Created for HAY by French designer Inga Sempé, the Matin Lamp series offers a contemporary yet poetic design, with a construction that combines visual delicacy with physical robustness. Matin combines Inga’s fascination with pleats and their ability to transform a material with her signature use of sophisticated colours, reflecting her desire to create original designs that combine quality and function.
The latest models, the wall lamp and flush mount, continue this direction while adding even more choice to the lighting shape. We chatted with the designer about these new additions to the Matin family.
Photos by Morgane Le Gall and Studio Sempix
What was the inspiration behind the original Matin shade?
Inga Sempé: The idea was to have a happy and modern pleated lamp that doesn’t feel cheesy. It should fit any kind of interior. Matin is not about nostalgia or design heritage necessarily, it’s just a lamp with a classic shade that makes beautiful, soft light. The structured base gives it a contemporary feel.
My inspiration process was totally disconnected from the fabric shade. I wanted to create a simple lamp that would have a lot of identity. My aim was based on the use and the mounting of the lamp. I wanted a simple wire structure meant to hold a shade, whatever material it would be made of, and that one could connect without any tool (so no desperate search for a hidden screwdriver!)
Creating the structure, so that it was both simple and safe, took a long time. The stem enters in a junction piece joint that also holds the square foot. On top of it, the shade is fixed with a big special screw that requires turning with one hand. That’s all!
People often tell me how much they like the Matin shades. They say the name, Matin, like they’re talking about a person we both know!
What do these new variants add to the Matin collection?
Inga Sempé: They are meant to be set on places other than tables or shelves, The wall version of the Matin lamp is simply hooked with a nail on the wall, wherever you need it. Then you can adjust the direction of the light by rotating the shade. This one is really the “easy living” variant for people like me, who find it hard to decide where to drill into their walls!
The flush mount version is meant to be a nice cover for electric plugs on the ceiling. The shade sits very close to the ceiling itself so that one doesn’t see the technical elements inside. It can also be used as appliqué for the plugs that have been set inside the walls.
How would you describe the Matin collection overall?
Inga Sempé: I would say this is lighting for daily use. Daily use for big houses or tiny apartments; very versatile in both usage and style.
Inga Sempé is a French designer who lives and works in Paris. A graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Création Industrielle (ENSCI) in Paris (1993), she also took up a scholarship at the Villa Medici, Académie de France in Rome (2000 - 2001). She was awarded the Red Dot Design Award in 2007. Her work is known for a lightness of touch, for a strong personality and for a particularly tactile nature. The idea of everyday use is at the centre of Sempé’s approach and she often seeks out materials with special properties to answer the need of a daily function. For HAY, she has created the idiosyncratic accessories, Pinorama, Ruban, Fonte Candleholder, Matin lamps and the sofa Pandarine.
