Rico Espinet
RISD ’75 [Sculpture]
With a résumé that fluctuates between fine art sculpture, stage lighting for Madonna and vitrines for Barneys New York, Brooklyn-based designer Rico Espinet (www.shoprico.com) is making his mark through high-profile design. The Marina Collection, a line of household lighting fixtures inspired by his glass sculpture, emerged after orders started coming in for Scribe, a lamp he’d fashioned for himself from a leftover microphone stand (it’s now in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum); the Nina Collection followed in spring 2002, pairing polished nickel with opaline glass in simple forms for a range of home and office functions. Espinet has received two Gene Moore awards, for his work on Polo Ralph Lauren and Comme des Garçons store windows, and has been featured in The New York Times “House and Home” section.