Anthropologie has collaborated with award-winning designer Merve Kahraman for a ‘curious’ lighting collection inspired by autumn in NYC

New York City is, in many ways, a cabinet of curiosities. I’m reminded of this every time I step outside – a filming for Devil Wears Prada 2, at least three parades, a bodega cat gone rogue. You never quite know what the city’s going to serve. That same offbeat, maximalist magic is what inspired Anthropologie’s latest lighting collaborator, Merve Kahraman – an Istanbul-born, Milan-and-London-trained designer now running her namesake studio in the most unpredictable place on earth.

‘New York City is a place of endless inspiration for me,’ Merve tells me. ‘NYC itself is a mix of everything – the people, the architecture, the energy – each with its own layers, patterns, and juxtapositions.’

Merve Kahraman's Anthropologie collection – a curated lineup of lighting ideas including a chandelier, sconce, pendant, and two table lamps – captures a snapshot of the city during one very specific moment: the transition into fall, which she says is her favorite time in the concrete jungle.

‘My favorite season here is fall, when, after the hot summer malaise, the city comes alive again. The autumn colors unfold against the concrete backdrop, creating striking contrasts,’ Merve muses.

You can feel that tension – soft and structural, glam and grounded – in living room lighting ideas like the Floral Glass Chandelier, available in a painterly mix of honey yellow, forest green, terracotta, and gray-blue with polished brass. It’s her take on Central Park’s turning leaves and strange, beautiful botanicals – a kind of urban fairytale rendered in glass.

The lighting collection is aptly dubbed 'Cabinet of Curiosities,' and it’s every bit as whimsical as it sounds. Checkerboard meets rattan. Polished meets playful. You don’t often see these ‘city-like’ materials paired with something as earthy as rattan – let alone in a bordeaux-and-cream fall color palette – but somehow, it all just works.

‘I think it’s a very timeless combination,’ she says of her ceramic, city-coded table lamps. ‘I paired bold colors like dark green and bordeaux with cream and rattan, which creates a cozy yet cool feeling. It almost feels like a whimsical little gnome character – entertaining its surroundings and lifting the mood.’

The collection's name wasn’t purely for aesthetics, either. ‘I’ve always loved the book Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba, who was a pharmacist, zoologist, and collector,’ Merve explains. ‘I wanted to create my own version of curiosities through these lamps. I imagined each piece as a living character, with its own personality and purpose.'

'A chandelier, for example, might bloom like a glass flower, radiating soft, colored light like petals unfolding,' she adds. 'Or a table lamp might take the form of a magical mushroom, quietly illuminating its surroundings.’

Fitting, seeing as the city has no shortage of characters – and now, your home can play one too. For anyone who’s ever wanted to channel New York’s shift into fall without stepping outside, this 'Cabinet of Curiosities' makes a compelling case.

Part of the magic of living in New York is seeing the world with childlike eyes – everything’s in flux, which means everything feels new. And big. But how do you bottle that feeling at home? How do you make interior design feel more curious?

‘First, I think we need to reactivate our curiosity toward life – like children do,’ Merve says. ‘Then, we should choose each piece for our home with that same enthusiasm. Forget about interior design trends and focus on what you genuinely enjoy seeing every day in your space.’

In other words: get weird, stay playful, and shop like someone who still believes their lamp might come to life.