STUDIO KH
by Karen Henriksen
above: photos taken at Future Icons Selects exhibition, London Craft Week 2024
Lighting with a millinery heritage
Studio KH is a range of sculptural lightshades, drawing on Karen Henriksen’s millinery expertise and distinctive design ethos. Constructed from layers of translucent banana-fibre, each piece is completely hand-stitched, with draping, folding and pleating techniques applied to create a lyrical, abstract asymmetry and a playful elegance.
Some evoke diaphanous clouds, while others conjure thoughts of origami or foliage. New designs, coming soon, are inspired by the stylised forms of the Art Deco movement.
Banana-fibre (also known as sinamay) is widely used in the millinery industry. It is made by independent weavers and small family co-ops in the Phillipines, who work directly with our suppliers, small family businesses here in the UK.
Selected pieces are available to buy online here.
Karen is also happy to collaborate and work to commission, whether you are a private client or an interior designer. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to discuss commissioning a customised or bespoke piece for your home or interior project.
Follow Studio KH on Instagram >
Background and Inspiration
For inspiration, Karen has drawn on her couture millinery archive (see some examples below) - where sinamay, silk, or paper, wraps, drapes and folds around itself, or blooms cloud-like from wearers’ heads. Alongside this is an abiding interest in contrasting textures and surfaces in furniture, interior design and architecture. And of course, the natural world is a constant source of inspiration, in particular, abstracted botanical and floral elements.
This lovely quote by Lucia van der Post back in 2011 has an interesting prescience…
“look out for Karen Henriksen, who does for hats what Ingo Maurer does for lights -
that is, make them look light, diaphanous and as if they’re floating. She uses ultra-fine
straw to make hats that are quite strange yet beautiful and flattering.”
Launching the Range
Craftmakers in Residence
6-10 February 2023
Hosted by Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, this was a showcase of crafts for interiors, brought to life with daily demonstrations in the iconic Design Avenue.
Alongside fellow Cockpit makers and Qest scholars, Karen was delighted to present her sculpted lightshades, with an insight into the processes involved in creating them.
See below some images from the residency, including work-in-progress shots of the lightshade she made there - the ‘Fold’ design in white.
Material Matters
September 2022
The range was launched at the inaugural edition of design fair Material Matters, during London Design Festival in September 2022. Based on the critically acclaimed podcast of the same name, the fair brought together over 40 world-leading brands, designers, makers, manufacturers and organisations to celebrate the importance of materials and their ability to shape our lives.
See below some images from the fair.
