Annet van Egmond

Annet van Egmond (1964) graduated at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht the Netherlands, where she was trained as a sculptor. She has been working as independent product designer ever since. In 1989 Annet founded lighting design studio BRAND VAN EGMOND together with William Brand, with the sole intention to create art without restraints. They have been working together for more than 22 years, making unique and sensual lighting sculptures that truly capture the imagination.

"We are often asked where our passion for light and sculptures comes from, how it developed and how we reached our present position.

To be honest, we ask ourselves the last question every day too. Perhaps it was through our love for the craft, our enthusiasm and the desire to discover new things. Comparable with an archaeologist who is excavating and not knowing what he will find. When it comes to answering the first question, the birth of our passion for lighting sculptures, our time at art college, was very important. I sometimes compare that period to 'the Big Bang', the original explosion that created the universe. At college, it was possible to experiment. We learnt to weld for the first time and we made our prototypes and sculptures separately. We photographed and made sketches and drawings. We saw something magical in these unfamiliar things. It was an exciting, chaotic brew of discoveries, and at that time we did not know where they would lead. That only became clear later.

1989 saw the birth of our first lighting sculpture, called Chandelier. It was born out of masses of sketches of gourds. For the first time we raised a sculpture from the floor to the ceiling. And so, unintentionally, we created our first lighting sculpture. We initially thought this was a one-off project, but we gradually realised that light and sculpture could be interwoven to create a whole new experience.

Our first commissions made us very happy. We learnt a lot from the designers and clients we worked with, but we remained freelance. Despite the unremitting labour, the many long days and welding fumes, this was the approach that made us happiest. In that period we did not want our concentration to be interrupted so we worked on our own. At first we peddled our collection to manufacturers, but they simply were not interested. We did not want to lose any time so for the first eight years we made everything ourselves, just the two of us. In the end we realised that our independence gave us the unique opportunity to continue creating autonomously.

I think our passion originates from the endeavour to make each year's collection better than the last, and of even more enduring quality. The urge to develop and grow is a significant driving force. You have to keep improving yourself. We have now already celebrated our twenty-second anniversary, but we still experience every day as the start of a new journey."

LIGHTING

The BRAND VAN EGMOND lighting collection consists of more than 20 lighting collections with names that, between the lines, represent the most valuable stories of inspiration and dedication of our planet earth:
Chandelier, Behind the Frosted glass, Hollywood, Delphinium, Crystal Waters, Rhapsody in Bleu, Candles and Spirits, Broom, Night Watch, Icy Lady, Flower Power, Lola, Floating Candles, Love you Love you not, La Vie en Rose, Coco, Digital Dreams, Pin-Up, Table D'Amis, Diamonds from Amsterdam and Crushed Cover.

Nowadays the light are being advised in prestigious projects worldwide. One of the most recent projects is the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

WALLCOVERING

Annet van Egmond has designed two feminine wallcovering collections for BN International. These collections are given the poetic names 'Shadows on the wall' and 'The Gardens of Amsterdam'. The newest collection Diamonds Are Forever will be launched in January at Heimtextil 2011.

FAIRS

Both the lighting and the wall covering collections are presented on international fairs. Coming april BRAND VAN EGMOND will present the latest collections in Milan again.

Quote by Gisella Borioli, SUPERSTUDIO GROUP
"These are lamps, but also primarily works of art that touch the emotions and the heart, these shimmering objects by Annet van Egmond and by William Brand."

AGAINST COPYING - ONLINE REGISTRATION

No copies of our products are allowed. Every new BRAND VAN EGMOND lighting sculpture is now provided with an unique number and corresponding Certificate of Authenticity! Online register only.