Salone del Mobile
For the third consecutive year, Aesop is present at Salone del Mobile—this time with an installationthat explores purposeful craft, the nature of light and the hands that harness it. Titled The Factory ofLight, the multi-sensorial experience mirrors how Aesop brings illumination and intrigue to everyroom in which it is placed, and every skin it touches.
Located just a few metres from Aesop Brera, the installation was designed by Australian architectand founder of March Studio, Rodney Eggleston. Throughout the experience, the story of Aesop’slatest creation unfolds: Aposē—a trio of lights, unveiled here for the first time, with the limited-edition table lamp available to purchase both in person or online.
The installation is open to all until 26 April, from 10am to 6pm daily at Santa Maria Del Carmine.
A legacy of light
In a world of overly lit, overly stimulating environments that shout among the streetscape, Aesop’sstores have always taken a quieter approach, channeling light as a medium that might instill a senseof serenity. With an interplay of both natural and soft artificial lighting, each space creates anatmosphere that is homely, poetic—and which leaves room for a sense of mystery.
‘Salone del Mobile is an ideal setting for us to share our unique perspective on light and how it fitswithin our wider design philosophy’, says Aesop Brand President Garance Delaye. ‘This year'stheme explores how our approach to spaces, objects and even formulations has been guided by anunderstanding of how to best harness light—and the shadows it may cast. From the signature ambertint of our bottles, originally chosen to protect formulations from the sun while creating captivatingreflections in-store, to the ingredients our scientists select to bring luminosity to the skin, light issomething we approach with scientific rigour and a poetic sensibility—as is our way.’
Exploring the installation
On entering the space, guests are greeted at the basin—the centrepoint of every Aesop store. Herethe hands are refreshed with the lather of a fragrant hand wash before a new sensation, SolaisReplenishing Hand Serum, which includes Niacinamide, Dandelion Root and LHA to brighten theskin. From there, through a hidden portal, the journey begins.
Within the cloister of Santa Maria del Carmine, The Factory of Light celebrates the precision ofhuman hands that conjure light through craft. The structure’s translucent walls were erected fromscaffolding, wrapped in salvaged trompe-l’œil tarpaulins. Originally used to shroud notablebuildings undergoing restoration, these materials speak to the effort of preserving a legacy—and
Aesop’s approach to responsible design. Cut, recomposed and applied to an architectural structure,the tarps form a portrait of a fantasised yet recognisable Milan.
Inside the installation, all senses converge in four rooms to spotlight the meticulous work of thefamily-run workshops that manufacture Aposē, amid Aesop formulations that bring luminosity to theskin and surrounds. The opening is Hear, where the rhythmic rotation of mechanical lathes sculpts
the lamp’s shell. Made from a single sheet of brass, just a few millimetres thick, it was pressed on alathe in Scorzē, northern Italy. See focuses on the entrancing craft of glass-blowing. The artisanblowers of Veneto kindle the flames and shape the glass crown of Aposē by sheer force of lung. The
third room, Touch, presents the production of the lamp’s screw cap base in a German foundry thatwas established in 1874. Molten brass—heated at 900°C—is poured into sand moulds, solidifyingslowly, before the mould is broken and the precious metal retains the rough, heavy texture of its
surfaces. Finally, Smell divulges the final chapter in which all individual parts are assembled byexpert hands in Brescia, and Aposē is switched on for the first time. As a nod to the final step—whenthe lamp illuminates a home—the aroma of our Oil Burner Blends carries the mind from theindustrial to the domestic.
The sacristy of Santa Maria del Carmine houses the installation's final gesture: a horizontal surfacecomposed of 10,826 salvaged fragrance bottles. Repurposed from leftover stocks, they extendAesop’s longstanding practice of transforming packaging into architectural materials, and its
commitment to reducing waste. Arranged in an undulating configuration, the amber assemblyrefracts and multiplies light across the room’s historic carved-wood panelling, while the scent ofAbove Us, Steorra Eau de Parfum imparts an additional amber quality into the air. This amber waveis illuminated by the Aposē trio, revealed here for the first time. In silent conversation with the
historic surroundings, the contemporary installation allows the intemporal design of the lamp toshine within the ambient chiaroscuro.
Aposē: a handmade light for the home
Designed by Aesop’s in-house architects, the Aposē lamp reinterprets the aluminium tube used tohouse formulations, scaled to unconventional proportions—50 centimeters in diameter, 36centimeters tall. Its brass plinth—cast by hand in a German family-run foundry—is topped by a glass
crown, mouth-blown near Murano. Filtered through this frosted halo, Aposē’s even light radiatesdelicate warmth to every room. Aposē is now available to purchase at the Factory of Light or via theAesop website, with pre-orders running from 21 April’
Considering the impact
Each Aesop store across the world is the result of a sincere interest in sustainable design. The startingpoint of the brand’s design process is to always work with what already exists—whether it be tablesfrom its old head office becoming display shelves, or cardboard mailing tubes transforming intointerior fittings. The Factory of Light exemplifies this principle to repurpose local materials. From thefragrance bottles that create the reflective wave in the sacristy, to the salvaged Milanese restorationtarpaulins that form the central structure’s walls, the approach is characteristically considered. Theeffects of which, as demonstrated in the installation, are often considerable.
Beyond the installation, moments of considerately lit repose may be found beyond the bustle ofSalone del Mobile at Aesop’s Milano Cordusio, Corso Magenta and Brera stores. Here, consultantsare on hand to introduce formulations that may enhance the skin’s luminosity—from SolaisReplenishing Hand Serum to Lucent Facial Concentrate—along with Eaux de Parfum that distill aradiant spirit.
‘Light is the chaser away of darkness.’ Leonardo Da Vinci
