iacoli and mcallister’s Frame Pendant Lamps are retro and modern at once. The trapezoidal construction evokes the timeless lanterns of the nautical communities of early America, as well as the minimalist profile and industrial bent of a 60s seaside boardwalk. But before you go pinning them as Atlantic City or Santa Monica types, consider some of the “about” copy from their website: “we are passionate about building a strong design community and carrying 
that dialogue nationally and internationally.”

Frame Pendant Lamp. Designed by iacoli and mcallister.

Too upbeat for CA? Too worldly for NJ? Indeed. I and M hail from the great gray city of Seattle, and their aesthetic shows it, informed by equal parts cheery Northwestern bonhomie, spare configurations that emphasize negative space, and wise materials use (though they say they “cringe when asked if they use recycled materials”). This reaction, I suspect, has very much to do with the commodification of “green” and very little to do with the notion of re-purposing, which they “have done and will continue to do.”

In my view, the Frame Pendant is an innovative re-invention on multiple fronts. I’ve already mentioned the nautical tones, but there’s also the slight tinge of art deco, the urban edge of the Bauhaus, the recti-linearity of classical modern. The piece is also eminently adaptable. With a powder-coating palette of nine vivid colors, you’re bound to find a satisfying shade. And with the mere addition or subtraction of cord length, you’re able to suspend this luminous light-piece in complementary configurations. Lastly, the Frame Pendant is possessed of the kind of regional identity I/M seems to aspire to, and this is in keeping with their admirable dedication to local production: “we are super small and we design in order to stay that way… keeping our hands on from concept to finished product, handing off to craftsmen and incorporating industrial processes 
as we go.”