Header: Courtesy of HAY
The Canelé is a small table lamp, 37 cm tall and 24 cm across, whose pleated fabric shade is held between the three legs of a steel frame. It was designed by the Paris studio Leclercq Viallet, run by Camille Viallet and Théo Leclercq, and it is their first product for the Danish brand HAY.
The inspiration behind the lamp
The name comes from the canelé, the small fluted cake baked in Bordeaux, whose ridged sides the shade brings to life in fabric. Viallet and Leclercq had already made a version as a gallery object, with a shade folded by hand out of paper and a structure cut from flat metal parts.
Their sketches for HAY worked through colour options and the balance between the folded metal and the soft textile, and the lamp itself was developed in the workshop with the material in hand.
How the shade is held
Three stainless steel legs with silicone feet rise from the base and close on the shade, gripping it at the folds. The pleats slide onto the frame, and the pinching pulls the fabric into a soft triangular shape. The vertical lines then run from the top of the shade down to the bottom, with the whole lamp only weighing 560 grams.
“What makes this lamp surprising lies in its construction: a soft lampshade pinched into a metal structure.”
Leclercq Viallet
From paper to polyester
The handmade paper shade became polyester when the lamp went into series production, pleated by machine and backed with a layer of white polycarbonate, a rigid clear plastic that holds the folds and spreads the light.
Colour and light
The four colours chosen by the team and HAY are warm white, tomato red, almond green and soft blue. In an effortlessly chic touch, the fabric tints the light as it passes through.
The lamp works with a single E14 LED bulb of 5 to 8 watts and 500 to 800 lumens, at 2700 to 3000 kelvin, which is the warm end of white light. A 240 cm braided black cable provided an inline on/off switch.
Product information
Lighting Design Company: HAY
Design Team: Camille Viallet, Théo Leclercq
Dimensions: 24 x 24 x 37 cm
Weight: 0.56 kg
Date: 2026
