Lighting Special
From traditional chandeliers and contemporary industrial lighting to small pendants and large lamps, the market is full of options. To help you pick the right one, we have put the spotlight on 15 Indian lighting brands you need to know about.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
From 15 Indian light brands that are changing the industry to how to brighten up the bathroom, smart illumination, and what's trending on social media; all you need to know to master the art of lighting.
OORJA, Bangalore www.oorja.in
WHEN Light designer Jenny Pinto has always been a champion of sustainable materials and design. She launched her handmade paper studio (in 1998), which was later transformed into a light studio and now (in 2018) she has collaborated with Radeesh Shetty of decor and design store The Purple Turtles to launch a bespoke lighting brand, Oorja Designs.
USP Creating structural lamps out of waste, combined with natural fibres in Pinto’s signature design language. The lamps use paper, faux concrete, cork and water hyacinth from the Tungabadhra River to create contemporary, warm lighting for spaces. In fact as per Pinto hyacinth is a fast-growing weed that chokes our rivers and water bodies all over the country and needs an urgent solution.
BUY THIS You can choose from pendant, floor, wall and table lamps. They also do customised site-specific pieces based on your needs.
WHAT’S NEW While the Oxide collection is made up of fibre-concrete lamps in earthy shades of blues, rusted pink and cement grey, the Uncork collection uses harvested tree barks to create industrial-themed lamps. The Wabi Sabi range uses water hyacinth as a material, among others, for an asymmetric approach.
PRICE `500 to `1 lakh
—By Prachi Sibal
THE BLACK STEEL, Delhi
www.theblacksteel.com
WHEN It was when product designer Prateek Singh realised that a large audience did not have access to functional lighting, he decided to reinvent lamp design. The solution? Launch of The Black Steel in 2015.
USP To offer a range of industrial decor inspired lighting products with a touch of minimalism and dollops of elegance.
BUY THIS Besides ceiling, desk and floor lamps, you can also purchase wall sconces.
WHAT’S NEW Glass balls, minimal frames and adjustable arms are just a few of the contemporary features of the latest collection called Mid-Century Modern.
PRICE `850 to `54,000
—By Ridhi Kale
ANEMOS, Mumbai
www.anemos.in
WHEN A take on the name for the Greek gods of wind, Anemos was born in 2005 when friends Nipoon Agrawal and Rajkumar Jain set up a store celebrating fans in innovative quirky designs and went on to add lights and audio players.
USP The museum-like set-up of the store offers a unique shopping experience. They have re-imagined a light from a wrecked ship and restored a light from a centuryold home to develop statement lighting.
WHAT’S NEW The Chandel-aires which double up as ceiling fans with glamorous lights. The pieces are decorative and high on utility and energy efficiency.
BUY THIS Elaborate chandeliers, ceiling lights, floor lights, accent lamps, bed side and table lamps and fans with lights.
PRICE `1,500 onwards
—By Aditi Pai
SUNSHINE BOULEVARD, Bangalore
www.sunshineboulevard.in
WHEN It was when Namita Agarwal was working on the interiors of her new apartment that she had to make the difficult choice of Chinese remakes or expensive Italian designs for her lighting needs. She began wondering if this was due to a dearth of good Indian lighting designers but soon found out that was not the case. Their work was at par with other expensive imports. To make good lighting accessible to all, she decided to open up her own lighting and decor store and brand, Sunshine Boulevard, in 2010.
USP The brand’s USP lies in the customisation options one can avail. The designs range from minimal and baroque to earthy and industrial. There is innovative use of fabric and a selection of classic chandeliers as well.
BUY THIS The store houses floor, ceiling, wall and table lamps
WHAT’S NEW Collections made using environmentally friendly material like cork and cardboard.
PRICE `1,000 onwards
—By Prachi Sibal
KLOVE, Delhi www.klovestudio.com
WHEN Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth co-founded Klove in 2005 with the vision of preserving talent through their partnership with Indian craftsmen and reinventing India through lighting.
USP A luxury boutique studio transforming real places into surreal dimensions, they specialise in decorative lighting installations which grow to become pieces of contemporary art. BUY THIS Wall murals, table and floor lamps, wall scones, installations, chandeliers and pendants.
WHAT’S NEW Totems Over Time, the latest collection, comprises mirrors, chandeliers, pendants and lighting installations in the form of necklaces.
PRICE On request
— By Akanksha Thirani DBEL STUDIO, DELHI www.dbelstudio.com
WHEN Launched by architect Dillraj L Bhatia in 2017, the idea behind DBEL Studio is to create awareness around the importance of psychological and physiological impacts of lighting in architectural design.
USP Customised lighting built from scratch to create a distinctive emotional benefit.
BUY THIS From customised chandeliers to pretty pendants, they retail every conceivable light one could want for a home or a commercial space.
WHAT’S NEW A blend of contemporary and modern classic, the Dhahab collection comprises table lamps, floor lamps, chandeliers and light screens inspired by geometric shapes designed to reflect artistic elegance.
PRICE `8,000 onwards
—By Akanksha Thirani
HIVE HOME, Mumbai www.hivehome.in
WHEN Shivangi Shah, a product designer from the London School of Communication and Design with hands-on experience on film sets and an interiors’ magazine, set up her studio of luxury lighting specialising in bespoke luxury hand-blown glass lighting in 2014.
USP The products blend handicraft and cutting edge advanced technology to design lighting options. Handblown glass offers endless possibilities of shapes, colours, optical effects and combinations with other materials.
BUY THIS Light sculptures
WHAT’S NEW Halo by Hive Home is inspired by the belief that life comes a full circle so the eight elegantly handcrafted moulds of blown glass come in hues of crackled gold, luster brown, earthen amber, grey, yellow and transparent to complement the space.
