500 Eyes, No Two Alike: Inside LAWA's Collaboration With BOY London America
At a runway show exploring what it means to be watched, 500 guests were given an eye of their own.
For BOY London America's Spring/Summer 2027 presentation, The Evil Eye, Los Angeles-based sculptural candle studio LAWA Candles developed 500 custom sculptural candles, each featuring a distinctive human face and a real glass marble eye.
Working from a portrait of George Orwell provided by the BOY London America team, LAWA translated the creative reference into a three-dimensional wax sculpture. Each glass marble featured a different pattern, making every finished candle individually distinctive.
Created in collaboration with BOY London America Creative Director Can Tran, the candles became part of the October 10, 2026 runway presentation at The Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Each guest found one waiting on their chair, extending the show's creative world beyond the runway.
Behind the finished objects was an intensive process of 3D design, custom mold engineering, material experimentation, and hand-poured manufacturing. From the initial inquiry to final delivery, LAWA completed the project in just 26 days.
The Project: 500 Custom Sculptural Candles for BOY London America
Client: BOY London America
Creative Director: Can Tran
Collection: Spring/Summer 2027 — The Evil Eye
Quantity: 500 custom sculptural candles
Design Reference: Portrait of George Orwell
Signature Detail: Real glass marble eyes with individually different patterns
Wax: Vegan EcoSoya Pillar Blend
Color: Custom Moon Gray
Fragrance: Matcha
Dimensions: Approximately 4.25" H × 2" W × 2.25" D
Production Tooling: 50 custom silicone molds
Packaging: Black boxes and crinkle filler supplied by BOY London America
Manufacturing: Hand-poured in Los Angeles, California
Timeline: September 9 – October 5, 2026
Runway Presentation: October 10, 2026, The Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles
The Evil Eye: A Runway About Watching and Being Watched
For its Spring/Summer 2027 collection, BOY London America created a visual world exploring the relationship between observation, visibility, and control.
The show's printed material introduced a series of unsettling statements: "We agreed to be watched," "Visibility becomes control," and "Transparency becomes exposure."
The language evokes the dystopian themes explored in George Orwell's novel 1984, where surveillance becomes a mechanism of power and the boundary between private and public life begins to disappear.
Surveillance cameras formed a prominent part of the runway environment, reinforcing the collection's visual exploration of watching and being watched.
Within this context, the eye became more than a decorative motif. It represented observation, exposure, and the uneasy relationship between visibility and personal freedom.
For LAWA, the challenge was to translate that creative direction into a physical object that could exist beyond the runway.
Rather than creating conventional branded merchandise, the collaboration centered on an original sculptural candle: a human face with a striking glass eye.
From George Orwell to a Sculptural Candle
The starting point for the candle's design was a photographic portrait of George Orwell, provided as a creative reference by the BOY London America team.
Translating a human face into a sculptural candle required more than reproducing the reference image. The design needed to capture its distinctive character while functioning as a freestanding wax object that could be manufactured consistently across hundreds of pieces.
Working closely with Can Tran and his team, LAWA developed the sculpture through several rounds of 3D modeling and refinement.
The facial proportions, nose, chin, neck, and overall silhouette were carefully adjusted to achieve the desired appearance. The team also explored how the glass marble could become an integral part of the face without disrupting the sculptural composition.
Every creative adjustment had technical implications. Details that work beautifully in a digital model do not always translate directly into wax. Facial definition, structural stability, mold construction, and marble placement all needed to be considered before production could begin.
Once the final design was approved, LAWA developed the physical master model, created custom silicone molds, and produced samples to refine the sculptural details, color, wick, and finish.
The result was a distinctive interpretation of the original reference, transformed into an object created specifically for BOY London America's runway presentation.
500 Eyes. 500 Different Personalities.
The defining feature of the collaboration was the real glass marble embedded into each sculptural face.
Rather than sculpting the eye entirely from wax, LAWA incorporated a separate glass sphere directly into the candle's construction.
Each marble featured a different pattern, introducing variations in color, depth, and visual texture. Although all 500 candles shared the same sculptural form, no two finished pieces looked exactly alike.
This individuality became one of the most compelling aspects of the project. The collection remained visually cohesive, yet every candle had its own distinct expression.
Achieving this effect required custom mold engineering.
LAWA developed silicone molds with specially designed cavities to accommodate the glass marbles. Each mold was engineered to cradle approximately half of the sphere, holding it securely in position while leaving the visible portion exposed as the finished candle's eye.
Before every pour, a marble had to be positioned carefully inside the mold to ensure correct placement within the sculptural face.
What appeared to be a small visual detail introduced an additional level of precision to the manufacturing process.
The Manufacturing Challenge: Combining Glass and Wax
One of the most technically demanding aspects of the project was working with two materials that behave very differently during casting: glass and wax.
During early production, LAWA began noticing signs of premature mold wear, particularly around the cavities designed to hold the glass marbles.
These areas of localized silicone surface degradation affected the molds' ability to reproduce sculptural details consistently, shortening their usable lifespan.
The team suspected that the different thermal properties of glass and wax were contributing to the accelerated wear. Although the exact cause could not be definitively established, the casting process needed to be adjusted to maintain quality throughout production.
The solution involved refining the pouring process and working with the lowest workable wax temperature to minimize potential thermal stress on the molds.
