Now here's a nice concept for lighting with a 'twist' (sorry...) from German designer Christian Haas.

Recently launched at Colette in Paris - coinciding with this year's Maison & Objet - these "ROPES' lamps combine braided textile rope with energy-saving light technology.

More like limited edition artworks than interior products, each of the ropes are handmade and numbered; and each is different from the other, varying in size and technique.

Robust, weatherproof, water and dirt repellent, the light source inside the textile cord consists of warm-light LEDs with a durability of approximately 50,000 hours - that's more than 17 years, if you leave them lit 8 hours per day...