Vapeur Lamp — by Inga Sempé

From Nick Vinson's story in this past weekend's Financial Times:

Paris-based Sempé has a fascination with pleating. She sees it as a simple way to transform a material that is light and often otherwise too supple into something more solid, rigid and articulated. Her technique is on show in a storage system called Amoire Supple and a series of new lamps for Moustache, a new French furnishings company that has chosen this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile for its debut.

The example shown here (suspension Vapeur, which hangs from the ceiling) is made of pleated Tyvek, a paper usually used for envelopes and other packaging materials. Sempé says the material was ideally suited to this project, as it gives off a wonderful light 'like a cloud' thanks to its characteristic small fibres.

She has used seaming and a special process similar to hat-making to give the shades their unique shape. (Her first job at 18 was working for a milliner in Saint-Germain, where she learnt to shape hats on wooden moulds.) The shade sits in a white, powder-coated steel base and offers self assembly with a bit of fun. Simply attach the Tyvek, which comes in a tube, to the base and then punch it 'like a boxer' a few times to get the desired shape."

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