The Haas Brothers Create an Otherworldly Collection with L’Objet

At L’Objet’s meticulously designed showrooms, gilded place settings are artfully displayed alongside whimsical decorative objects, like birdcage candles, gecko magnifying glasses, or pagoda-shaped napkin rings. However, the latest introduction may be the 15-year-old luxury brand’s most fanciful array—a new collection of Wild Things from Simon and Nikolai Haas that translates the artists’ sculptural “monsters” into vessels, serving ware, lighting, and textiles that made its debut at L’Objet’s Bleecker Street boutique in New York.

L’Objet Haas Simon Leg table lamp. Photo: Courtesy of L'Objet

“The brothers and I work in very different ways, so it was incredible to see how these two methodologies came together,” says L’Objet founder and creative director Elad Yifrach, who first met the Haas Brothers three years ago at a Design Miami event during Art Basel. “They are very fantasy-driven, and I tend to focus a lot on the design function of my pieces. With that being said, the three of us knew we wanted to create a collection that was not only beautiful but also would change the way people relate to objects that often go overlooked in one’s home. Having them there to infuse fantasy into my work was not only inspiring, it was fun.”

Much of the Haas Brothers collection—including this Monster incense burner—was inspired by the otherworldly landscape of Joshua Tree National Park. Photo: Courtesy of L'Objet

Ranging from textural, like the pebbled Haas Gila Monster vases, to playful, such as the golden-footed Haas Simon Leg table lamp, the collection appeals to all types of design connoisseurs. Many of the works are available in limited editions, such as the 12 various colorways of the collection’s unicorn-horned Second Skin vessels. “The more we dreamed of this fantasy, the more ideas came about,” says Yifrach. “Those 12 hand-painted pieces were born from the idea that the original white porcelain monster needed a ‘second skin’ in order to survive the harsh conditions of the desert. We then created 12 incredibly intricate patterns that were hand-painted on the vessels. Those are now our most sought-after collectible pieces.”

The Haas Lynda box comes with four plates stored inside; it’s limited to just 500 pieces. Photo: Courtesy of L'Objet

Another favorite of both the artists and L’Objet founder is the gold Haas Lynda box and plates, of which only 500 are available. “I’m so happy with its sculptural quality and its functionality,” says Nikolai. “Its use is vague until you open it. Then it is a real experience using it as a plate holder. I feel like it’s the piece that best satisfies the artistic and functional concepts of the collection.”

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Yet even in their limited quantities, the L’Objet offerings are still a more attainable array than a Haas Brothers sculpture, many of which are currently on display at Miami’s Baas Museum in the exhibition “Ferngully,” on view through April 21. But pleasing a consumer audience versus a collector was a challenge unique to the artist duo. “At first I thought that this meant we need to be more conservative, which isn’t really how we operate,” says Nikolai. “However, after working through the process for a couple months with L’Objet, I realized that these pieces had to be more universal and not more conservative. Designing something to be completely different and unusual but at the same time universal and consumable is really difficult. It was a fun puzzle to solve and took a ton of effort, but ultimately I’m really happy with how we tackled it together.”

The porcelain Haas Lazy Suzan catchall comes in black or white with 24K gold accents. Photo: Courtesy of L'Objet

Many of the pieces—such as the plates, serving trays, and decorative throws—while unique are still very much in line with L’Objet’s more traditional offerings and demonstrate a true melding of minds. “It is definitely a departure from what I’ve previously done for L’Objet, but a lot of the textures in L’Objet Haas Brothers came from existing pieces from prior collections,” says Yifrach. “The scales of the Lazy Susan, for instance, are based on our Aegean dinnerware. The Mojave Desert dinnerware is essentially a deconstructed version of our Perlee pattern. In this way, I definitely think that L’Objet Haas Brothers can hold its own among our other pieces.”