Bethan Laura Wood’s futuristic chandelier ‘plays with the rules’ for Baccarat

After a decade of absence, Baccarat makes its grand return to Milan Design Week, debuting a starry collaboration with Bethan Laura Wood, who took the crystal brand's classic ‘Zénith' chandelier as her starting point. Conceived in the mid-19th century, this ingenious composition of crystal elements and diamond bevel-cut tassels continues to be one of Baccarat's signature pieces.

Wood's take on the ‘Zénith' sees her deconstruct and reassemble it into a vertical modular system, based on a series of star-shaped metal supports suspended on steel wires that ‘hover like spaceships'. The metal elements become the frame for a playground of crystal forms and colours, based on both traditional codes and new shapes. ‘The goal was to create a system that allowed different-sized chandeliers to be made,' says Wood. ‘I wanted to play with the rules of how a traditional chandelier is built, keeping the language of baroque but interpreting it in a way that's more minimal and abstract.'

Incorporating elements sourced from the Baccarat archives alongside Wood's own research, the result feels like a visual explosion. The arms of the chandelier, which traditionally face outwards to support the light sources, form part of a horizontal structure and connect to two turquoise crystal elements (a pinched diamond-shaped lozenge and a more elongated one), which hold the light bulbs. The frame is covered in an array of prisms, octagonal shapes and flowers, in both clear crystal and a dreamy palette of olivine, parma violet, turquoise and amber, while, at the top, a round mirrored panel replaces a traditional rose, to emphasise the chandelier's explosive effect. ‘I wanted a big mirrored plate because it helps you get this feeling of a vortex,' says Wood. ‘When you're looking up at the chandelier, it reflects in itself to make this kind of endless cascade.'

The chandelier will be available to order as a single ring (‘quite minimal for Baccarat', concedes the designer) or as a multiple-ring composition for a dynamic, cascading effect (there's no actual limit to the number of rings you can order). Other designs include two wall sconces, both of which include the mirrored backing and the pinched diamond lozenge, as well as some of the floral elements. ‘The mirrored backplate gives a feeling of lightness,' she says. ‘The sconces are pushing this baroque aesthetic, but they're also modern and space-age, and look a bit like bugs: a few different references to let your fantasy go wild. I like that they work well as single pieces, but can also be combined to create a more dramatic composition.'

Completing the collection is a series of candleholders, featuring crystal flowers and petals in elegant colour combinations, with pink powder-coated steel bases. ‘I wanted to keep in certain details that were signifiers of Baccarat, but not be completely bound to the fact that everything had to be within traditional coding,' she says. ‘I think Baccarat has a long history of really letting designers and creatives push their language.'

The designs will form part of ‘Crystal Crypt', a sci-fi-inspired experience devised by artist and curator Emmanuelle Luciani, who viewed Baccarat as ‘a temporal bubble, a vessel-cathedral of unique craftsmanship'. On show during Milan Design Week, the experience – which Luciani describes as ‘a total artwork, blending movement, film, scenography and sound' – is inspired by the church of Saint-Rémy, in the town of Baccarat, and the work of American science fiction writer Philip K Dick (the installation is named after one of his short stories). Creating a space that exists somewhere between past and future bears testimony to how Baccarat continues to skilfully use creative collaborations to reinvent historical craft through a contemporary lens.

‘Crystal Crypt' is on show from 21-25 April 2026 at Via Marco Formentini 10, Milan, baccarat.com

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