5 lighting designers creating cool and conscious products

Olie Lighting

Olie led by Amrita Nambiar is a Bangalore-based experimental lighting studio that blends art, design, and craft to create intentional, handcrafted light sculptures. Each of their pieces is designed to play with light and shadow, offering an immersive experience. “We believe that each piece needs to stem from a story or an emotion that lends a deeper meaning to the design,” elaborates Amrita. Olie’s commitment to sustainability runs deep, with every item made to order, avoiding excess stock and reducing waste. They use eco-friendly materials like cotton, cane, banana fibre, and wood in their products, while metal scraps are repurposed, and fabric waste is sent to NGOs to create new products. Olie’s approach minimises environmental impact, with low energy and water usage in the handcrafting process.

Their sustainable ethos extends to packaging, where fragile products are shipped with biodegradable bubble wrap and cardboard boxes. A new initiative allows customers to return the bubble wrap for reuse, reducing waste even further. Olie focuses on creating long-lasting pieces that can be enjoyed for years, and their "repair and reclaim" program allows customers to refresh their ageing products, breathing new life into them without contributing to landfills. All their lights are made by local artisans. Amrita says, “Working with local communities has always been a part of our ethos, right from welders to finishing craftsmen to weaving communities.”

Vakr Studio

Vakr, a Delhi-based design studio led by Devyani Gupta and Nehit Vij blends modern computer-aided technology with traditional Indian craftsmanship to create organic forms in furniture and lighting segments. The studio’s mission is to explore India’s craft heritage within the threshold of contemporary design. “We believe that the lighting or furniture pieces in any space must prompt conversation about India's craft and culture, along with the advent of technology and materials,” elaborates Devyani. Vakr is committed to sustainability, using eco-friendly materials like rattan, bainth, and reclaimed wood, which are durable and require minimal maintenance. In the effort to minimise environmental impact, they focus on zero waste by repurposing materials such as foam and using reusable wooden crates for shipping.

Anuvad

Anuvad Innovation Studio LLP, founded by Chhail Khalsa merges traditional crafts with technology. The studio's work spans from functional e-textiles to interactive art, aiming to "humanise" technology through thoughtful, immersive designs like their newly launched LEIT (Light Embedded in Textiles) globes. The fabric with their proprietary circuits is handwoven and then pieced together by hand with sewable LEDs to form sphere globes. These are produced by generational artisans, whether through embroidery or weaving and are pieced together with Burma teak tops with brass detailing.

Anuvad emphasises sustainability in its design process, using natural fibres like cotton and kala cotton and embroidered fabrics, along with materials like stainless steel, brass, and Burmese teak. Its technology is integrated into the fabric structure and is modular, allowing for easy replacement of malfunctioning parts to minimise electronic waste. 

The Wicker Story

The Wicker Story, founded in 2018 by Priyanka Narula in Hyderabad, centres around traditional cane and rattan basketry crafts local to the area. This skill is then tweaked in its scale and properties to produce 3D geometries in the form of sculptural lighting, furniture, artworks and large-scale installations. “From my education onward, I’ve always been conscious of the environmental impact of my work, which is why sustainability is at the core of every product I create. When designing a lighting piece, the challenge is finding a creative direction that is both modern and progressive while remaining sustainable. Sustainability doesn’t stop with using eco-friendly materials. It encompasses many aspects, from slow production methods to minimising waste, recycling, and even the packaging and shipping processes from the factory to the end user,” says Priyanka.

Adigami

Adigami, based in Jaipur, is reimagining paper as a medium for art and design through the vision of co-founders Aditi Anuj, an origami artist and textile designer, and Neelam Nagrani, who brings expertise in finance. Their creations, which span industries like architecture, fashion, and interior design, are known for merging traditional origami techniques with contemporary design principles. “We aspire further to elevate origami in the global art and design narrative. Our hope is to engage more communities, share our knowledge, and inspire the next generation of creators. We believe that every fold tells a story, and together, we can unfold new narratives through origami,” says Aditi.

Adigami prioritises eco-friendly materials, using FSC-certified handmade paper, recyclable plastics, energy-efficient LED components, and natural fibres like jute and cotton. These materials not only enhance the visual appeal of their work but also promote sustainability, such as a recent project for a Japanese client that combined FSC paper and recycled wood.