Aesop Factory of Light installation at Milan Design Week introduces Aposē lighting collection
Aesop presents The Factory of Light installation during Milan Design Week 2026, a multi-sensory architectural installation at Santa Maria del Carmine during Salone del Mobile. Marking the brand’s third consecutive presence, the project introduces Aposē, a lighting collection developed through a network of European artisans. Designed by Australian architect Rodney Eggleston of March Studio, the installation sits a few metres from Aesop Brera and translates the brand’s long-standing engagement with light into a spatial sequence that combines craft, material research, and atmospheric control. Open daily from 10am to 6pm until 26 April, The Factory of Light installation Milan Design Week 2026 operates as both exhibition and experiential narrative.
The project builds on Aesop’s consistent approach to light as a functional and emotional medium. Across its global retail spaces, illumination has been calibrated to soften perception, balancing natural and artificial sources to produce a sense of calm. This installation extends that philosophy into temporary architecture, framing light as both subject and material. According to Aesop Brand President Garance Delaye, the project connects product design, spatial strategy, and formulation research through a shared understanding of luminosity, from the protective amber glass of its bottles to ingredients selected for their skin-brightening properties.
Visitors enter through a basin area—an element central to Aesop stores—where tactile interaction begins with hand cleansing and the application of Solais Replenishing Hand Serum. A concealed passage leads into the cloister, where the installation unfolds through a sequence of rooms. The structure is assembled using scaffolding wrapped in salvaged trompe-l’œil tarpaulins previously used on restoration sites. These materials introduce a layer of urban memory, recontextualised into a semi-translucent envelope that filters light while referencing Milan’s architectural surfaces.
Inside, four environments—Hear, See, Touch, and Smell—trace the making of the Aposē lamp. In Hear, mechanical lathes shape a brass shell from a single thin sheet in Scorzé, northern Italy. See focuses on glass-blowing traditions in Veneto, where artisans form the lamp’s crown through controlled breath and heat. Touch presents the casting of the base in a German foundry established in 1874, where molten brass is poured into sand moulds and cooled to retain a textured surface. Smell completes the sequence in Brescia, where components are assembled and activated, accompanied by aromatic compositions that transition the experience from industrial production to domestic use.
The final space in the sacristy introduces a large-scale installation composed of 10,826 salvaged Aesop fragrance bottles. Arranged in a continuous horizontal formation, the amber glass refracts light across carved wooden interiors, creating a layered visual field that amplifies both illumination and scent. This gesture reflects Aesop’s ongoing interest in material reuse, transforming packaging into architectural elements while reducing waste within its production cycle.
At the centre of the project, Aposē emerges as a product rooted in craft and proportion. Designed by Aesop’s in-house team, the lamp scales the familiar aluminium tube into a domestic object measuring 50 centimetres in diameter and 36 centimetres in height. A hand-cast brass base supports a mouth-blown glass diffuser produced near Murano, generating a soft, even glow. Presented for the first time at The Factory of Light installation Milan Design Week 2026, Aposē connects industrial processes with intimate environments, reinforcing the installation’s focus on how light is shaped, handled, and ultimately lived with.
All images credit: Aesop
