With a practice that bridges product design, fashion, spatial research, and site-specific installation, ln lauth is less a studio in the traditional sense and more a fluid space of inquiry. Founded by Hélène Lauth, the Paris-based practice explores the intersections of place, intuition, and form, drawing from a diverse history that includes academic training in Bordeaux and Paris, and more than a decade collaborating with some of fashion’s most boundary-pushing names.
“Ln lauth is a research-based design studio investigating the historical, aesthetic, social and geographical forces shaping the discipline of design,” she explains. The work is as much about reflection as it is about production. Whether creating for clients or developing autonomous projects, Lauth maintains a consistent methodology — rigorous, context-driven, and emotionally attuned. “This versatility,” she notes, “combined with precise aesthetics and methods,” grew from her years with brands like BLESS, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Lacoste, and Kenzo.
Lauth’s journey is grounded in evolution — from studying design in a fine arts school to collaborative projects like Plan B with Claire Malchrowicz, and her time in fashion. “The long collaboration as creative right hand in high fashion, the art residence and show in 2022 in Japan,” she says, all contributed to her shift toward a more grounded, place-based practice. That evolution continues with a new research project around territory and biodesign.
What connects it all is her philosophy of working from the ground up — often quite literally. “Site-specific work is a key element of her research since 2007,” she writes. Using her body, movement, and the act of recording through walking, photography, and intuition, Lauth translates spaces into objects and installations. “With different layers of reading, she always pinpoints questions linked with her observation of our cities, culture, habits, links…”
This year at Milan Design Week for DEORON – Elevating Objects, Lauth presented STUDY, a ceramic-based project first initiated in 2018 as an extension of the practices explored in “Dream Awake” developed in Hasami, Kyushu, Japan in 2015. It’s the result of a deeply intuitive relationship with clay, rooted in previous work in Japan and built on the idea of freeing the mind to let the material guide form. “Allowing her free physical action to manipulate the medium and create shapes, which later define their function—rather than sketching or planning beforehand.” The 2025 installation focused on slabs of clay, used to explore vertical and horizontal planes. The randomness of mixed glazes, shaped by the kiln’s alchemy, added a further layer of unpredictability.
As for what’s next, Lauth remains open. “Currently really excited by ongoing freelance projects with Paris and overseas clients,” she shares. New exhibitions are being discussed, and she’s eager to see what new invitations will emerge.
She closes with a note of gratitude: “I would like to thank the team for the opportunity to be a part of the first DEORON exhibition. And a special thanks to my loved ones for their support.”
This article is part of an editorial series profiling the designers of DEORON – Elevating Objects at Milan Design Week 2025.
