From lamps with metallic skull chains to brass light switches and phone-holding toilet paper holders, no one does home decor quite like London’s . Launched in 2013 by architect and industrial designer Massimo Buster Minale, the brand began with edgy but elegant electrical plates and light switches, items with style that he was having trouble finding for his interior design projects.
Speaking of his brand philosophy, Minale says: “We always start a home or space from the small touch points and metal fittings first and then work outwards, which is more in tune with how an industrial designer would tackle the subject of interior design — in short, it’s reversed.”
The company now has storefront locations in London and Stockholm, offering fittings and furniture for kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms. Hip light switch and electrical plate alternatives remain their bread and butter, but pieces like the burnt steel “Forked” pendant are also natural favorites.
Minale’s aesthetic takes its cues from his after-hours hobby of the past few years. “I was working as an architect by day and making custom motorbikes by night,” he explains. “In a garage in …East London, I taught myself how to transform stock vintage motorbikes into one-off customs. I made all the parts from scratch and started selling my motorbikes to London’s most notorious. Being an architect, requests soon turned from motorbikes to home fittings, and I set about making everything from door handles to toilet roll holders. The seed was planted and my love child between architecture and motorbikes was born, his name — Buster + Punch.”
After finding success in his career with architecture firms and Richard Rogers, Minale launched his home fashion line in 2013, immediately striking a chord with London’s celebrity and sub-culture scenes with knurled knobs in the style of speaker switches and pendant lights that mimicked hand-held microphones.
Buster + Punch’s glam industrial aesthetic has led to numerous collaborations over the years, including the creation of the , a liquor console made of solid American walnut with a quilted silk backing, a black-caged light, and 24-karat gold hardware. Another partnership with Rolls-Royce resulted in a bespoke version of the Buster Bulb, an LED lamp with a Royce-patented B22-fitting and a gold-plated bayonet cap. The one-off was available for just one night.
The firm’s Skull collection is the product of its most recent collaboration — this time with LA producer and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker. Inserting the tattoo and skate culture icon into home decor, the anthology is made up of lights, candle holders, door stops, cabinet knobs, and even necklaces. The Skull Table lamp, for example, comes in all polished brass or solid steel with a distinguishing cranial fob on the end of the pull chain.
Attention to details like these is what Buster + Punch is all about. As Minale says on the company website, “In a nutshell, my mission is to reinvent forgotten home fittings into the unforgettable.”
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