Betrand Balas (born 1935 in Toulouse, France) started his professional life in 1962 as a freelancer, after having done a few months as an apprentice in a workshop in Paris while trying to get back into the workplace after three years of military service.  During a fortuitous trip in 1965, he developed a relationship with Dutch lighting manufacturer Raak for which he originally developed several celebrated lighting designs.  A successful architect for decades, Balas was delighted to be involved with DCW Editions and its reissuing his much-loved Here Comes the Sun suspension light.