Restoring a vintage pendant - ideas requested!

I inherited this original Herman Miller pendant light but the shade has decades of yucky smoke damage and holes, so I’m going to remove it to reveal the steal bubble frame underneath. The re-shade process is patented/too complicated and lighting design companies in town don’t offer services to restore it. (If you’re curious how they do it, this is how)

So… how do you think I should cover it? Strips of fabric or vinyl? Layered pieces of wood? The possibilities are endless and I’m curious what others think I should do. The steel frame underneath is in perfect condition.


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If someone is feeling ambitious, they might look into meltblown or electrospun fabrics—seems to be how the originals were made.

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Maybe lacquered silk or water-shrunk thick rice paper? hhmmmm…

There’s also a really bitchen’ type of thick Mylar that comes in every color, sticks to steel ribs etc, and can be heat shrunk until taught.

AND -it’s super shiny-…typically used to surface radio-controlled glider wings. That could be quite striking.