, or even to be parts of museum collections. It’s very exciting.

I’m actually in the process of getting ready for our next series, which will be part of the Salon Art and Design Show here in New York in November.

It’s also incredible to see the network and relationships between Black designers grow. I was in Milan earlier this year and went to openings of work by fellow Black folks in design, and just going to those events and meeting designers from Brazil, London and South Africa, I could see things growing very organically. I’m starting to hear about new kinds of collaborations between designers, so it’s exciting.