Industrial-glam lighting from New York City
For the first part of his career, Michael McHale was an entertainment lawyer in the television industry, doing such things as drafting licenses for television formats such as Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? and The Weakest Link. While the work as certainly creative-adjacent, it didn't scratch a long-buried creative itch.
When he went to a high-end design store to buy a light fixture for his apartment, he was disappointed with his factory-made, cookie-cutter choices. "Lighting is important" he remembered telling himself at the time. He thought maybe he could make something more interesting than what was on offer.
Inspiration came during a trip to his local hardware store when he noticed the rough gas pipes and fittings. When combined with high quality crystal, he imagined that the result could be quite striking.
That combination turned out to be far more interesting than he had originally envisaged. When constructed properly - so that contrasting elements are displayed in equal measure, McHale fixtures become studies in the interplay between rough and smooth, masculine and feminine, formal and informal, . There was nothing else like it out there.
There still isn't.
McHale realized that there was a deep conservatism in contemporary lighting. Even now, most of the light fixtures we buy differ little from the mid-century lighting of 75 years ago. McHale's mission is to change that.
Soon after that work was presented to the public in 2007, McHale was profiled in The New York Times and business took off. MMD light fixtures started appearing in, variously, Times Square mega-restaurants, Fashion Week VIP lounges, Doha boutiques, Moscow cafes, in the homes of celebrities, designers, Saudi royals, US senators, tech thought leaders, and regular people who are confident in their own good taste.
While this work has often been copied over the years, it is easy to discern an original MMD chandelier by its quality and the care taken in its presentation. MMD customers know that Michael McHale Designs' lighting is about something.
