Founded by Audrée L. Larose and Félix Guyon in 2015, lighting and object studio Larose Guyon manufactures handcrafted sculptural works, inspired by nature and imbued with poetry. Produced in a storied 1880 building in the center of Verchères, Quebec, the history of fine materials is carefully crafted and told in Larose Guyon’s studio, where ingenuity, talent, and attention to detail come together to produce unique and luxurious lighting and objects. The unique designs safeguard local tradition of quality work and timeless craftsmanship, resulting in incredible works made from high-end materials and finishes.
Words by: Meghan Dwyer in conversation with Audrée L. Larose.August 03, 2021
Founded by Audrée L. Larose and Félix Guyon in 2015, lighting and object studio Larose Guyon manufactures handcrafted sculptural works, inspired by nature and imbued with poetry. Produced in a storied 1880 building in the center of Verchères, Quebec, the history of fine materials is carefully crafted and told in Larose Guyon’s studio, where ingenuity, talent, and attention to detail come together to produce unique and luxurious lighting and objects. The unique designs safeguard local tradition of quality work and timeless craftsmanship, resulting in incredible works made from high-end materials and finishes.
Please tell me about your company and how it got started.
When we first met, Félix had his own interior designer studio and I (Audrée) was working as an interior designer as well. Me and Felix finally met through design. I must confess that we never found a better fit than each other. As much as our methods and outlook on design differ, we strangely converge in the most unique way, allowing both of us to merge edges and flaws and thus drag each other forward. Our first collection is the perfect example of how we wanted to create something magic and unique and how we want to contrast femininity with masculinity. The La Belle Époque collection, like a soft nostalgia, revisits the elegance and chic of the late 19th century, when machine, in all its strength and might, also knew how to speak in a soft and poetic voice. We chose to work with copper at first because we thought that it would bring a lot of softness to an industrial material such as steel. Felix always says, “from an initially cold and even dirty material we cut a raw diamond and created sheer jewels.” Since then, our goal is to bring poetry, emotions, magic, and fantasy into everyones home through our creations.
Where are you based? How many employees do you have? (designers, manufacturers, etc.)
We are based in a small picturesque village along the St. Lawrence river near Montréal, Canada. We are a team of six, as we want to stay a small exclusive brand.
What is your company ethos?
We believe in beauty, and poetry; that’s our philosophy!
How do you describe your lighting and furniture?
One of our main inspirations is definitely jewelry and nature. We want to create an adornment for interiors and not just something that makes light. Jewelry is something magic, something that people use to embellish themselves with a hint of poetry and creativity to enhance their beauty. We wanted to have a fixture that brings romance to a space and to be as attractive as the atmosphere that they create. But it wasn’t just about style but about the light itself as well. The magic and warmth that creates the light and the shadows are as important as the object itself.
All of our lighting fixtures are made to order since it’s all handcrafted in our workshop in Verchères. We also do custom pieces of all of our fixtures available on our website to accommodate all kinds of spaces. We love to work with designers and architects to create a unique fixture for their interiors. All of our products are also available in different finishes!
What are your favorite materials to use?
We have the chance and the privilege to work with an amazing material, which is the light itself, so we want to use it as much as we can to bring romance, warmth and poetry to spaces and into people’s lives.
Do you have a most popular product?
Our most popular product is definitely the Coco. It is an elegant and versatile chandelier that can be used in many configurations and many spaces. Using only the highest quality materials, Coco is a functional work of lighting art, handmade by a team of conscientious and meticulous craftsmen who are passionate about the quality of their work. In addition to the flexible geometric configurations offered by the luminaire, a choice of globe tints and finishes, including aged copper, aged brass, satin black and satin nickel, ensures that every installation of Coco is a truly unique creation.
What are you working on now?
We are working on a new decorative sculpture inspired by the Coco chandelier. We will be launching this new product in the next year.
How has the pandemic affected your business as well as your goals as a design company?
It is certainly quite challenging especially as we were supposed to launch our new collection at the ICFF last May. We had to launch it without presenting it to our customers which was unfortunate. We also had to delay our lead time but hopefully all of our clients were very understanding and supportive.
What did you plan to debut at ICFF?
We were going to launch Automne, our new limited edition collection. We’ve always been inspired by the complexity of nature, its textures, its contrasts, its movement and just simply, its beauty. For this collection, we wanted to create a moment, a scene stopped in time as if we were walking in nature with the sun reflecting and shining on the warm colors of autumn. For this limited edition collection, we just simply wanted to create something visually extraordinary and poetic. We weren’t thinking about technical issues or prices, only beauty and sparkles. The pieces are handcrafted from precious materials and hand assembled with great care and precision by our artisans here at Larose Guyon and also a few other artisans near our village. For our 3 limited edition fixtures, we’ve decided to work a lot with golden-hued chains that we either weave to create a huge and stunning gold net or that we beautifully and randomly fix on an impressive 6-inch diameter structure bound together by a 24k gold plated solid brass core. They also feature delicate brass-fibre leaves meticulously hand cut and attached to a solid brass structure or suspended by those golden-hued chains. Expert artisans work minutely for more than 80 to 120 hours on each piece.
