Edison lamp creator Lo Yat-ming looks to the future with vintage designs
The creator of the Edison lamp reveals why he staked his future on vintage design
Having worked on graphic, interior and product design for 12 years, self-taught designer Lo Yat-ming, founder of product design company NAP and co-founder of online shop Light With Shade, is making his mark with a vintage-inspired lighting range that puts a hi-tech twist to one of the interior design world’s hottest trends.
What got you started in lighting design? “I’ve always loved handmaking furniture and learnt basic crafting skills at a local industrial school, CMA Secondary School, in Shek Kip Mei. At first, I wanted to build tables and chairs, as well as design lighting. That required a warehouse to keep stock in and, as rents are prohibitive in Hong Kong, I gave up on the idea.”
Then what? “My (now) business partner, Stephanie To Wan-yi, who was a work colleague at the time, shared my idea of starting our own business. After doing some market research, we realised there is a worldwide demand for vintage-style lighting. We started sourcing high-quality lamp parts and light bulbs, designed the Edison lamp, and for the first year outsourced its manufacture to our supplier. After launching Light with Shade, we began assembling the lamps ourselves, piece by piece in our Hong Kong workshop.”
Tell us about the Edison lamp. “It’s an industrial-looking bulb teamed with a vintage-style cloth cord and elegant brass socket, which suits any raw, vintage and loft-home decoration. Our Edison lamp has been installed in restaurants worldwide, including Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen (Hong Kong).