The lighting designers helping bring light to impoverished communities

Lighting specialist Vaughan has invited interior designers to help illuminate impoverished communities.

Leading designers on both sides of the Atlantic have been asked by Vaughan, the British lighting specialist renowned for its distinctive range of lighting, furniture and accessories, to dream up their own lampshades, each of which will be on display on Vaughan’s Instagram account (@vaughandesigns) from October 1 to 31.

For every post that is shared with the hashtags #vaughanXwattsoflove and #madeintheshade, Vaughan will donate $1 to Watts of Love. The lamps will be auctioned via Christie’s culture and philanthropy online auction, powered by Charity Buzz, on October 1–21 — you can view it here.

[Click or tap on the picture to below to view a larger version of some of the lamps in the auction]

Some of the lamps on sale — click the picture to see a larger version

British designers involved include some of our biggest names, such as Alidad; Beata Heuman; Nina Campbell; Wendy Nicholls of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler; and Susie Atkinson. ‘Despite what this year has presented us with, we are delighted to still be going ahead with our Made in the Shade campaign. Now more so than ever, we are able to see the strength in coming together for a greater cause, fully acknowledging our privilege in being able to do so,’ says Lucy Vaughan, co-founder of Vaughan.

Watts of Love aims to alleviate poverty for families in the poorest, hardest-to-reach places in the world. What starts with lighting up homes for the first time, with innovative solar lights, quickly evolves into a relationship in which individuals are encouraged to break their dependency on dangerous kerosene and reinvest the savings into more sustainable solutions for their families.

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The solar lights the project provides mean more hours in the day for work and study, increased safety and security during typically dangerous and dark hours. Other benefits include improved health and longevity achieved by the removal of smoke and kerosene pollution from homes and the creation of new revenue opportunities for impoverished families.

For details, visit www.wattsoflove.org or www.vaughandesigns.com, or see the initiative on Instagram at @vaughandesigns or @wattsoflove.