PRICE On request
—By Aditi Pai
MOTHER GONE MAD DESIGN, Delhi
@Mother_gone_mad (Instagram)
WHEN Ritika Nanda, a mother of two, was always interested in design. She realised that there was a gap between the Chinese mass market and European luxury market. She bridged this gap when she started Mother Gone Mad Design in 2015.
USP Nanda offers hand crafted and customised designs in a wide range of materials such as wood, acrylic, glass, metal, ceramic, cement and found objects.
BUY THIS From floor and table lamps to pendant and wall lights, she has unique illumination ideas for every room in a home.
WHAT’S NEW The Disc wall light started as a minimal white wall light and now it has a brass version, a painted graphic version similar to the lightastic (an art-inspired line), as well as a concrete version.
PRICE `3,500 onwards —By Ridhi Kale LIGHT AND YOU, Delhi
www.lightandyou.com
WHEN Co-founders of one of India’s oldest lighting companies vis à vis, Hardeep Gupta, Amit Gupta and Samta Nadeem launched an online lighting platform called Light and You in 2016. The idea behind this was to bring to fore the best of global and Indian brands to both professionals and consumers.
USP They have the largest collection of lights available online in the country. The platform also offers products, technology, trends, stories and inspiration from global thought-leaders, brands and designers.
BUY THIS Just about any kind of light from any part of the globe.
WHAT’S NEW They are about to launch phase two. Curated by artist Vishal K Dar it will be a collection of lamps from AKFD, Klove and Rooshad Shroff.
PRICE `5,000 to `5 lakh upwards —By Ridhi Kale
STUDIO AVNI, Mumbai
www.studioavni.com
WHEN An architect from KRVIA Mumbai and a Masters degree holder from London’s Chelsea College of Art and Design, Avni Sejpal set up Studio Avni in 2011 to work with new materials and experiment with different forms and has developed bespoke lights and illuminated installations for several spaces in Mumbai.
USP Exploring and experimenting with different materials. For the Samsara lighting series, Sejpal worked with cork, rubber, silicon and metal.
BUY THIS The entire range of decorative lights including pendant lights, chandeliers, table and floor lamps and lighting installations.
WHAT’S NEW The Voyager series is a collection of light sculptures, drawing from the explorative space modules and inspired from post apocalyptic sci-fi movies. The Fin Cloud series is a sculptural take on biomorphism. While the Grace Light series uses lights constructed from extremely fine steel wire mesh used for aviation industry and metals such as brass and copper. For a restaurant in Mumbai, she developed an experiential installation called Convergence depicting fluid patterns in water.
PRICE On request
—By Aditi Pai
INDILED, Hyderabad
www.indiled.in
WHEN Inspired by the colour consistency of lights overseas, after researching for over a year, Ram Agarwal and Lakhan Agarwal started Indiled in 2017.
USP Creating lights through encapsulation, a process which makes lights water proof and dust resistant, Indiled installs lights in walls and on floors.
BUY THIS Customised lights, retailed as linear architectural lighting.
WHAT’S NEW Their new range comprises Jal, a linear special grade aluminium profile made for under water applications such as swimming pools; Vayu, that makes lights look as if they are in flight; and Dori, bendable LED lights for curved spaces including staircases, gardens and facades.
PRICE `2,000 to `25,000
—By Akanksha Thirani
THE WHITE TEAK COMPANY Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad www.whiteteak.com
WHEN Pawan Mehta, Anu Mehta, Gagan Mehta and Mamta Mehta were tired of the disorganised lighting market in the country. So, they launched The White Teak Company in 2016 with contemporary lights in the forefront.
USP They give a new spin to ordinary lights and a modern twist to the classic chandelier.
BUY THIS Chandeliers, pendants, ceiling lights, table and floor lamps, wall brackets and wireless smart lights.
WHAT’S NEW The brand’s latest, the Smart Lighting Collection features smart LED lights even on bespoke chandeliers. You can then choose from 16 million colour combinations and control brightness.
PRICE `1,000 onwards
—By Ridhi Kale
HATSU, MUMBAI www.hatsu.in
WHEN A mechanical engineer with a keen interest in art and design, Saumil Suchak decided to set up his own studio for home accessories but wanted to create designs that people hadn’t commonly seen in Mumbai. So, he collaborated with artists from all over to develop products that add that wow factor to interiors. He launched HATSU in 2016.
USP Bold and neat design language that is inspired by the Scandinavian style of design. They fuse creative ideas by artists with their own design knowledge to make lighting installations that stand out in a room.
BUY THIS Pendant lights, chandeliers, wall sconce and table and floor lights.
WHAT’S NEW The new collection is designed as an attempt to merge lighting and fashion with high-quality leather accents, magnetic wireless switches, and look and a Star Wars feel.
PRICE `7,000 to `35,000
– By Aditi Pai
PAUL MATTER, Delhi www.paulmatter.com
WHEN Nikhil Paul is an alumnus of Domus Academy, Milan. When he was setting up his studio in Delhi he realised the lack of utilitarian yet elegant lighting in the market. This pushed him to begin his experiments with lights and he subsequently opened the lighting atelier, Paul Matter in 2016.
USP At the studio light sculptures meet contemporary designs and art meets luxe materials.
BUY THIS Pendant lights, chandeliers, wall lights and table and floor lamps are retailed.
WHAT’S NEW The latest collection, God and Goddess, takes its inspiration from strong symbols that are an integral part of the Indian culture. With custom made bulbs, simple geometry and unique surface finishes the new collection truly stands out.
PRICE `80,000 onwards
—By Ridhi Kale