Melbourne’s Articolo Studios: Self-Funded Global Expansion to 63 Countries

Photo Credit: Articolo Studios

Walking through a Cartier boutique in Beijing or dining at a Nobu restaurant in New York, few would imagine that the exquisite lighting fixtures were conceived from the humble beginnings of a storage unit in Melbourne, Australia, by a former chef turned lighting designer. Yet this is the unlikely origin story of Articolo Studios, an Australian company that has entered global luxury markets without a small venture capital funding.

Nicci Kavals built her lighting empire the old-fashioned way. Today, Articolo Studios sells into 63 countries, lights 19 Cartier stores worldwide, and counts celebrities like Stevie Wonder, Kourtney Kardashian and Robert Downey Jr. among its clientele, all while maintaining what Kavals calls their status as the “best kept secret” in luxury lighting.

Photo Credit: Articolo Studios

The Accidental Empire Builder

Nicci Kavals never intended to build a global brand. Her journey began far from the world of pendant lights and wall sconces, starting as a chef on the Greek island of Naxos before becoming a food stylist for French magazine Votre Beauté in Paris. “You eat with your eyes first,” she explains, a principle that would later inform her approach to lighting design. “The guiding principle here is ‘less is more,’ transforming each culinary creation into a work of art on the plate.”

The transfer to lighting happened almost by accident at a Maison&Objet fair in Paris, where Kavals was displaying her Scandinavian-inspired glassware line, Bribe International. When she began experimenting, the Lumi table lamp was born. A chance encounter with a design icon she had long admired at the fair became the catalyst for one of the most significant risks of her career.

Building Without Billions

What makes Articolo Studios’ story remarkable is its global reach. In 2024, the company reported a 35% year-over-year growth, impressive numbers for a business that has never taken venture capital or private equity funding. Instead, Kavals and her business partner Vic Kavals bootstrapped their way to international success through patience and focus.

This approach applies to their business model. Unlike most luxury brands that chase retail distribution, Articolo Studios deliberately chose to remain trade-only, selling exclusively to architects and interior designers. This decision, which might seem limiting, actually accelerated their global expansion by creating a network of professionals who specify Articolo Studios fixtures in projects worldwide.

Photo Credit: Articolo Studios

The Melbourne Advantage

Operating from Melbourne, roughly 10,000 miles from major luxury markets in Europe and North America, might seem like a disadvantage. Kavals sees it differently. “The fact that we’ve actually penetrated globally the way that we have would have been much easier had we been located in the US or the UK or Europe with everything on our doorstep,” she acknowledges. “So the fact we’ve done this is absolutely extraordinary.”

This geographic isolation forced Articolo Studios to develop capabilities that many competitors lack. The company manufactures all products to order in Australia and ships globally within 8-10 weeks, a remarkably fast turnaround for handcrafted luxury goods. They have mastered complex international certifications, obtaining UL certification for the US market and developing IP65-rated fixtures for outdoor use.

Engineering Meets Artistry

The company’s success rests on sophisticated engineering and craftsmanship. Take its recent custom project at Parramatta Square in Sydney, where they created 12-meter-long fixtures weighing 170 kilograms. The engineering team actually took the fixtures to destruction testing to verify tolerances, the kind of rigorous approach typically associated with aerospace or automotive industries.

“Our engineering is so incredibly sophisticated. We’re not using lightweight materials. We use brass and bronze,” Kavals explains. “Most people that order our lights haven’t seen them in person. When they are received, they are always overwhelmed by the the weight and quality, never underwhelmed”

This attention to detail can also be seen on the Articolo Studios’ light sources, which are developed in-house instead of being sourced from standard suppliers. The company recently introduced tuneable white technology in its 12:40 collection, which adjusts color temperature throughout the day to support circadian rhythms, wellness-focused features typically found in commercial lighting systems.

Photo Credit: Articolo Studios

The Global Network Effect

Articolo Studios’ international expansion demonstrates how modern businesses can diverge globally without geographic constraints. Its network includes Murano glassblowers in Italy, metalworkers in Australia, and leather suppliers across Europe. This distributed manufacturing model allows them to access the world’s best artisans while maintaining quality control from Melbourne.

The company’s client list reads like a directory of global luxury: Four Seasons hotels across Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Chicago; Bulgari hotels; 19 Cartier stores and counting; celebrity chef restaurants including multiple Nobu locations; and super yachts from Pearl Yachts in the UK to Sinot Yachts in the Netherlands.

What is next for Articolo Studios? Enter the ‘World of Articolo’: a decade in and a decade ahead. The company will continue to expand the brand globally with further stand-alone Articolo showrooms and exciting new categories all on the drawing board. It has also expanded from lighting into furniture, when it launched its Articolo Home collection at Milan Design Week 2024.

Photo Credit: Articolo Studios

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