First + Foremost

The young minds behind lighting line Decimal had a bright idea: developing their own LED module

After years of working on the technical and business sides of the lighting industry, Alejandro Barrero and Omar Reul had both developed an appreciation not only for good lighting design, but for good light sources. Too often, they explain, you see beautiful lamps undermined by the kind of low-quality bulb you can pick up at the neighbourhood hardware store.

The young entrepreneurs, who are both originally from Mexico but met as exchange students in Vancouver, decided to combine their industry knowledge to launch a lighting brand that would base its designs around a high-quality LED source of their company’s own devising. Launched in 2017, Decimal’s collection comprises a series of 3D- printed pendant lamps designed by creatives from around the world – each of which simply twists onto the same proprietary LED module, engineered to provide optimal illumination.

The brand, which is based in Mexico City and Vancouver, recently launched new models at both the West Coast and Toronto iterations of the Interior Design Show, all numbered rather than named, in keeping with the Decimal branding. Inspired by Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, Chilean designer Alberto Vitelio’s .013 (shown at right) features sinuous curves that feel almost psychedelic, while Ariel Rojo’s second collaboration with Decimal, .016 (above), evokes a perforated Möbius loop – a 3D volume with only one side.