Lee Broom: Classic crystal decanters reimagined as modern chandeliers

Decanterlight Chandelier, 5 Pieces, designed by Lee Broom || Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom

Lee Broom is one of the UK’s leading product and interior designers. Before his name became a globally recognised design brand, The Financial Times listed him among Britain’s most respected talents. Somewhat later, The Guardian remarked that Broom is to furniture what Marc Jacobs or Tom Ford are to fashion.

From his early days of upcycling and creating unique pieces of furniture, Broom has evolved into a designer of award-winning series that are sold worldwide. A key part of this success comes from his Decanterlight pendants, originally crafted from vintage crystal decanters. The high demand for these lights, combined with the scarcity of vintage pieces, inspired him to start producing new crystal decanters and move into series production of the pendants. This journey eventually led to the creation of the Crystal Bulb – a product born from a dream – which has since helped him conquer international markets.

Even after moving to series production, he has remained committed to a philosophy of conscientious design, mindful of its ethical, social, and environmental impact. This includes applying circular principles, such as using biodegradable and recyclable materials, sourcing local goods and services, and reducing consumption. While moving away from the DIY (Do It Yourself) approach that shaped his first collections, he has preserved the handcrafting of materials by collaborating closely with traditional British craftsmen. That’s how all of his products – superbly designed, always with a powerful narrative and flawlessly crafted from the best materials – practically become eternal. They immediately enter the corpus of movable cultural heritage, ready to inspire future generations.

Traditional British craftsmanship in a boldly modern design

When he founded his company in 2007, Lee Broom made an immediate impact with his debut Neo Neon collection. He used hand-bent neon to illuminate quilting, piping, rivets, silk fringes, and the carved details of stylistic furniture (Louis XV), highlighting the mastery of traditional craftsmanship. The striking contrast between classic forms and eccentric lighting earned the collection recognition for its innovative approach to timeless design, establishing it as a celebrated example of reinterpreting tradition in a contemporary way.

That same year, Broom began receiving recognition for his earlier interior design work on London clubs such as The Valmont Club, Nightjar, Lost Society, and Arts Theatre Club, which quickly earned spots on “best of” lists. He carried out these projects alongside his colleague Maki Aoki, and the work helped fund his fashion design studies. In 2002, the two of them founded their agency, Makilee Design, offering interior design services to independent bars across London. When Maki decided to continue her career in Japan, Broom launched his own brand and company – Lee Broom. At just 31, he was already listed among the 15 most influential figures in the competitive and fast-moving British bar industry.

Although essentially a modernist, Lee Broom works closely with engravers, lacquerers, and other artisans who uphold traditional handcraft techniques, viewing their expertise as essential to the integrity of his products. His respect for British craftsmanship became evident with the Heritage Boy collection (2009), which used contemporary furniture design to celebrate traditional British skills in upholstery, parquetry, and handcrafted ceramic tiles.

Leaving the Royal Shakespeare Company for a design calling

Broom went on to collaborate with some of the world’s leading brands, including Christian Louboutin, Mulberry, Bergdorf Goodman, and Wedgwood. His designs are recognised for their entirely unexpected, contemporary reinterpretations of classic styles. Many critics believe that this essential element of surprise stems from his extensive experience in theatre and the fashion industry, always shaping the distinctive flair of his work.

Born in Birmingham in 1976, Broom began his career as a child actor on television and in theatre. He attended drama school and became a member of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company. At 17, after winning a fashion design competition (The Clothes Show), he turned his focus to fashion – a field that remains his major source of inspiration. The victory also earned him mentorship from the legendary designer Vivienne Westwood and inspired him to pursue fashion studies at Central Saint Martins.

It can be said that Broom’s formative theatre experiences developed his sense of drama and narrative – qualities that later became central to his lighting and furniture collections – while his background in fashion taught him to embrace and explore new themes without losing the core identity of the brand. With these creative skills, he gradually earned a reputation for conceptual, dynamic installations that are surreal, immersive, and always unexpected. By combining the finest materials (marble, gold, silver, brass, crystal, leather) with cutting-edge technologies, he continually innovates, producing pieces that are uniquely recognisable for their blend of classicism and modernity.

For his more than 100 original pieces of luxury furniture and lighting fixtures, Broom has received around 40 national and international awards so far. Among the most prestigious are the British Designer of the Year Award (2011) and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category (2015). These accolades affirm his position not only as a leader and innovator in British design but also as a contributor to the UK economy on a global scale. In addition to numerous product-specific awards, he has received several international honours recognising his influence on the design industry as a whole, including the Courvoisier Future 500 Award (2008), Milano Design Awards (2015), and FX Design Awards (2016), among others.

Fascination with the beauty of classic English crystal

Originally celebrated as interior elements, the Decanterlight pendants and chandeliers are among Lee Broom’s lighting designs that invite reflection on repurposing, reinterpretation, and the lifecycle of glass. Broom first crafted them from 1930s English crystal decanters, and later from newly handmade decanters. While each Decanterlight can stand alone, the design truly comes to life in clusters.

