Sophie Collé’s gestural furniture pieces bring a vibrant touch to home interiors. With a background in industrial design, Collé not only creates with an analytical approach but also a creative whimsy that stems from her heart. Stepping into her apartment, Hypebeast was given a first look at an exclusive project Collé is creating in collaboration with Afterpay Dropshop: the Element Lamp.

Though she has created large-scale custom build-outs, Collé maintains the importance of access within the design and furniture spaces. “It’s really intimidating, not only as a designer, to enter into the world, but as a consumer. There are so many options out there and it can sometimes be misleading where to buy from or who you’re supporting. Furniture can also be expensive. So I think not only making furniture itself accessible, but any sort of artwork, is important,” she shared.

Afterpay has pushed the boundaries of Drop Culture beyond the niches of fashion and footwear. Partnering with Collé, the “Buy Now, Pay Later” platform will release a limited run of exclusive lamps through Dropshop. “I normally never drop pieces like this or put out collections like this at all. It’s new for me to work within exclusive editions, but knowing that they also will be at a more affordable price point, especially with Afterpay being involved, is amazing,” Collé expressed.

Providing an inside look behind the design process of the Element Lamp, Collé walks us through certain material choices and how she blended her imaginative style with an added edge for this project. The lamp intertwines earthy textures and motifs, nodding to our connection to the natural world. Its base is crafted from wood painted in a special edition Bondi Mint tone created with Pantone, as a nod to Afterpay. The globe of the lamp, which illuminates, is made out of hand-blown opal glass, and metal adornments finish off the design.

“The Element Lamp has been really fun to create because I tried to pull from my usual stack of cards, but I also really wanted to push myself and challenge myself. Although the base of the lamp is a rectangular prism, I always like playing with really classical geometry combined with crazy geometry. I worked with a really incredible metal worker to make all of the adornments out of steel. I’m excited about the materiality of the lamp itself. It has about four or five materials just in this one small object,” said Collé.

She continued, “Many of my pieces are normally made out of plywood because I usually don’t like covering up a beautiful piece of wood. For this project, I thought it would be pretty interesting to elevate something that’s a bit more quotidian. My practice has always been very intentional. It’s all handbuilt, for the most part. Things move at a slower pace. But on the flip side, people really love my work because they know it’s made with love and it’s made rather ethically compared to other design practices that may not be as transparent.”

Through this collaboration, Collé not only brings her skills to the world of Drop Culture, but she emphasizes the importance of creating a welcoming design community, for both shoppers and designers. “My biggest piece of advice for aspiring designers is just to start and not be intimidated by all of the really big factors that can shut you down. Ask for help and just start because that’s really the only way anything will come from it.”

To learn more about Afterpay’s Dropshop, visit afterpay.com. To find out more about the exclusive Element Lamp and Sophie Collé’s process, check out the Visits video above.