Tan first visited Louis Poulsen’s headquarters in Denmark 15 years ago and dreamed of one day collaborating with the company. The opportunity arose in 2023 when he met the team again at Milan Design Week while presenting his Quiet Lines collection. During a family vacation in Denmark, he visited the headquarters once more and showed a 3D prototype of a pendant lamp.
Although that design was declined, the creative director kept him in mind and later invited him to design a portable lamp. Tan worked over Christmas to develop his ideas, and his concept was chosen, becoming the Rumee portable lamp. He emphasized that the collaboration was marked by patience, precision, and a focus on quality — values that make Louis Poulsen a leader in lighting design.
Many prototypes were made to get the final design. “What looks right visually doesn’t always feel right in the hand, so we had to test physical prototypes extensively, holding them in different positions, carrying them around, and using them in real scenarios. This kind of ergonomic refinement cannot be done purely through digital modelling,” said Tan regarding the handle design. The challenges were not just technical. “Personally, there was also the psychological responsibility of designing for such a storied brand.
Louis Poulsen’s archive contains some of the most important lighting designs of the 20th century. That pressure to create something worthy of that legacy, something that could potentially stand alongside Henningsen’s, Jacobesen’s, and Panton’s work decades from now, was significant,” said Tan. “I had to push past that intimidation and trust my own design instincts.”
For him, being the inaugural Louis Poulsen Designer of the Year is humbling and validating: “My design has become part of a lineage of a lighting brand that spans 150 years and includes some of the most iconic lamps and designers. It is evidence that hard work and perseverance can be rewarded, regardless of where you are from or which school you attended.”
