2020
Thank you all for this year!
It's been a patchy one – an improvised one – one that needed patience innovation and endurance – one that demanded answers to big questions.
Thanks to all of you who supported us during this year:
With buying our product
Supporting us in production
Giving feedback about our lighting
Sharing resources or
Simply just offering your help...
And of course for all the thumbs up and love hearts on social media. It did make us smile.
Love and our best wishes for 2021
Barbara
]]>We caught the eye of Tref, the curator of the Harewood guide. The collection brings together carefully selected, quality items from independent designers and makers in the UK. A well researched guide with gorgeous illustrations.
What really enticed us was their beautifully formulated vision statement in the “about” section.
Purpose
To inspire others to not think bigger, but better.
So as to enjoy life on one’s own terms.
Visit Harewood website, it's well worth a stroll.
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The terrarium specialist Four Store London has opened its second branch in London, this time in Notting Hill. Last year we've fitted out their Shoreditch store with lamp shades in bespoke textile finishes. For this new location at 189 Westbourne Grove, a bright cloud made from Ni-Ni's in both sizes spreads its warm light onto the beautifully crafted terrariums.
Although the shop is only open for in store collection during the lock down, the lights are an inviting gesture to peak through the shop window.
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The white paper tubes are made from off cuts from our lampshade production and serve as handle as well as opening & closing “mechanism” for the package.
The Bakers Twine in manufactured in England by James Lever, one of the last twine producers in the country.
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This years favourite silk colours are from left to right: "Purple Smoke", "Mirabelle" and "Harebell". All of them are part of the collection of British silk specialist James Hare.
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The whites get us the most excited. Not only do they grant the best ambient light, but with their high translucency they also bring the very characteristics of the materials to live. In this light, one can see every movement of the fibre: the thickening, the winding, the meandering, the pushing and the frolicking.
We have tested a lot of white materials and have settled on this silk and hemp textile. The lively but fine structure of the hemp (60%) paired with the exceptional sheen of the fine silk fibres (40%) make it an elegant lampshade material. With it's minor slubs it feels more orderly, more contemporary than the handwoven silk. Also the visual prominence of the weft plays out the principle of the lampshade's design. See the silk & hemp lampshade in more detail here.
The white lampshade shows Ni-Ni in a silk & hemp finish where the brass coloured lampshade is made with100% silk dupion from James Hare in a "Mirabelle" colour shade. All photos by Taran Wilkhu.
Photo: Taran Wilkhu
Photo: Taran Wilkhu
]]>Opening Night 21st November, 123 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 7DG
Lighting manufacturer Clar chooses French terrarium brand Green Factory in Shoreditch to showcase their new bespoke lampshades.
Applying a playful approach to tones and textures Clar unveils its signature lighting line in distinctive, bespoke finishes. It introduces a new, muted palette in fine Dupion Silk and charismatic pineapple fibre finishes. Clar’s new line perfectly complements the miniature cosmoses of Green Factory’s terrariums.
Designer’s choice Ni-Ni returns with the debut of two large sized luminaires - broadening the appeal of the collection and catering for bigger installations and more industrial settings without losing the core of what made these lampshades so successful. Clar lampshades continue to be handmade from their studio in East London with a network of local suppliers. Thanks to this short supply chain individual variations can easily be accommodated. Clar takes design commissions for homes and interior projects allowing for individual lighting responses to unique projects.
Join us for a drink, the launch of the new Ni-Ni collection and to bask in a warm, photogenic glow on a cold, autumn evening. Designer and owner of Clar, Barbara Etter will be here from 5pm.
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Nordic Interiors, Scandi Style and bright minimal environments with a lot of light... We love it! We are excited that that our handmade ceiling lights Ni-Ni are chosen to be part of this world at Nordic Mood, a UK based online shop for Scandi style interiors.
Emma and Vemund selection of high quality Scandinavian design, includes Scandinavian lighting, Scandinavian tableware, and Scandinavian furniture, offering "a sense of Nordic interior simplicity that captures the essence of Scandi minimalism".
