Dezeen Magazine

Haberdashery's Canopy pendant light recreates the effect of dappled sunlight

In this movie Dezeen produced for Haberdashery, Ben Rigby introduces the London design studio's first commercial lighting product, which casts dappled light reminiscent of sunshine filtering through leaves.

Canopy light by Haberdashery

Canopy is an LED pendant light, which projects the subtle effect onto its mouth-blown lead crystal shade.

"It is inspired by the dappled light falling through the forest canopy," explains Haberdashery co-founder Ben Rigby in the movie, which was filmed at Haberdashery's London studio.

"The effect itself came about when one of our designers discovered light passing through a cheese-grater, which created a beautiful pattern. Trying to take that idea and work it into something controllable, we realised we were going to have to create something very new."

Canopy light by Haberdashery

The light source in Canopy consists of a custom array of LED pixels developed in-house by Haberdashery, which displays a looping animated gif to create movement. The light then passes through a lens and a filter to create the full effect.

"We designed a textured polycarbonate lens that exaggerates the inherent colour variation in LEDs, creating warmer and cooler hues of white light," Rigby explains.

"That creates a variation in the light, which comes down through a photo-etched gauze with a pattern that mimics the forest canopy."

Canopy light by Haberdashery

Rigby believes the light is suitable for small and large spaces alike.

"We see this product being used in a variety of spaces, creating a very intimate experience in a home environment," he says. "Equally, in an atrium for instance, where you could hang clusters of them vertically."

Canopy light by Haberdashery

Haberdashery is known for creating bespoke lighting sculptures and large-scale installations.

Canopy, which retails for £780 and will be exhibited at SuperDesign Show during Milan design week, is the studio's first commercially available product. It will form part of a future collection called Evoke, which draws on memories triggered by light.

"What we're doing is bringing something from the art world into something that's also very technical and reliable and high-quality," Rigby says.

"That combination we feel is quite a unique proposition for the lighting world."

Canopy light by Haberdashery

This movie was filmed in London by Dezeen for Haberdashery.

Additional footage and photography is by Haberdashery.