British designer Lee Broom has had many creative lives. He began his career at the age of seven as a child actor and a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company who appeared in the West End, before pivoting to fashion at 17 when he won a competition which led to an internship with Vivienne Westwood. Broom later studied fashion at Central Saint Martins but intuitively took another creative turn when he and fellow graduate Maki Aoki opened Makilee Design, an interior design practice creating slick interiors for nightclubs, bars and restaurants. When she returned to Japan four years later, he launched his own furniture and lighting brand in 2007. 

By 2012, the year in which he launched his Crystal Bulb, elevating an everyday object into a design classic, Broom was hailed as a major talent on the international scene – and the showman of the world’s design fairs. He transformed a derelict Milan store into a curated, multisensory retail space at his 2015 installation Department Store, and a delivery van into a mobile exhibition space, which travelled from London to Milan the following year. His 2017 Time Machine was the talk of the town: a mesmerising vision of a ghostly white carousel turning to display 10 years of his designs inside a derelict vault at the Milano Centrale station – a visual metaphor for the evolving lifecycle of his brand over its first decade.

There have been many other design milestones, not least the moment his sexy swinging  "Hanging Hoop" chair featured in Beyonce’s Black is King visual album in 2020. To date, Broom has more than 40 awards to his name, and has created more than 100 original furniture, lighting and accessory designs. At 50-years-old, he has amassed a considerable oeuvre, but anyone who has watched the designer’s creative progress over the years will know that he is doing his best work right now.

There is a monumental, sculptural quality to Broom’s current output. He remains prolific: last year alone the designer unveiled the Cascade collection with Spanish porcelain maker Lladró – a series of modular porcelain lights mimicking the ethereality of paper lanterns  – in addition to the slick but functional Chant portable lamp inspired by ‘70s glass blocks (for indoor and outdoor use), and a new Wall Light within his striking Requiem collection: lighting conceived in plaster, taking the form of elegantly draped fabric frozen in time. The pieces are hand-sculpted by Broom himself and have the elegance of classical sculpture. They are lighting, yes, but they are also functional art.

“Moving into more of an art space was intentional but also organic – that side of me was always there,” says the British designer who has flagship showrooms in both Shoreditch London and SoHo New York in addition to a Tribeca penthouse (a by-appointment showcase for his collections that opened in 2021), which will be joined by a new New York showroom in 2027.  “I remember after my first few collections, people said, ‘Well you need to decide which lane you are going to be in – are you a designer or an artist?’ That puzzled me. Art and design come under the same creative umbrella and if you are multidisciplinary you see no difference. But over the last few years I’ve wanted to experiment and take more risks. I enjoy the pivot point between the commercial and the avant-garde. That’s the sweet spot.” 

The designer cites his installation Beacon, a major piece of public art produced with Brokis and Materials Assemble. The temporary piece, which created a glowing landmark outside the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, pulsed with light that synchronised with the chimes of Big Ben. It came to a close in January this year but will now tour different cities and will be part of the forthcoming Designblok fair in Prague this October. “It’s going to be done in slightly different ways, which is exciting because I always try to bring some kind of permanence to these installations in that something happens to them afterwards,” Broom says.

The designer’s latest project The Resident strikes the same chord more than six thousand miles away in Mexico City. Broom was excited to get involved in the city’s vibrant art scene, which he’s been following for some time, and is the first designer entrusted to take over the entire villa-turned-gallery space owned by the lighting specialist Diez Company in the city’s upmarket Polanco neighbourhood. His show opened to coincide with Mexico City Art Week in February but can be viewed at the historic house until the end of spring. Inside, more than 50 of the designer’s lights create a magical immersive experience, juxtaposed with artworks by local artists, which were curated by Broom. “It’s a very beautiful old building. I was guided by the architecture,” he says of how the project took shape. “You can tell when designs have just been placed in space – something always feels off.” 

Broom’s interventions at the villa unfold in a glorious illuminated spectacle. His Hail light greets visitors in the central atrium, a colossal cascade of light wrapped by the staircase which sets the stage for his theatrical odyssey. Along the way, designs in new finishes are revealed, as well as a curation of Requiem, which includes his new wall sconce. 

“There’s also an amazing tiled bathroom which wasn’t intended to be used but then I realised the square formations of the tiles echoed those of the Chant collection,” Broom says of one of the most striking rooms in the villa. “The whole thing is finished in gold, floor to walls. It’s quite kitsch and ‘70s – really playful. It’s good to have light and shade; different characters and points of interest.”

Broom’s installation is intended to connect with the viewer. “I want people to feel as well as see when they walk into one of my spaces,” he explains. “I’ve always designed from a personal place. For me, there are no boundaries between art, design and performance. You can have the same emotional response to a light fixture as to a piece of sculpture.”

The performative aspect of Broom’s work is part of his process. “It says so much about the storytelling, even about the materiality of a piece,” he reflects. “I suppose my background in theatre as a child actor, and in fashion, all play a part. I see everything as a performance…” And his audience remains enthralled.