Our C-Suite Series is typically filmed at major tradeshows, but at LEDucation, time simply ran out. Still, a visit to the Lodes booth made an impression—particularly the Axia fixture, which immediately stood out.

Massimiliano Tosetto leads Lodes with a clear point of view: lighting should not be forced into a binary of decorative versus architectural. Instead, it should operate at the intersection of both, where performance and emotion meet.

In this exchange with your humble editor, Massimiliano shares how Lodes is positioning itself as a solution provider, the role of collaboration in shaping products like Axia, and how the company is building momentum in North America. The conversation also offers insight into where lighting design is heading—toward modularity, personalization, and deeper integration of technology.

Randy: Do you consider Lodes’ strength more in Architectural Lighting or Decorative Lighting?

Massimiliano: Lodes offers lighting solutions that enhance the quality of living for those who choose them, in any environment and situation. We seek a balance between form and functionality to elevate every space with a distinctive decorative touch, without compromising on design or utility. The Lodes collection stands out for offering suggestions and providing solutions, with the desire to meet the specific needs of every space and the most varied design requirements. Lodes therefore positions itself as a solution provider, a brand capable of offering integrated and complete solutions to meet the needs of architects and designers. Value propositions that stand out for striking a balance between technological function and design.

Randy: What trends do you see in the market now?

Massimiliano: In today’s interior and lighting design landscape, innovation, versatility, and personalization are driving a radical transformation of the industry. The design of residential and public spaces is evolving rapidly, and with it, the demand for advanced solutions such as modular and smart lighting systems that increase user comfort and well-being. Lodes responds to the need to design dynamic and multifunctional living spaces, in line with contemporary lifestyle trends that today demand a synthesis of aesthetics and functionality.

Randy: How is the US side of the business doing?

Massimiliano: Following the 2023 announcement of its expansion into the North American market with a dedicated office in the United States, Lodes’s enhanced presence in North America is building on this momentum to raise brand awareness and enable the company to meet the specific needs of its customers more directly. In addition to its established business in the commercial and hospitality sectors, this local presence is also creating opportunities to expand its footprint in the retail and residential sectors and enhance its visibility in e-commerce.

Randy: Axia is described as “not just an object, but an idea.”  From a company perspective, how does this product reflect the broader evolution of Lodes—from a manufacturer of fixtures to a creator of design narratives?

Massimiliano: Axia reflects Lodes’ aspiration to explore new creative avenues through collaboration. For this project, the brand partnered for the first time with Carolina Martinelli and Vittorio Venezia (Martinelli Venezia), who have exhibited at prestigious venues across Europe (including the Louvre in Paris and Triennale Design Museum in Milan) and have various skill sets ranging from art direction and exhibition design to architecture and interiors. Martinelli Venezia represents Lodes’ strategic approach to finding collaborators from diverse backgrounds that bring fresh perspectives and distinct design visions, which ensures that each project will take the Lodes brand in unique and exciting directions.

Randy: The product eliminates visible wiring by conducting energy through the structure itself. How significant is this shift in terms of future product development at Lodes, and do you see this becoming a platform technology across your portfolio?

Massimiliano: Axia has the unique distinction of being a project in which Lodes was able to venture into a new lighting category while experimenting with new platform technology. Removing the visible wiring to have the chandelier be the sole source of energy conduction represents an exciting innovation in Lodes’ technological capabilities. The brand will continue to expand upon this through research and development, as well as through new iterations, designs, or collaborations.

Randy: Axia reinterprets the chandelier archetype with a more minimal, architectural language. How do you balance honoring traditional typologies while pushing toward a more contemporary—and perhaps more restrained—design vocabulary?

Massimiliano: Lodes strives to honor its traditional typologies while also showcasing its brand evolution by framing each project as an expansion of its existing design vocabulary, rather than a complete change. Axia is no exception, as the suspension lamp showcases Lodes’ signature contemporary aesthetics and technical know-how, while highlighting the principle of balance in a new and exciting way.

Randy: There’s a strong emphasis on balance—between rigor and lightness, technology and emotion. Internally, how do you ensure that engineering, design, and marketing teams stay aligned around that philosophy?

Massimiliano: With collaboration at the heart of the Lodes brand, there is close communication from the onset between the different teams and design partners. This ensures alignment on the key messaging and connection to Lodes’ aesthetic vocabulary, along with maintaining a consistent project vision, from the conceptualization and technical phases through prototyping and manufacturing, all the way through to its introduction to the market.

Randy: You mention Axia as a step in defining Lodes’ future direction. When we look ahead three to five years, what does success look like for Lodes in terms of design leadership and market positioning?

Massimiliano: Looking ahead to the next three to five years, Lodes aims to replicate its Italian legacy in North America, becoming the definitive benchmark for designs that bridge the gap between Italian soul and cutting-edge technical rigor. The brand will also explore new typologies and expand upon the success of its inaugural outdoor collection, OUTDOOR, with new exterior lighting releases that meet the needs of a growing outdoor market sector interested in marrying peak functionality with ambient architectural lighting.

Lodes’ outdoor designs will treat the landscape with the same curation and nuance given to interior lighting—beautifully blurring the boundaries between the built environment and the natural world. Lodes will also continue to formally build its U.S. presence by expanding its sales team and teaming up with like-minded partners, retailers, and distributors who align with its core tenets of collaboration, creativity, and technological innovation.

What stands out is the consistency of message. From product development to market expansion, Lodes is focused on balance—between decorative and architectural, technology and emotion, heritage and innovation.

Axia may be the clearest expression of that philosophy today, but Massimiliano makes it clear this is not a one-off. It is a direction. And if execution follows vision, Lodes is positioning itself to be far more than a fixture manufacturer in the years ahead.