However, reducing the pouring temperature introduced another challenge. The wax still needed to flow smoothly around the glass marble and into the intricate facial details without trapping air bubbles or creating surface imperfections.
Finding the right balance required careful temperature control, precise marble placement, and consistent quality checks.
The experience reinforced an important principle of custom sculptural candle manufacturing: even a single unconventional design element can influence the entire production process.
When a concept combines intricate geometry with multiple materials, the manufacturing method often needs to be developed specifically for that design.
For more insight into this process, explore our guide to how a custom sculptural candle is made.
50 Custom Silicone Molds. 500 Hand-Poured Candles.
With the design approved and the production method refined, LAWA moved into full-scale manufacturing.
To meet the required timeline, the studio prepared 50 custom silicone molds, each engineered to reproduce the sculptural face while accommodating an individual glass marble.
Every production cycle involved preparing the molds, positioning the marbles, pouring the wax, cooling, demolding, inspecting, and preparing the finished candles for packaging.
The sculptures were hand-poured using vegan EcoSoya Pillar Blend wax and finished with a Matcha fragrance.
The custom Moon Gray shade was developed by blending three different dyes, requiring careful color consistency across production batches.
Because the design featured a detailed human face, even small casting imperfections could affect the final appearance. The team paid particular attention to facial definition, surface quality, and the placement of each glass eye.
From the initial inquiry on September 9 to final delivery on October 5, LAWA completed the entire project in 26 days, including design development, revisions, tooling, sampling, and production.
From the LAWA Studio to the Runway
Once the candles were completed, the final stage was preparing all 500 pieces for the runway presentation.
BOY London America supplied the black boxes and black crinkle filler used to package the finished sculptures at the LAWA studio. The contrast between the dark packaging, muted Moon Gray wax, and individually patterned glass eyes created a distinctive presentation.
All 500 candles were delivered by October 5, five days before the show.
On October 10, BOY London America presented The Evil Eye at The Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Waiting on each guest's chair was one of LAWA's custom sculptural candles.
While the audience gathered to observe a runway presentation exploring surveillance and visibility, each person received an object defined by an eye of its own.
The candles were not existing products selected for an event. They were designed, engineered, and manufactured specifically for the presentation, carrying an element of its creative identity beyond the runway.
Beyond the Runway: When Fashion Becomes an Object
Fashion collaborations often extend into accessories, merchandise, and branded gifts. This project offered a different approach.
Rather than applying a logo to an existing product, BOY London America and LAWA developed an original sculptural object rooted in the collection's creative direction.
The Orwell portrait reference, the distinctive glass eye, the custom Moon Gray finish, and the individually varied marble patterns all contributed to a piece that could stand on its own while remaining connected to the presentation.
For LAWA, the collaboration demonstrated how sculptural candle development can become part of a larger creative narrative, transforming a visual concept into a physical object through design, engineering, and manufacturing.
What began as a visual reference became 500 individually distinctive objects, developed and hand-poured in Los Angeles in less than four weeks. Each candle carried the same sculptural expression, yet no two eyes were alike. For a runway presentation exploring the experience of being watched, it was a fitting detail: every guest left with a different perspective.
Custom Sculptural Candle Development With LAWA
LAWA Candles is a Los Angeles-based sculptural candle studio specializing in original candle collections and custom development and manufacturing for brands, designers, and creative teams.
Our process includes concept development, 3D modeling, master model creation, silicone mold engineering, custom color and material development, sampling, and final hand-poured production.
We work on projects ranging from small-batch sculptural designs to larger manufacturing runs, adapting the development process to the creative and technical requirements of each collaboration.
Alongside BOY London America, LAWA has developed other original sculptural projects, including a custom candle inspired by Particle's Elephant Chair for AZUR during LA Design Week.
Explore our Elephant Chair custom candle case study to see another example of how we translate design concepts into physical wax sculptures.
Interested in developing a custom sculptural candle for your brand, fashion collection, event, or creative project?
Discover our custom candle development and manufacturing services and contact the LAWA team to discuss your idea.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can LAWA develop custom sculptural candles for fashion brands?
Yes. LAWA works with fashion brands, designers, creative agencies, and businesses to develop original sculptural candles for runway presentations, product launches, events, gifting, and special projects. Each design is developed around the client's creative direction and production requirements.
Can custom sculptural candles incorporate glass or other non-wax materials?
Some designs can incorporate additional materials depending on their placement, intended use, and safety requirements. For BOY London America, LAWA engineered custom silicone molds to accommodate real glass marble eyes. Any design involving non-wax elements requires individual evaluation, particularly regarding its potential impact on candle burning behavior.
How long does it take to manufacture 500 custom sculptural candles?
Timelines depend on the design's complexity, tooling requirements, sampling, materials, and production capacity. LAWA completed the BOY London America project in 26 days from initial inquiry to final delivery, although lead times vary for each project.
Can custom sculptural candles be scented?
Yes. While LAWA's signature retail sculptural candle collections are generally unscented, custom projects can include fragrance when compatible with the design and selected wax formulation. The BOY London America candles featured a Matcha fragrance.
Does LAWA manage the entire custom candle development process?
Yes. LAWA manages the process from concept development and 3D modeling to master creation, silicone mold production, sampling, and final hand-poured manufacturing in Los Angeles.