FOUNDER
& DESIGNER-MAKER
Riya Panchal is a London-based lighting designer–maker, and the Founder & Creative Director of MESEME Studio. Her work treats light as both material and emotion, creating sculptural lighting that balances expressive form with functional clarity.
Rooted in material exploration, colour sensitivity, and hands-on making, her practice sits at the intersection of function and feeling. Riya’s work allows for personalisation while remaining playful, narrative, and craft-driven.
Born in Gujarat, India, Riya’s cross-cultural background and early exposure to paper manufacturing through her family continue to inform her approach. Her designs are shaped by an ongoing dialogue between heritage and modernity, precision and spontaneity, stillness and light.
Through modular and responsive forms, her work explores how light defines space, mood, colour, and perception within contemporary interiors.
THE STUDIO
MESEME Studio is a lighting design and manufacturing practice creating made-to-order lighting collections and bespoke commissions for residential, hospitality and commercial interiors.
Working across paper, glass and metal, the studio develops modular and customisable pieces that are designed, assembled, and hand-finished in-house. Alongside its independent collections, the practice collaborates with artisans and specialist makers to explore evolving material applications and contemporary craft processes.
Poetics of Form
Through the interplay of light, form, and material, each piece explores how illumination can shape atmosphere, perception, and spatial experience. Soft diffusion, directional glow, reflection, and shadow are considered as carefully as the sculptural form itself.
Collections are developed as modular and customisable systems, allowing for variation in scale, finish, and composition while maintaining a refined and recognisable design language rooted in material sensitivity and craft.
From Concept to Crafted Light
Each collection begins through intuitive experimentation with paper models, material studies, and light behaviour before evolving into refined technical forms. Designs are developed and assembled within the studio, balancing expressive gestures with precision-led detailing and production.
Alongside in-house making, we collaborate with skilled artisans and specialist makers across metalwork, glass, embroidery, and fabrication to expand material possibilities and reinterpret traditional techniques through a contemporary lens.
Design with Intention
We approach lighting with a focus on longevity, adaptability, and considered production. By combining responsibility sourced materials, efficient light sources, and small-batch manufacturing, the studio creates pieces designed to evolve with their spaces over time.
From modular collections to bespoke commissions, each work is conceived as both a functional object and an atmospheric presence – designed to shape how a space feels as much as how it is illuminated.
SELECTED PRESS
Homes & Gardens | Darc Awards 2021 | Darc Magazine | Crafts Magazine
SELECTED FEATURES (Online)
Interview - MKDL Meets Riya Panchal | Estila | Dezeen | Season_Zine | G.F Smith | ADORNO
SELECTED CLIENTS
Anglothai | Universal Design Studio | British Land PLC | House of Honey | Interieur London | AAMA Studio | Forbes + Masters | Echlin Studio | Ellipse Design Studio | Loop Agency | Rodman Paul Architects | SlowBurn London
WORKSHOPS &
STUDIO ACTIVATIONS
Alongside our design and commission work, remaining grounded in making and creative exchange is essential to the studio. Through hands-on workshops, open studios, talks, and collaborative activations, we create opportunities for people to engage more closely with materials, process and light.
Often developed in collaboration with fellow designers, artists, and craftspeople, these sessions encourage experimentation, conversation, and shared learning while offering insight into the thinking and making behind the studio’s work.
Talks & Workshops
TALK (SEPT 2025) - Design That Connects: A Conversation on Craft, Creative Chemistry and Collaboration – William Morris Design Line, London Design Festival
WORKSHOP (SEPT 2025) - Sculpting in Thread: Reframing the MANTIS Table Lamp design through embroidery with Nicole Chui – William Morris Design Line, London Design Festival
WORKSHOP (SEPT 2024) - MESEME x Make Stuff Club Collaboration on fixing and illustrating MANTIS Table Lamp Paper Shades
WORKSHOP (SEPT 2024) - MESEME x Make Stuff Club Collaboration on fixing and illustrating CONCHA Pendant Paper Shades, SEN Group.
PANEL TALK (FEB 2024) - Kingston School of Art, Alumni Panel Discussion “Our Creative Futures”
PANEL TALK (AUG 2021) - Getting started, The first 5 years after graduation, London Desing Festival, Panel Discussion Hosted by Sebastian Bergne
Exhibitions & Shows
SEPT 2025 - MESMERIK Collection launch and open studio as part of William Morris Design Line and London Design Festival
JUN 2025 - ‘MANTIS Table Lamp x Nicole Chui’ at Adorno’s show ‘15 Minutes of Fame’ as part of Other Circle Copenhagen at 3 Days of Design
SEPT 2024 - ‘MANTIS Table Lamp in Aluminium Finish’ at Makers Showcase by Blackhorse Workshop
JUN 2024 - ‘MARSHA Table Lamp in Honey Amber’ at Wow! House as art of ‘A Sitting Room’ by Studio Ashby and United in Design
MAY 2024 - ‘CONCHA Feature Installation’ at Future Icons Selects 2024 as part of London Craft Week
NOV 2024 - Iconic Showcase - pop-gallery space at New Bond Street
OCT 2023 - Formed with Future Heritage 2023 at Design Centre, Chelsea as Blackhorse Workshop Collective
SEPT 2023 - London Design Fair as part of London Design Festival 2023
SEPT 2023 - MESEME x Blackhorse Workshop Cafe - CHRYSALIS Private Pre-Launch Showcase
JUN 2022 - New Designers One Year In 2022 curated by Sally Angharad
OCT 2021 - ALMA Table Lamp Debut at Herman Miller x Kingston School of Art Showcase
Awards
2024 GMUND AWARDS – CONCHA Collection nominated in the Art Category
2021 DARC AWARDS - ALMA Table Light Shortlisted Top10 (3rd Place)
Stockists & Partner Platforms
CURIO - https://www.curio.space
ADORNO.DESIGN - https://adorno.design