Kelly Wearstler’s H&M Collection Is Built to Mix, Not Match

For her new collection with H&M Home (available to shop today), AD100 Hall of Fame designer Kelly Wearstler draws on three distinct eras of design history: Black pinewood vases put a surrealist spin on classical amphoras; a swirling mushroom lamp that Wearstler describes as “psychedelic” feels plucked from the swinging '60s; bouclé upholstered seating features 1970s modernism’s soft, plush edges. Even with such a varied reference book, she manages to create something that's unmistakenly her—somewhat edgy, somewhat Regency, altogether LA glam.The Emera Lamp has a linen fabric base and shade with a chrome exterior. Photo: Gemma WarrenThe Cyma vases have a glass interior and a pinewood exterior showcasing surrealist inspiration. Photo: Sean ThomasThe throughline of this collaboration, says Wearstler, is modularity. Much like a capsule wardrobe, the pieces “can be arranged, combined, and reinterpreted in different ways, so no two expressions of the collection need to feel the same.” Wearstler tells us that she was inspired by the way Alan Buchsbaum, a designer’s designer whose use of pop-art and industrial elements helped define the 1970s High-Tech movement, treated each interior like a composition. “Buchsbaum understood how to play with scale and color,” says Wearstler.Here, Wearstler takes a similarly artistic approach to the marriage of texture and form. “Shape can really shift the visual and tactile experience of a material. A curve can make marble feel almost soft, while a sharp edge can make it feel architectural,” she says. “I often feel the most interesting designs are those where contrasting materials come together in unexpected ways.” In the Orta sofa table, for instance, an arc of marble is supported by wooden legs: “Something highly polished against something tactile,” she says. “Those relationships are what give a piece its energy.”Wearstler holds the Morra table lamp. Photo: Sean ThomasItalian-inspired bouclé chairs surround the Ortra sofa table. Photo: Sean ThomasAnd strategically placing these items can help your room come alive. “You don’t need to redesign your entire home,” Wearstler says, “sometimes one great chair, lamp, or vase can shift the energy of a room completely.” A white couch feels mod instead of simple when it's styled alongside a two-tone, angular stool or whimsical, Parisian-inspired end table. The cartoonish Aurex lamp can make an otherwise stuffy room feel playful.Wearstler continues to play with texture, shape, and color with her accompanying eight-piece fashion capsule. An oversized collar, lapel, and epaulets give a coated cotton trench a sharp silhouette; a leather jacket with balloon sleeves features inside-out stitching at the seams, mirroring the Emera table lamp’s visible exoskeleton.Where Wearstler has spent her career designing for private residences and luxury hotels, this collection brings her design sensibility within reach. “I hope this collection invites that kind of considered design to a much wider audience," she says, "while still prioritizing the craft and materiality that makes it feel special.”The full collection is available September 3 in select H&M HOME stores and at hm.com.Kelly Wearstler x H&M Home Poma Accent ChairKelly Wearstler x H&M Home Emera Table LampKelly Wearstler x H&M Home Morra Table LampKelly Wearstler x H&M Home Cyma VaseKelly Wearstler x H&M Home Aurex Table LampKelly Wearstler x H&M Home Noxen Stool