Ladies & Gentlemen Altostratus 01

The L&G Altostratus 01 came from Dylan Davis and Jean Lee figuring out how to make a pendant light feel less like a fixture and more like a floating sculpture. They stretched textile over a natural ash wood frame - basically taking fabric art and turning it into functional lighting. The frame itself stays visible, so you see this clean geometric outline with the textile pulled taut inside it, creating this soft glowing panel when the light's on. Comes with options for different textiles like Asami, Twinx, or Crushed Silk, each giving different levels of light diffusion and visual texture. The brass hardware and bronze suspension cables keep everything looking refined instead of industrial, and the khaki cord blends in better than standard black or white cables do against most ceilings.

What makes this practical beyond just looking interesting is the customization options - you can specify frame sizing and pick textiles based on how much light you actually want filtering through. The 8-foot standard cable gives you flexibility for ceiling height adjustments, and it's UL certified so electricians won't give you grief about installation. Takes standard E26/E27 bulbs (they recommend A15 or G16.5 up to 25 watts), and it's dimmable with either ELV or 0-10V dimmers if you want lighting control. At 7 pounds it's light enough that standard junction boxes handle it fine. Works well over dining tables where you want ambient lighting without harsh downlighting, or in entryways and living rooms where you need something that adds visual interest beyond just illumination. The textile diffuses light softly rather than creating sharp shadows, and the warm 2700K color temperature keeps spaces feeling comfortable instead of clinical.

Ladies & Gentlemen Studio's been operating out of Brooklyn and Seattle since Davis and Lee founded it in 2010, splitting time between coasts and pulling design influences from both. They started with small objects - literally a piggy bank made in their garage - and evolved into doing sculptural lighting and installations for major collaborations. Their design philosophy leans toward "warm minimalism" and "playful austerity," which basically means clean lines and simple materials handled thoughtfully instead of just being stark for the sake of minimalism. The Altostratus fits their approach of reimagining everyday materials (wood frames, textiles) into unexpected applications. Made to order in their Brooklyn studio, so you're getting handcrafted work instead of mass production.