“Design is our life and design is not transactional. It is not only selling; it is transformative," said Nasir Kassamali last month, when he and his wife Nargis Kassamali were awarded the Compasso d'Oro, Italy's highest prize for those who support and further its industrial design sector. And he truly believes it. For the founders of multi-brand design company Luminaire, it’s never been enough to just sell good design. From the early 1970s when it was founded as a 500-square-foot Miami Beach kiosk, the couple wanted their shop to educate its patrons about its wares. Then, Luminaire solely dealt Scandinavian lighting, the Copenhagen masters that the Kassamalis had discovered while on a design exchange program in the Danish capital. Now, nearly five decades later, the company has expanded to represent contemporary designers from all over the world and at every level of career at its four showrooms in Miami, Coral Gables, Los Angeles and Chicago. For the last 46 years, the Kassamalis have built a furniture company with a unique mission that is only continuing to thrive, from a kiosk into, soon, an international venture.
“When we arrived in Miami, the intent was always to open a design store,” says Nasir. “I never talked about opening a furniture store.” Noting a gap in the American market for retailers of European designs, the couple aimed to fill it with their small Luminaire shop. Inherent in that strategy was design education. Not only were many consumers going to see the pieces for the first time, but they would not be familiar with their origin stories, craftsmanship or significance in the history of design. “Our belief was that if we educated our clients on the products, they would talk about us to other friends and so on and so forth,” he explains. Indeed, one year later, the dean of the school of architecture at the University of Miami walked into the store he had heard of via word of mouth and set Luminaire on the track to begin working directly with architects to plan lighting designs for clients’ homes. Two years after opening, the company had expanded as a 4,500-square-foot Miami showroom.
The company’s influence also began to spread, in the Miami scene through a 15,000-square-foot flagship by Mateu Rizo & Associates in Coral Gables and new relationships with prominent developers like David Martin, and globally as the company expanded into furniture dealing. “When we opened a flagship store, all the Italians that had shunned us started coming to us and saying, ‘You are truly a different model, we would love to work with you,’ and the rest was history,” recalls Nasir. “By 1989, we represented 9 of the 10 most important designers in the world.” From Carlo Mollino to Piero Lissoni, Luminaire allows its clients to shop furniture, lighting and accessories by a variety of designers in a variety of styles. Though, in each, craftsmanship leads. “On a daily basis, we still encourage people to really think about their surroundings and question why and what speaks to them,” says Nasir. “There is a sense of discovery." Unlike monobrand competitors that are run by manufacturers, Luminaire considers design so integral to life that it is a third skin, after human skin and clothing. Thus, personal relationships have guided its success for nearly five decades. “From the time when we started Luminaire, we wanted to know the designers behind these incredible products. We got to know them and became friends,” he says recalling how the company has also helped to shape the world of industrial design. “Designers understand humanity, the culture of a human being, and so they started asking us what their next product should be and how one should think about living, and so all of the vulgarity was always being pulled from the products.”
The high level of trust between Luminaire and its designers is evident. When asked what sets it apart, Nasir sums, “We are a design-driven company, not a design-oriented company.” The distinction is key. Driven by design, Luminaire hires salespeople who are also trained architects to educate consumers about the intent behind pieces they may be interested in, offers lectures and exhibitions about the design canon at its Miami-based Luminaire Lab and creates showrooms, which now include locations in Chicago and most recently, Los Angeles, that feel in and of their cities, designed by local architects and featuring emerging local talent. In the second week of lockdown in Miami, it continued this relationship-based mission virtually with Luminaire University, a program to connect clients directly to showroom specialists for individualized sessions.
Now, as the couple ages into their 70s, the company finds itself at a pivotal moment. In 2017, Michigan-based furniture company Haworth took a majority stake in Luminaire and is helping to expand it internationally. Plans are in the works for several new outposts including in Canada, Paris and London. However, assure the Kassamalis, their core values are staying put. Says Nasir: “I always say that good design is only good if it stands the test of time.” With 46 years and counting in business, Luminaire certainly proves it.Founded by Nasir and Nargis Kassamali in 1974 Miami, Luminaire has taken its mission for design education to Chicago, Los Angeles and, soon, the world.
“When we arrived in Miami, the intent was always to open a design store,” says Nasir. “I never talked about opening a furniture store.” Noting a gap in the American market for retailers of European designs, the couple aimed to fill it with their small Luminaire shop. Inherent in that strategy was design education. Not only were many consumers going to see the pieces for the first time, but they would not be familiar with their origin stories, craftsmanship or significance in the history of design. “Our belief was that if we educated our clients on the products, they would talk about us to other friends and so on and so forth,” he explains. Indeed, one year later, the dean of the school of architecture at the University of Miami walked into the store he had heard of via word of mouth and set Luminaire on the track to begin working directly with architects to plan lighting designs for clients’ homes. Two years after opening, the company had expanded as a 4,500-square-foot Miami showroom.
The company’s influence also began to spread, in the Miami scene through a 15,000-square-foot flagship by Mateu Rizo & Associates in Coral Gables and new relationships with prominent developers like David Martin, and globally as the company expanded into furniture dealing. “When we opened a flagship store, all the Italians that had shunned us started coming to us and saying, ‘You are truly a different model, we would love to work with you,’ and the rest was history,” recalls Nasir. “By 1989, we represented 9 of the 10 most important designers in the world.” From Carlo Mollino to Piero Lissoni, Luminaire allows its clients to shop furniture, lighting and accessories by a variety of designers in a variety of styles. Though, in each, craftsmanship leads. “On a daily basis, we still encourage people to really think about their surroundings and question why and what speaks to them,” says Nasir. “There is a sense of discovery." Unlike monobrand competitors that are run by manufacturers, Luminaire considers design so integral to life that it is a third skin, after human skin and clothing. Thus, personal relationships have guided its success for nearly five decades. “From the time when we started Luminaire, we wanted to know the designers behind these incredible products. We got to know them and became friends,” he says recalling how the company has also helped to shape the world of industrial design. “Designers understand humanity, the culture of a human being, and so they started asking us what their next product should be and how one should think about living, and so all of the vulgarity was always being pulled from the products.”
The high level of trust between Luminaire and its designers is evident. When asked what sets it apart, Nasir sums, “We are a design-driven company, not a design-oriented company.” The distinction is key. Driven by design, Luminaire hires salespeople who are also trained architects to educate consumers about the intent behind pieces they may be interested in, offers lectures and exhibitions about the design canon at its Miami-based Luminaire Lab and creates showrooms, which now include locations in Chicago and most recently, Los Angeles, that feel in and of their cities, designed by local architects and featuring emerging local talent. In the second week of lockdown in Miami, it continued this relationship-based mission virtually with Luminaire University, a program to connect clients directly to showroom specialists for individualized sessions.
Now, as the couple ages into their 70s, the company finds itself at a pivotal moment. In 2017, Michigan-based furniture company Haworth took a majority stake in Luminaire and is helping to expand it internationally. Plans are in the works for several new outposts including in Canada, Paris and London. However, assure the Kassamalis, their core values are staying put. Says Nasir: “I always say that good design is only good if it stands the test of time.” With 46 years and counting in business, Luminaire certainly proves it.Founded by Nasir and Nargis Kassamali in 1974 Miami, Luminaire has taken its mission for design education to Chicago, Los Angeles and, soon, the world.
