Serge Mouille

Born in Paris in 1922, Serge Mouille trained at the Ecole des Arts Appliqués from the age of thirteen, quickly gaining recognition for his ability to shape metal by hand. He began his career as a goldsmith and metalworker, later taking over the metal workshop at the school as a teacher. His meeting with Jacques Adnet in the early 1950s drew him into lighting design and led to the first pieces in what would become the Formes Noires series, a group of black, insect like luminaires defined by long arms, precise lines and sculptural reflectors.

Alongside his teaching and research, Mouille developed a body of work that treated light as a graphic gesture in space, using slender steel masts, spun aluminium shades and brass ball joints to create lamps that appear both controlled and alive. Although he stopped producing luminaires in 1963 to focus on teaching, his designs are now recognised as icons of twentieth century lighting. Editions Serge Mouille, working closely with his family and heirs, continues to manufacture his lamps in France using original drawings, moulds and specifications, so that each numbered piece in the Formes Noires collection remains faithful to the designer's intent.