Olivier Abry, Wo and Wé

“I had no formal training, though I’ve always liked to tinker,” says Olivier Abry, creator of the eight-year-old lighting collection Wo & Wé. We’re in his studio in a suburb of Lyon, surrounded by offcuts of sheet metal and neatly wound spools of wire. “I learned about the lighting trade by working in it,” he explains. Abry describes himself as a “creator-assembler” rather than a designer, preferring to identify with the artisan or technician. The international design community would disagree, but Abry stands firm. Without that commitment to so-called “tinkering,” Wo & Wé wouldn’t be what it is today.