MILAN — Hypnotic to the eye, Bethan Laura Wood is a walking piece of art. Her face is adorned with pastel eyeliner, her cheeks stamped with two blue stickers, her nails painted in a swirl of yellow and orange and almost every one of her fingers is sporting a cocktail ring. That artfulness carries over into everything she does — from rugs to textiles to lighting.
WWD sat down with the artist and designer on the occasion of her latest collaboration with Baccarat, in which she reinterpreted the historic mid-19th-century Zénith chandelier set with in an installation that was conceived by artist and curator Emmanuelle Luciani in Milan. Together they proposed a futuristic narrative, inspired by Philip K. Dick’s science fiction short story “The Crystal Crypt.”
Across town, her textiles work, in the form of ribbons and tassels, greeted visitors at Palazzo Citterio for, “When Apricots Blossom,” an homage to the centuries-old craft traditions of Karakalpakstan in northwest Uzbekistan, which has endured drought since the 1960s.
Details of Bethan Laura Wood’s design for Baccarat’s Zenith chandelier.
Courtesy of Baccarat
WWD: I’ve been looking at many of your works in the past, including your work with Hermès, Serapian, Perrier–Jouët, Rosenthal. What are the challenges associated with working with a heritage house, like Baccarat, one that dates back centuries?
Bethan Laura Wood: I’ve always really enjoyed the challenge of working with houses, crafts and companies that have very long histories because it’s really interesting to see the different dialogues that have come in and gone out. In the case of Baccarat, it was fascinating to see what part of their history they were interested in working with. When we started this project, there was both the connection with the Zénith to have this identity and also the idea of the flower. I was curious to combine those two worlds into a piece that was cohesive. That was a really interesting challenge.
WWD: How did you reimagine Baccarat’s Zénith chandelier in this project?
B.L.W.: I loved the conversation between the little flowers in the rings and the pinch holding together the Zénith arms, which are now oriented at a 90-degree angle. Historically, the Zénith is an iconic piece interpreted by many iconic designers in the past. I was aware of the challenge and the pressure to live up to the quality of other designers, but I also asked myself, “What’s my conversation with Baccarat, and what do we want to talk about now?”
WWD: Does working with chandeliers present unique design challenges?
B.L.W.: Chandeliers are magical because when you visit a factory and see how they’re built, it’s fascinating. Traditionally, they have a solid core where everything connects, but I wanted to explore what would happen if there wasn’t a core — if the connecting parts were through another type of language. In this project, we created strong connecting elements for the glass that are arranged in a ring formation rather than through the center. That has a very different feeling.
Bethan Laura Wood’s deconstructed reinterpretation of the 19th-century Baccarat Zénith chandelier.
Courtesy of Baccarat.
WWD: Was modularity an important aspect of the chandelier design?
B.L.W.: Yes, Baccarat challenged me to introduce modularity into the chandelier. As a designer, it’s one of those things we obsess over. Finding the balance is key. With this design, the rings can stack vertically, like a big vortex column, kind of like a Christmas tree. This flexibility makes the baroque language of Baccarat accessible for different types of spaces and different types of homes.
WWD: Do you have an engineering influence or background?
B.L.W.: My father is an architect who designs hospitals, so he has a very specific focus on function and detail. I come from a family obsessed with details — my dad would spot if any screw heads on a piece of furniture weren’t aligned. It’s really exciting as a designer when you get to work with a company like Baccarat, because they also have this amazing engineering knowledge, and also they’re able to develop elements and parts and systems that are needed for, larger scale production that allows you to really build these systems that are very technical. The team did a really amazing job making the rings be able to be put together and create different shapes.
Wood interpreted a 1937 poem by Uzbek writer Hamid Olimjon celebrating resilience with ribbons and tassels for “When Apricots Blossom,” an homage to the craft traditions of Karakalpakstan.
Courtesy of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF)
WWD: Your designs often feel layered and free from trends. Where does that come from?
B.L.W.: I naturally like to layer. We live in environments shaped by layers of history, and I’m fascinated by combining those layers to create stories. I love how color combinations, depending on proportions, can signify specific eras like the 1920s or the 1970s. It took me a while to confidently use this in my work. When I was a younger designer, I often tried to do too much at once. Now, I create specific rules or systems in my designs to allow the layers to flow and have space to be together.
WWD: Did you grow up in an artistic environment where you were free to express yourself?
B.L.W.: Yes, I grew up in a creative home. My father is an architect, and my mother, while an occupational therapist always sewed a lot of her clothes — our clothes. We were a very make-y family — always paper mâchéing or making something during the holidays. I’ve always been encouraged to create, and my parents didn’t necessarily have a choice, they saw it in me early on. As a child, I wanted to be an artist, but as I learned about different paths, I was drawn to design because of the dialogue it creates between object and people. This is why I gravitate toward collaborative projects — I love that conversation.
WWD: How do you manage multiple projects across different disciplines like lighting, fashion and art?
B.L.W.: I have an amazing team that helps facilitate everything. I hand draw, experimenting with materials. I like to hand draw and I like to start kind of building out a design…lighting, an object or fashion. Other times when I work in collaboration, like with Baccarat…there is a desire for a specific direction.
The Crystal Crypt was curated by artist Emmanuelle Luciani in the form of an artistic installation and dance.
Courtesy of Baccarat.
WWD: Do you think about younger audiences or emerging lifestyles in your work?
B.L.W.: It depends on the project. For certain markets or contexts, there might be a need to cater to a specific demographic. Designing for younger people or people of other age groups is an interesting challenge because design functions differently depending on where someone is in life.
I definitely think design is a discipline that is best when it can merge and bridge these conversations between the past and now and what the future is. And it is a tool for dreaming. So I think it’s exciting to see the different designs that are coming through based on looking at the way in which younger people or people of a certain age are living their lives or the setup they have, compared to maybe imagining a person of that age like 20 years ago.
