Nikki Chu Debuts First Lighting Line With Quorum

The celebrity interior and product designer is starting off with a concise collection of fixtures but has designed pieces that are meant to be grouped or swagged to create unique, custom lighting designs in homes.

By Julie A. Palm

Celebrity designer, artist, author and entrepreneur Nikki Chu is releasing her first lighting line with Quorum, a concise eight-fixture collection designed to create some big, bespoke looks.

The initial line includes chandeliers, pendants, flush mounts and wall sconces, some featuring integrated LED technology.

Chu describes the line as “modern luxury with a sculptural and architecturally influenced point of view.”

“It’s very fashion driven,” she says. “… I took my love of fashion and infused it into this lighting line. … There’s a strong geometric and tubular vibe going on.”

Materials in the Nikki Chu x Quorum collection include iron and brass with hammered detailing, and leather with stitched detailing, as well as smoked gray and mirrored black glass.

It was important to Chu that the line not just be iterations of one or two designs.

“What I notice with some lighting companies is they design a chandelier and then they’ll do matching sconces, the matching pendants,” Chu says. “But as a designer, that’s not how we design. I was intentional about creating a lighting line that could coexist in one space that felt curated, carefully designed and selected but not matching pieces.”

One aspect of the line that Chu is most excited about: “Several of the pieces can be installed in different orientations and configurations so a designer or homeowner can bring their own interpretation to it,” she explains.

“There are two light fixtures that really stand out because you’re able to create a very unique lighting installation with the fixtures,” she says. “There’s a wall sconce that can rotate 360. That means you could do several sconces on a wall and create a lighting installation, having them turned all different directions to create a really uniquely lit wall. There’s also a pendant: It’s 52 inches, so it drops down in a long line like a pendant, but it also has a very unique custom clip on the end of it, and it comes with a hook so you can swag that and create a chandelier. So, the light fixture has several ways you can hang it. Then, if you added three or four of them, you now have a very bespoke lighting fixture that you created down a long table or across a large island. … I wanted to create pieces that you could hang in multiples and get a nice unique look.”

In the initial line, fixtures are available in one finish, but Chu expects to add options as the collection expands.

New to lighting

Chu frequently appears on television as a lifestyle and design expert and is currently starring in “Unboxed With Nikki Chu” on the Aspire network.

She hasn’t designed lighting before but has extensive experience in product design, with more than 30 licensing deals in home furnishings (Jaipur Living, One Kings Lane, York Wallcoverings, The Tile Shop, Z Gallerie, JennAir, Ann Sacks, Kohler, Home Depot, etc.) but also other sectors (NFL, Disney, Genesis, etc.).

“At my core, I’ve always been a product designer … and then I went into interior design,” Chu says. “I think what makes me unique is that I have both of those perspectives. A lot of product designers look at a product in a vacuum. … Whereas for me, as an interior designer, I’m looking at how does a product function in the room?”

Chu has also designed jewelry.

“And I feel like there is a throughline among lighting and jewelry. Especially for the home, I always refer to lighting as being the jewelry of the home,” she says. “As an interior designer, it’s my favorite thing to pick for a space.”

Chu discovered some challenges designing this first lighting line, mainly from the engineering standpoint.

“Several times I designed something and was like, ‘OK, this is how I want my light fixture to look’ and then the lighting engineer, who I have to work in tandem with to make sure that the light fixture works, would say to me, ‘Well, how do you envision that lighting up?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, I don’t know, but it looks good,’” Chu recalls with a laugh. “… (Director of design) David Patton, who is my lighting engineer that I work with at Quorum, and I have a fantastic relationship. … He’s been teaching me along the way. … He loves how my brain works in terms of the creativity of the piece, and I love how his brain works because he’s so technical. So, we have fun together.”

Chu connected with Quorum after doing some influencer marketing for Cyan Design, part of the Quorum family of brands.

Of Quorum and its related brands, Chu says, “I think their capabilities and the people that work there are phenomenal. It just felt like a great partnership,” she says. “… They have high-end, they have fashion, and they have all the builders that they serve.”

At the High Point Market, the line new line is displayed in a Chu-designed room vignette that also showcases rugs, art and other home accessories she’s designed.

Buyers can meet Chu and see the collection in the Quorum showroom (Suites at Market Square, M1000A & M1000B) during “An Afternoon of Sculptural Illumination” from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. The event promises signature cocktails curated by Chu, exclusive giveaways and live music.

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