Background

Founded in Paris in 2022 by Japanese-born interior designer Roman Akira, Kira is a range of high-end Franco-Japanese lighting. After graduating in interior architecture and set design, Roman worked for a year in Tokyo with the architect Sou Fujimoto, and then set up his own architecture studio in Paris. The exhibition of his first lamp at the Salon International du Patrimoine Culturel in 2019 marked a major turning point in his creative process and in the launch of Kira. The first collection was a major hit at Milano Design Week 2023.

Signature Style 

Kira oscillates between tradition and modernity, lightness and depth, design and sculpture, to create objects charged with meaning and significance. Inspired by Japanese aesthetic vocabulary, the collection invites contemplation. In designing and creating the Kira collection, Roman draws on his Japanese aesthetic vocabulary and memories. The lamps are high-end pieces, but that doesn’t necessarily imply ostentation. Something of utmost refinement can be expressed through  clean lines, rich colours, or precisely diffused light. It is through this balance that the object takes on meaning and evokes emotion. Each piece in the collection has a special meaning. Toshiro is my grandfather’s name and Yoshiko is my grandmother’s name. Toshiro follows massive, statuesque curves, while Yoshiko evokes a different, more delicate and sensitive imagery. Roman transposes a very personal emotion into his drawings. When a drawing reveals itself through its lines, its colour, its space, and the person who owns it, then the object meets the soul.

Showstoppers

Kira’s first collection consists of three lamps: Toshiro, Yoshiko and Kobe. Each of these three designs evokes its own history and identity, but the Toshiro table lamp is surprising in its size and leaves no one indifferent. By breaking away from the lamp’s main function, its unusual dimensions reveal its presence in space. The four ears humanise the lamp, allowing the enamel to sparkle throughout the day and circulate the light, while at the same time refining the lamp’s tapering lines. Its inverted shade balances the overall effect and concentrates the light on the top of the base, revealing a deep colour and creating a gradation towards black on the base. Although imposing, all of its nuances bring a perfect balance to this masterpiece.