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Ni-Ni Mini arrives in January. A small and perfectly formed pendant – with the same minimalistic and quiet bearing as its predecessor - but a versatile scale that encourages play. Instagram shows us how you use it; for subtle spotlighting or in a cluster effect to cast warmth into nooks and reading corners. Not least our own…
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London calling… It can be hard to get the word out. Micro-Clar are our ticklish calling-cards designed to get the passer-by to stop, find out what we’re about and - hopefully – smile. Tiny tableaus of Clar’s journey, squatted inside the iconic bright red phone booths for Spring. Enjoy.
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Ephemeral, intricate and airy Rond previews at the London Design Festival and is quickly christened the ‘flying saucer’. Tucked between the ferns and fauna of East London’s That Flowershop, Rond’s fine, mesh, manmade structures could pass as botanic and, licensed by the flowers and the season, it becomes Clar’s first venture into colour. And how.
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Clar’s high street debut in Heals’ flagship Central London store. Asked to appear as part of their Festival of Light we create a seascape - an ink blue backdrop fashioned from 3000 small Ni-Ni cones – and patent new packaging for our Clar carry-outs (later nicknamed "The Panetone”). A great platform for the light-minded designer.
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Talking to seamstress and designer Maria van Rensen about cutting, folding and creating volume from the flat material, feels like talking to a kindred spirit. Now, bitten by the colour bug, van Rensen becomes our chosen partner bringing pattern, texture to our Ni-Ni ceiling lights. Our first collaboration and certainly not our last.
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We are delighted that independent shop Frank has chosen Clar's handmade lampshades to be part of their collection. Local and ethical production are key factor in Frank's philosophy and in December they have committed to go 100% plastic free. Our handmade ceiling lights Ni-Ni tick all the boxes and are now available in their carefully curated, beautiful shop in Whitstable.
Thank you to Frank, we are excited to be part of your journey.
Read in an earlier journal about our take on sustainability.
Photos by Andrew Hayes-Watkins
]]>clar hat zum erstem Mal mit der Zürcher Modedesignerin Maria van Rensen für eine Kleinserie Leuchten kollaboriert.
Die beiden Designerinnen teilen die Liebe für das Experiment, die Leidenschaft für den minimalen Eingriff, der die optimale Transformation herbeiführt. Beide beginnen ihren Entwurf in flachen Materialien und kreieren die dritte Dimension mittels raffinierter Schnitte und ausgeklügelter Abläufe.
Barbaras Design beruht auf einem einzelnen Schnitt in der Mitte des Materialbogens. Diese einfache Intervention produziert ein System von Ueberlagerungen, einfachen Geometrien, die sich in einem Spiel von Licht und Schatten darstellen.
Marias Auswahl von hochwertigen Stoffen belebt diese Formen. Das durchscheinende Licht bringt Farben und feine Texturen zum Leuchten. So applizieren die Gestalterinnen zum Beispiel einen fein gestreiften Stoff auf das flache Trägermaterial. In der fertigen Leuchte kommen dadurch die frappanten Richtungswechsel im Design das erste mal zum Tragen.
Die Designerin Tomoko Azumi, selbst stolze Besitzerin einer Clar Lampe, schreibt über den Entwurf: "It is like the flat fabric of a Kimono wrapping a human body".
Diese spontane, interdisziplinäre Kollaboration der beiden Designerinnen bringt eine erfrischende Leuchtenkollektion hervor, die im Dezember in Maria van Rensens Atelier zu sehen und zu kaufen ist.
Link zu high resolution images Licht bekleiden - Ni-Ni Mini Rot - Ni-Ni Mini Dreispitz
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For this show That Flower Shop chose exclusive colour variations: Larkspur being referenced in blue tones and warm reds and bright yellows corresponding with the seasonal flower displays in the shop.
Each light is unique and made for this exhibition. They are available by appointment.
Rond Lights are available in 3 sizes and in a variety of colours. Please check our instagram for more imagery or send an e-mail to shop@lightbyclar.com.
Large: 870mm diameter
Medium: 660mm diameter
Small: 500mm diameter
Micro Display : Lampshade Ni-Ni & Lime seeds at Westminster, Great George street.
MicroClar is a temporary small format show that pops up in phone booths across London.
MicroClar is a temporary small format show that pops up in phone booths across London.
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Micro Display: Lampshade Ni-Ni & Molinia Caerulea at Highbury Islington, Highbury Place.
MicroClar is a temporary small format show that pops up in phone booths across London.
Micro Display: Lampshade Ni-Ni and creatures made from packaging excess materials