Timothy Alouani-Roby: First, please tell me a bit about yourselves – both personally and your work.
CJ: I have always been involved in making processes. My father makes custom motorcycles, so my formative years were spent in workshops learning what can truly be done. This came in very handy when working for Urban Art Projects in Brisbane, trying to work out how to design and fabricate the very vague drawings we would get from artists for public sculptures.
I have two young sons and find a lot of inspiration in play and seeing things through a childlike lens. This is clearly visible through the pieces I have created, such as my Big Friendly collection for Dowel Jones as well as the over-emphasised features and form of the Soigne Armchair exhibited in Milan in 2019.
JJ: I grew up in the Northern Rivers spending almost every moment playing in the river or surfing. I think being obsessed early on with the ocean is likely why my path to design took a bit of an alternate route – I needed to get the surfing and playing in bands out of my system!
I started my working life as an electrician and worked as one right through university. At the time, I didn’t particularly feel like it was my calling, but I’ve come to be thankful for that time as a tradesman. It has formed my understanding of lighting and manufacturing.
I worked for another lighting designer in Byron Bay for years, learning the business of design. This really cemented my belief that lighting design would eventually become the foundation of our studio.
What was your involvement in Milan Design Week last year?
Last year for Milan Design Week we were invited to partner with Milan-based bathware company Ex.t for the lighting design of their booth at Salone Del Mobile. The booth was designed by Milan interior and product design duo Sans Nom, who had reached out to us earlier that year for their presentation at Maison et Objet in Paris. It was an obvious choice for all of us to work together again for Milan. We are so thankful to the team at Ex.t and Sans Nom. It was the perfect introduction for us to Design Week without the pressure of going it alone, especially having locals as our guides.
What did you get out of it and why do you think it’s such special fixture in the design calendar?
Partnering with Ex.t and exhibiting at the world’s biggest design fair was an immeasurable benefit to the growth and visibility of our young company. From a business perspective, it was brilliant. We now have distribution partners in Europe with Les Vrais and Raiz Lighting. We also had New Zealand clients visiting our booth, which has resulted in distribution in New Zealand with Inlite.
It’s special for the obvious reason of being able to discuss and make new business relationships, but we found that the greatest benefit for an Australian to visit was to be reminded it’s a damn massive world that is ready for good design to help solve the problems of designers globally. We walked into the fair and were in awe of the scale. It would have been easy to feel like there’s no room for us, but we took it as: “look at all this opportunity.”
Do you look to Europe for design inspiration or more within our region?
Of course! Who doesn’t look to Europe for design inspiration?
The great thing about Europe is the diversity across so many regions – for instance, the design and interiors you’re getting out of Paris is completely different from what you’ll see in Madrid, and they’re neighbouring countries. Having our studios in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast, we know how insular our design community can be, which I think can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s easy to get stuck being too influenced by those directly around us, but at the same time, it is this very nature that forms the Australian aesthetic that we’re finding the world is hungry for.
What are you working on at the moment?
In short, adding more lights to our offering. We are launching our fourth collection titled VERSE right now in mid-March 2025. VERSE is a lighting system that utilises a repeated puck light source to form drop pendants, wall lights and linear pendants that connect together in a modular fashion to create suspended ways of traversing through space.
We are also launching a collection designed by Jordan Fleming for Objects for Thought as part of the Melbourne Design Week program. Jay is also working on a sculptural design presentation of science fiction influenced deities for a museum show in Melbourne later in the year.
What tips would you offer to anyone heading to Milan this year?
Spend one day at Salone del Mobile and accept you won’t see everything because there is so much to see in the design districts. Brera is the heart of it all but Isola and 5vie have lots of great shows too. Seek out what the big fashion houses are doing and who they’re collaborating with – we saw some great exhibition design in those which could just come down to the fact that they have endless budgets.
Capsule global is for the best contemporary thinking in design and host an array of talks at different locations, last year the La Marzocco x Rimowa collab was giving out free coffee next door. Lastly, find the Baranzate Ateliers and work out how to get to their opening night, the Belgians can party and the design is otherworldly.
Register for our exclusive Habitus event in Milan 2025 here!
