Man & Son’s Flawless Designs

Working from a shop on Vancouver Island, in Victoria’s Rock Bay neighbourhood, Man & Son is a design firm founded in 2020.

“We are obsessed with the details, getting into the nuts and bolts of our designs to make sure they will not only look amazing but function well, adapt to changing needs, and last a lifetime.” This is how Jennifer Kalman and Emily Wilson describe the philosophy behind their practice. After meeting while studying at Dalhousie University, Kalman and Wilson formed their partnership and took on a wide range of projects “from large home renovations and kitchens to garden suites. We also started building custom furniture and bespoke cabinetry.”

After a while, the duo noticed that there was something they couldn’t quite get right in their projects: the lighting. “We had always talked about creating a lighting collection. We would spend hours looking for the perfect light fixtures for our projects, always with a picture in mind but never quite finding exactly what we were looking for. When we found ourselves with a relatively unscheduled two months over the summer of this year, we decided to finally make it happen.”

What resulted was A Light Studio, which offers custom-made lighting fixtures using locally sourced or reclaimed hardwoods that combine clean modern designs with the natural look of the wood. After displaying examples at the International Design Show in Vancouver this past September, it looks as if Kalman and Wilson have added another feather to their collective cap.

Their focus on detail shines through, with the simplicity of the designs forcing every aspect to be flawless. The duo takes this philosophy seriously, saying, “When you hold a well-designed object, you can tell that someone has carefully considered every detail—the weight of it in your hand, the way it functions, or even the meaning behind it. That spark of joy is something we try to incorporate into everything we do.”