The first Decanterlight pieces appeared in April 2010 as part of the interior for the Coquine bar-restaurant in London, a project that earned Broom the British Design Award (Elle Decoration UK).

At the back of the restaurant, I designed a long communal table which lead up to a beautiful frosted glass window at the end of the room. It had glass shelving in front of it and I arranged vintage crystal decanters on the shelves and illuminated the back to create a glass and crystal silhouette, which seemed perfect for a bar and restaurant environment. I wanted to create a large-scale chandelier that swept along the length of the table so people could dine and drink alongside a beautiful installation. I looked at the decanters and thought ‘I wonder if I could make a light fixture out of some of those…’ and that’s how the piece was born. It felt crazy that nobody had done it before.

– Lee Broom, for Livingetc, 2021

These were the first lighting fixtures Broom ever created, and he was so taken with them that he launched a dedicated retail line at the end of May that same year. They fit perfectly with the upcycling and repurposing trends emerging during the 2008 recession, as well as the renewed interest in British heritage as a source of economic recovery.

The Decanterlight pendants were initially produced in three styles: the first remained clear as the original decanters, the second were etched to diffuse the light, and the third group was finished with polished gold for a more contemporary, luxurious look.

The Decanterlights are not a limited edition collection and in fact this is the first, more accessible range I have designed; although each piece is indeed unique, the collection will only end when no more vintage, cut crystal decanters can be found.

– Lee Broom, for Dezeen, 2010

And that’s exactly what happened. The collection quickly gained popularity, and the supply of classic English decanters – sourced from antiques fairs, vintage shops, and eBay – could no longer meet demand in the required quantities or at an affordable price.

Funnily enough, as we started to sell more and more – we were selling hundreds and hundreds of them – the price of vintage decanters went up and we couldn’t afford to buy as many as we wanted to, which must have been a result of us just buying every single decanter in the market!

– Lee Broom for Livingetc, 2021

He then decided to produce new crystal decanters, designing the cuts himself. Despite the many new possibilities this approach offered, such as creating decanters in different colours, shapes, sizes, and patterns, all new Decanterlight pendants remained faithful in size and silhouette to the vintage decanters, with the cuts inspired by the original ones.

In the meantime, the etched and polished gold-finished pendants were discontinued, so Broom now works exclusively with clear lead crystal decanters, crafted for him in the Czech Republic, a country renowned for its cut crystal. Today’s Decanterlight pendants are available in three shapes – bell, cube, and tulip – corresponding to decanters for wine, whisky, and port. They can be combined in various ways to suit ceilings of all sizes, from small hallways and dining areas to large, custom installations for gardens and special events.

Broom’s principles of good lighting

The idea was for each pendant to be a different length, so that a chandelier composed of three, five, or even dozens of pendants occupies multiple planes on the ceiling or other structure it’s attached to. Each Decanterlight comes with a cord up to three meters long, encouraging buyers to consider its placement in the space: Should this fixture hang closer to the floor than the ceiling? Where should the other pendants be positioned? Could the entire height of the room be filled with lights?

A key element of the originality of Decanterlight, as well as all other Broom’s lighting installations, stems from his refutation of preconceptions about the number of light sources in a space and the ceiling as a surface that, in his opinion, should be furnished just like floors and walls.

I suppose, to be forward about it, the biggest flaw I see is that people can be afraid of the scale of lighting – particularly in the grander sense. In smaller spaces, the light shouldn’t have to equally be small. It’s a form of artwork. Lighting is supposed to fill the room: let it.

… More often than not, homes have their main sources of light coming from the ceiling, yet they’re plain and underutilised. The walls and floors may be covered in fixtures and artwork and carpets, while the ceiling is left undecorated. Allow your ceiling lights to be sculptural and eye-catching.

– Lee Broom, for Monocle, April 2025

The crystal glass Decanterlight shades reveal the golden lamp holders of the LED bulbs, which match the gold fabric cord. The holders are made of brushed brass, while the dimmable bulbs are compatible with smart homes and adaptable to various environments — from corporate lounges and commercial interiors to archives and libraries that value cultural and historical heritage.

It seems obvious, but it’s sometimes overlooked: all your lights should be dimmable. That sort of control, particularly of the temperature, is extremely important. It emphasises times of the day, it dictates mood, it changes the texture of a space.

– Lee Broom, for Monocle, April 2025

The irresistible allure of pre-war cut crystal

Design critics and Decanterlight retailers have described the pendants as “opulent and breathtaking.” The meticulous attention to design and the handcrafted precision of the fine crystal cuts transform these pendant clusters into “magnificent and enchanting luxury installations made of sparkling crystal that shimmers with beautiful light.” Even the toughest critics have been captivated by the endless play of light created by the cut glass. When it comes to their atmospheric potential, this “unique and spectacular lighting piece” has been praised as nothing less than “pure romance”.

