Lucifer Lighting's fixtures are designed to ‘define and disappear’

In the heart of San Antonio, nestled alongside Salado Creek on a 13-acre campus, is Lucifer Lighting’s creative headquarters. The lighting company has grown from a family business to casting a light across all corners of the globe. The HQ is home to all of its creativity from design and assembly, to prototyping and management, with the spaces filled with art and the building accessible to 20 miles of walking and biking trails. In addition to its headquarters in Texas, Lucifer Lighting launched its first showroom in New York City in 2023, following the successful opening of its San Francisco Jackson Square showroom the year before. With each year marking an expansion of the brand, 2025 proved to be busy, especially after debuting its illuminating new decorative feature Stellaris at Euroluce during Milan Design Week.

Behind the design with Lucifer Lighting

‘Our first decorative fixture, Stellar, was launched in 2020 in celebration of Lucifer Lighting’s 40th anniversary’, shared Gilbert Mathews, founder of Lucifer Lighting. ‘Where Stellar is elegant and modest in scale, our latest decorative feature Stellaris, measures approximately 30 inches in diameter and commands a striking presence, capable of defining the ambiance of a space on its own. What makes the fixture particularly special is its integration of both downlight and volumetric light within a single form. One aspect I’m especially proud of is the patented fold with discrete, concealed LEDs in the waveguide – a mesmerising design feature that prompts the viewer to wonder where the light is coming from. The product will officially launch in September 2025, and I can’t help but smile every time I think about this luminaire.’

The design consists of two main elements; a suspended enclosure of internally illuminated tubes; and a translucent barrier which defines the feature. Stellaris was designed in collaboration with architecture firm Gensler, who also designed the company’s showrooms. All of Lucifer Lighting’s finished products are assembled in the United States, with 93% of fixture components coming from North America.

‘We often say that the best lighting is the kind that no one notices. Our architectural lighting can be customised with special baffles, kick reflectors, and discrete aiming and adjustment – allowing illumination exactly where it’s needed without drawing attention to the light source. Our motto is “Design, Define, Disappear,” so it's a bit of an oxymoron that we create such beautifully crafted fixtures with no intention of them being noticed,’ shared Mathews.

The lighting company has clear design codes focused on clean lines and minimalism. Mathews wanted to step away from more traditional American lighting product design which for the most part is utilitarian and purely functional. ‘Years ago, I began studying European lighting fixture design, which resonated with me,’ Mathews told Wallpaper*. ‘I became attuned to its sleek aesthetic and saw an opportunity to build on it – elevating the approach through our engineering and fabrication capabilities. Seamlessly integrated surfaces that act as sculptural forms possess an inherent beauty, much like those in fine watches, cameras, and Italian sports cars, which continue to inspire me.’

Bringing light to interior spaces is exactly what the company delivers, having worked across hotels and flagships including The Peninsula, The Standard, the Four Seasons, Mandarin, St. Regis, Rosewood and The Ritz Carlton, to stores for Apple, Chanel, Cartier, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Tiffany & Co., among others. Being the ‘barer of light’ was the inspiration behind the company’s intriguing name, as Mathews explained, ‘Our first lighting product was a strip light named the Lucifer Light, derived from the Latin root luciferous, meaning “light-bringing”, which is exactly what the strip light did. At the time, the company had an unmemorable name, but everyone remembered Lucifer Lighting. To this day, people often tell me that once they hear it, they never forget it.’