Heading North – South Drawn’s Upwards Trajectory

Melbourne based lighting company South Drawn expresses a level of maturity and resolve that belies its age. Launched in 2020 by Luke and Christian Mills as a maturation of Luke’s former lighting studio, Lumil, South Drawn has since cemented itself amongst the contemporary design landscape for its expressive yet refined approach to lighting. Buoyed by three years of exciting growth in both Australia and New Zealand, Luke and Christian possess an endearing yet quiet confidence about the future of their company, grounded by a heads-down, hands-on mindset.

“It’s been a massive six months for us,” says Luke, South Drawn’s Design Director. In fact, it has been a monumental three years; after quickly outgrowing their first space – a workshop shared with a high-end bike designer and manufacturer – they moved twice more to account for overall expansion and an increased need for in-house manufacturing capabilities. Six months ago, the pair relocated to their own workshop and design studio, marking a significant step in the company’s evolution. Luke and Christian’s opposing yet complementary skillsets allow Luke to focus on design, while Christian oversees production and logistics, building and fostering valuable relationships with local manufacturers and artisans.

“I like to understand the nuances of the materials I’m working with, so I spend a lot of my time working with our local artisans and manufacturers,” says Luke Mills, South Drawn’s Design Director.

South Drawn has managed to maintain its creative integrity throughout this period of growth, and Luke’s enduring curiosity in materials has proved crucial in this pursuit. “A lot of our designs are founded on studio experimentation,” he offers, adding that “rejected materials or failed experiments often influence the design of a piece.” The studio is a place of inventiveness, openness and creativity; Luke is often tinkering with his growing library of material offcuts or teasing out ideas through sketching. As he says, “I like to understand the nuances of the materials I’m working with, so I spend a lot of my time working with our local artisans and manufacturers.” Michaela Mills, South Drawn’s Art Director, adds, “Luke has notebooks and notebooks full of sketches and drawings so [those ideas] are being developed constantly.”

This somewhat organic approach to the South Drawn collection has garnered an authentic stable of products, which convey a consistent identity imbued with an upbeat yet restrained energy. In this, customisation also plays an important role, specifically surrounding concept evolution and material exploration. “A lot of our current products have come out of live projects,” Luke explains. “We’ll work with an architect or interior designer, and they’ll have a desired materiality – whether it’s glass or metalwork – so often I’ll develop a product line specifically for a project,” Luke says.

The Torii pendant exemplifies this approach. Created for a Samantha Eades-designed restaurant in Melbourne, the project’s fluted glass windows, metalwork and leather detailing all heavily informed the piece, speaking back to South Drawn’s affinity for narrative-driven and place-specific product design. Further, the custom pendant served as the starting point of the recently released Torii collection. Expanded to include a wall sconce and a floor lamp, it mirrors the form and textural qualities of the original pendant.

As Michaela says, “Torii is an accumulation of relationships.” Creating the lighting for the project was highly collaborative and Luke’s subsequent exploration of fluted, slumped glass was directly informed by the architectural features of the existing building. Also, the construction of the frame employed welding techniques learned from South Drawn’s earliest studio fellows – the bike manufacturers. Finally, Luke adds that all the manufacturing for this collection is completed within a 35-kilometre radius of South Drawn’s workshop. “That’s really come out of necessity, but it’s a nice element that speaks back to our appreciation for the local manufacturers we work with.”

Fuelled by a genuine love of design, a commitment to material exploration and highly detailed assembly and a belief in the importance of local manufacturing, South Drawn possesses strong foundations from which to grow. And while Luke and Christian’s shared dedication will likely ensure an enduring veracity, the company is inevitably heading in an upwards trajectory.