As Lee Broom’s first retail lighting collection, Decanterlight stands as both a meaningful testament and a still-relevant example of how a classic crystal decanter, once a hallmark of British glassmaking, can be successfully recontextualised. The idea of transforming something familiar, often unused, into a contemporary object with a new purpose not only revived interest in vintage decanters but also sparked the production of newly crafted versions. These are made by traditional glass artisans, preserving time-honoured skills and the value of handcraftsmanship.

A refined fusion of classic elements and contemporary design, Decanterlight pendants and chandeliers remain luxurious lighting pieces that impress both atmospherically and visually, marking the collection that first opened international doors for Lee Broom. It was, in fact, his first series-produced line sold in the UK (John Lewis and Liberty London), Hong Kong (Lane Crawford), and the United States (The Future Perfect).

For me, Decanter was a transition from DIY upcycling to creating something new on a mass level while retaining a hand-crafted element, it, something I took forward to the next stage of my product development. Its success was also pivotal with our move to the Shoreditch showroom – it was a signal that we needed to expand and move on.

What I’m most proud of is that we still sell Decanter and it continues to do incredibly well. Creating pieces with longevity is incredibly important to me, and it’s absolutely ticked that box – it’s a classic now.

– Lee Broom, for Livingetc, 2021

Following his entry into the world of glassmaking with the Decanterlight pendants, Broom soon began exploring new possibilities in crystal. He transformed the unused stoppers of vintage crystal decanters, which he had been collecting for years, into stemmed crystal glasses for wine, champagne and martini. That was a three-piece collection titled Half Cut and launched in November 2012.

Each glass was unique, defined by the vintage stopper that served as both functional support and decorative statement. Every stopper was polished, etched with the then-current Lee Broom crest, and cut to connect seamlessly with a newly hand-blown glass bowl. From the many stoppers he sourced, four shapes proved most common and suitable for small-scale production – round, square, conical, and domed – allowing the glasses to be sold either as matching sets or as eclectic assortments of mixed bases.

The following year, he staged an impressive exhibition titled Crystal Bulb, dedicated to a modern reinterpretation of traditional cut-crystal craftsmanship. For the occasion, he completely transformed his studio into a Crystal Bulb Shop, styled after pre-war general stores where goods were sold by weight. The space was filled with these bulbs and pendant lights – products that, thanks to their seamless fusion of industrial elements and the decorative qualities of lead crystal, set a new standard for redefined modern luxury.

I actually dreamt that product – I often dream about products, I’ve got a sketchbook by my bed – I’d been thinking about crystal, and about wanting to design another light fixture and one night I dreamed of the Crystal Bulb, I saw its silhouette, the cuts and it switching on. A lightbulb moment, literally. It was 2012 and eight weeks to go until we were making our debut at Milan Design Week – we scrapped what we were working on to release the Crystal Bulb instead, and the rest is history.

– Lee Broom, for Livingetc, 2021

The Crystal Bulb was created in collaboration with Cumbria Crystal in Ulverston, one of the last remaining producers of hand-blown and hand-cut English crystal. Each bulb is still individually blown and hand-cut using traditional techniques, with a pattern inspired by the classic motifs found on English whisky glasses and decanters. It is precisely this unexpected crystal cut that sparks the imagination of design lovers worldwide, a signature surprise element found throughout Broom’s work. For many years, the Crystal Bulb remained Lee Broom’s best-selling product, and the success of the Decanterlight pendants directly inspired its creation.

A designer with a flair for drama

Broom launches one or two new collections every year and consistently stages striking presentations at major design fairs in Milan, New York, London, and beyond. His products are now sold in over 250 stores across 50 countries, with flagship showrooms in both London and New York. In addition to his celebrated lighting pieces already mentioned, over the past decade he has received major accolades for designs such as Chapel Light, the Mini Crescent Chandelier, the Observatory, Eclipse, and Alchemist collections, as well as the dramatic Vesper and King chandeliers.

Thanks to his background in theatre and fashion design, Broom has also mastered the art of presenting his work to the public. His exhibitions and product launches are often staged with dramatic flair. Some, like the debut of the Musico chair, even featured live performances by a chamber orchestra. Short promotional films further amplify the impact, combining originality, rhythm, and visual storytelling. As Becky Sunshine, author of the illustrated Rizzoli monograph LEE BROOM: FASHIONING DESIGN, observes, the worlds of theatre and fashion “have permeated his creative thinking and the way he presents his work as immersive experiences”.

Li Brum has clearly been, and remains, deeply inspired by the history of British design. With an innovative approach to lighting and furniture design, he skillfully merges traditional craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetics. Committed to high-quality materials and flawless execution, he creates collections that transcend trends, offering timeless pieces that seamlessly fit into a variety of interiors. As a recognised design visionary, he is now entering a mature phase of his career, and he will certainly continue to push boundaries and redefine modern luxury.

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This edition is the part of the programme “Glassmaking Tradition Meets Innovation” funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.