Apparatus Returns After Six Years With Fable-Inspired Act V: Afsaneh

Apparatus has unveiled Act V: Afsaneh, its first full lighting and furniture collection since 2019.

The New York-based interdisciplinary design studio, which works across lighting, furniture and objects, describes the release as a contemporary take on Persian mythology drawn from founder Gabriel Hendifar's background, according to Dezeen.

The title does double duty. Afsaneh translates as fable. It is also the name of Hendifar's mother.

The collection is fabricated in bronze, brass and glass. It spans pendants, chandeliers, sconces and tables, alongside a table-like vessel for holding incense.

Three families anchor the range. The Esfand sconces, wall-mounted lights, pair blown glass with lacquer settings that wrap around the glass. The Gol pendants, lights hung from above, use fibreglass domes that open to reveal smaller glass orbs inside. The Rahvi chandelier is a modular, serpent-like form built from water-formed brass segments dotted with glass orbs.

The studio's Act V page lists the system extending across formats, including Esfand Surface, Esfand Smoking Vessel and Esfand Pendant Large, according to Apparatus.

On its own site, the studio frames the collection as a story about life shaped by cycles of creation and destruction and of separation from self and return, centred on the divine feminine as source, creative force and nurturer, according to Apparatus. The studio also says the work was brought to life through the distilled language of Martha Graham, the American dancer known as the mother of modern dance, and is scented with Damask Rose, Oud and Frankincense as a gesture of protection and potential.

Apparatus teased the launch on 3 October 2026 with an Instagram post reading "ACT V : AFSANEH Unveiling October V," according to Instagram. The reference to Iranian craft is familiar territory. Its 2018 Act III collection paired modernist Western forms with Khatam, the intricate geometric style of Persian marquetry.

What makes this stand out for followers is the personal thread running through it. A fable, a mother's name and old myths are being told through lights you switch on and tables you gather around. After six years without a full collection, there is a lot to explore.