Home furnishing with a designer conscience

Designers are finding new ways to give back to society. In Cambodia, an award-winning US interior designer gives young girls lessons in art; in Afghanistan, artisans receive funds for their hand-embroidered cushions helping secure their children's future; while in New York, a lighting firm supports needy children on the mainland.

Sometimes, part of the proceeds from the sale of these home products might be channelled back to the people making them. Or, in the case of Sandra Espinet, designers are simply moved to support a worthy charity and use their trips overseas exactly for that reason.

Espinet, who has studios in Los Angeles and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, visits Cambodia at least once a year to check in at the Cambodian Children's Fund, of which she has been a long-time supporter. While there, she runs art classes for girls aged 13 years and up, and tries to mentor them while they navigate their early teens. As a result, some are keen to become interior designers, but Espinet - who last year was named designer of the year by California Home & Design Magazine, has had to ask them to readjust their expectations.

'There is no interior design in Cambodia,' she says. 'I'd rather steer them into graphic arts. I have to be conscious that their culture is not mine, and these girls are not going to live in my world. Sometimes they just need someone they can talk to about girl issues. The children are amazing, and the work is life-changing. You can't help but get involved.'

Designers around the world are embracing that ethos.

Independent collective Design House Stockholm worked with Australian designer David Mayhew to create a pair of serving tongs, handcrafted from jamjuree wood and inspired by the shape of a whale's tail. Sales of the tongs - priced at about US$50 - help support the Save the Whales fund.