Introducing STACKABL's Innovative Lighting Collections that Turn Waste Into Wonders

Today, we are shining the spotlight on the innovative collections by STACKABL, one of the latest additions to our ever-evolving lineup of sustainable lighting. Jeff Forrest, the mastermind behind STACKABL, embarked on a mission to spark a revolution in the industry while tackling the global waste problem head-on.

Nestled in the heart of Toronto, their studio is a hub of creativity and collaboration, dedicated to crafting lighting solutions that are as inventive as they are impactful. Curious to know more? We invite you to dive into our candid interview with Jeff as he unravels the story behind STACKABL, their passionate mission, and the dazzling array of lighting wonders they have brought to life, now available at yours truly.

(left) Founder Jeff Forrest with Stackabl acoustic lighting; (right) Stackabl designs, named after Donald Duck’s triplet nephews, Hugo, Paco, Luis, by Dutch designer Wisse Trooster

What motivated you to start STACKABL, and how did the idea of combating global waste through innovative lighting solutions come about?

Waste and inefficiency in manufacturing and consumption are problems we can’t easily ignore when approaching design. Since the outset of my career, I’ve considered waste reduction and process optimization critical project parameters — I give them equal weight to “structure” or “ergonomics”. Stackabl was born out of a perfect storm of events. Within a few years, we learned a major textile manufacturer published an online database of their post industrial remnants; legislators in the western world started cracking down on manufacturers sending textile waste to landfill; and my team had a few established software-enabled products under our belt that diverted waste from landfill. It was a perfect time to enter the conversation and explore solutions that would benefit policy-affected manufacturers and consumers alike. We started initially with furniture and quickly added lighting to the scope because the scale of lighting makes good use of remnants and is a product type we can offer in higher volume. Lighting is therefore an ideal vehicle to sequester waste material. Our goal is to divert 500 times of textile waste from landfill by 2029.

Mindy Solomon draws inspiration from the vibrant eras of the roaring twenties, exuberant forties, and Art Deco backdrops of Miami Beach for the Mindy Solomon x STACKABL collaboration

Collaborating with design figures like Wisse Trooster and Mindy Solomon has led to incredible lighting collections. Can you share more about these partnerships and how they contribute to STACKABL's unique design identity?

I run a very collaborative office. With the support of the Canadian government, we work closely with regional manufacturers to develop product infrastructures; we have a diverse team of design professionals on our team — from traditional Industrial designers to UX/UI designers to software and systems engineers to gallerists and product strategists. In each case, we leverage their expertise to enrich the work. Once we had our system in place — that being an interface for consumers to personalize their own furnishings and lighting out of post industrial materials — I thought we should invite a few of my heroes to create our first collections, essentially to show what our system can do. This was in part in the spirit of collaboration, but also a strategy to gain access to our respected collaborators’ networks — all with the goal of convincing as many people as possible that it's chic to upcycle! Everyone we’ve worked with has taken the project very seriously and has gone above and beyond to support our goal. We’ve learned a lot by watching these great minds interpret the system and make it their own.

The Arcilla Collection was inspired by founder Jeff Forrest’s Texan road trip, channelling vivacious clay, earthy oat and charcoal tones. It was selected Best of Acoustic Lighting in Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Awards 2023.

Winning the Best of Year Award for Acoustic Lighting is a significant achievement. Can you elaborate on the role of acoustic considerations in the Arcilla collection and how it enhances the overall design?

Thank you. We’ve been very fortunate to have the support of our peers. BOY is a huge honour for us. With respect to the acoustic quality of our products, this has far less to do with us than it does with the manufacturers we work with. They produce acoustic products and their post industrial remnants are innately sound-dampening (not to mention, commercially rated for use in high traffic areas). We brokered product partnerships with FilzFelt / Herman Miller and Sutherland because they operate at large commercial scales and therefore have excellent infrastructure, high volumes of offcuts, incredibly good quality materials (felted merino wool and 60 percent recycled PET, respectively) and great colours. The fact that they are sound dampening is really the cherry on top — we’re finding that this aspect adds to the product's utility and makes our lights more desirable to designers who want to create spaces with environmental and qualitative/experiential and health criteria in mind. These lights tick many boxes — all in service of our goal to disrupt waste streams at a meaningful scale.

Jeff Forrest with a canine friend posing in front of STACKABL lights

What challenges did you encounter in developing STACKABL's innovative approach to combating global waste, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge is data organization. If you consider our product workflow: consumers who need to be able to easily personalize their pieces based on available remnants; their custom selections need to be communicated to a variety of partnering manufacturers; those manufacturers have to pull specific inventory AND post process it on their own machines, and then ship to us for assembly — you can imagine there is a lot of information flying around. Software-enabled automation has been critical for us. We have a patent pending tech behind Stackabl that we are improving daily to help with this ambitious workflow.

Jeff Forrest posing with a cigarette in front of 2020 Cigarette Suspension

As a design luminary, what advice do you have for aspiring designers looking to make a positive impact on the world through their creations?

Remember that design is, by definition, applied critical thinking. It is problem solving at its purest level and is the driver of innovation. I would focus on finding a problem they’re passionate about and analyze it from as many vantage points as possible — including supply chain, policy, geography, manufacturability, cost, etc. I’m sure they’ll find that what it looks like is really a small part of the equation, and that the emotional resonance needed for consumers to not only buy the work, but keep the work for a long long time comes from its completeness as an idea and its relevance.

Sarah Coleman’s STACKABL designs were inspired by her personal experience of the pandemic years, naming the lights 2020 Cigarette, 2021 Shotgun Shell, 2022 Pregnancy Test

Explore STACKABL’s offerings through LightForm, and witness the seamless mix of innovation and cutting-edge technology that prioritizes environmental responsibility.