Anglepoise Collaborates with Paul Smith

Some time ago now I wrote a blog post about how the Anglepoise lamp was my 20th Century design icon. I decided this after having interviewed Simon Terry, Innovation Director at Anglepoise, for an article I wrote for World Interiors News. The story of the Anglepoise lamp and the traumatic struggle that Terry faced in trying to safeguard the future of the company in a tough economic climate is a real inspiration. His efforts to save his family’s business involved bringing in new design talent that would enable him to overhaul the product offering and expand into new markets developing higher-end products for higher-end customers. And this is extremely evident in Anglepoise’s recent collaboration with Paul Smith, one of Britain’s foremost designers. 

The collaboration, Anglepoise® + Paul Smith, is now in its third edition. The Type 75™ Mini and Type 75™ desk lamp are available in the three established Paul Smith and Anglepoise® Edition colours, while the Type 75™ Giant floor lamp comes in the colour scheme from the very first collaboration – Edition One. Edition One’s colours are evocative of the summer, while Edition Two uses the deep, rich hues of autumn. Edition Three takes a different approach by using the visual vocabulary of Dutch painter Mondrian’s De Stijl style of art. I really like all three editions though and I think this collaboration adds a really modern twist to this iconic design.