Shop Lighting
At David Village Lighting, we see countless talented and
inspirational women leaving their mark on the lighting industry. So to celebrate International
Women’s Day, we’re taking an opportunity to highlight the achievements of these women
and commemorate their presence within their field.
Join us as we shine a light on just a few innovative designers and founders changing women's narrative in the industry.
Lucie Koldova discovered the discipline of design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. While trying to find her direction within the field of art, she believed that design encapsulates all of it from the conceptual aspect to the drawing. After graduating in 2009, she moved to Paris, France, to pursue an opportunity at a studio there. During her time in the French capital, she immersed herself in the different lifestyles and cultures, allowing the cities around her to inspire and influence her designs.
In 2010, she began her collaboration with Czech manufacturer Brokis. Here, she had the freedom to design lighting solutions with her charismatic style, which quickly established Brokis as an innovative producer of handblown glass lighting. Her work comprises both functional objects and sculptural pieces.
Lucie Koldova creates innovative designs whilst staying true to herself, her passions, and her heritage. With a rich history of glass production in the Czech Republic, she is constantly drawing from her roots to create unique pieces that are a celebration of her background. Her work often reflects who she is as a person, from her strengths to her insecurities.
“Contrast is a big part of my work, I am a contrast person — as much as I can look strong, I am very sensitive, so it’s about balancing the black and white. What is so cool about glass is that it can be fragile, but at the same time it is a very resilient and strong material, and this has always fascinated me.” - Lucie Koldova
Designed by Lucia Koldova:
Brokis Capsula LED Pendant
Brokis Lightline Table Lamp
Brokis Mona Floor Lamp
Brokis Sfera LED Portable Lamp
Carlotta de Bevilacqua is the President and CEO of Artemide. She was born and raised in Milan, where she allowed the design culture of the city to influence her work and shape her vision and creativity. In 1983 she gained a degree in architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. Her mother, who was also an architect, was militant about education, and Carlotta de Bevilacqua inherited her reverence and excitement for learning. She has maintained this passion throughout her life, in both her personal and professional life is devoted to freedom and education.
As well as shaping her career, she uses her passion for education to influence the world around her. Understanding the importance of supporting and listening to the younger generation, she launched the campaign GenerAction with Artemide. Their mission is to make spaces where young people can have their voices heard to create a tangible impact on the world around them.
In the early 90s she began designing lighting solutions for Artemide where she developed a new range of LED products. During this time, she saw the “Human Light” campaign by Artemide, where the light rather than the product was the focal point. This was a turning point in her career, and since has worked to create designs that improve the lives of its users, “lighting their interiors and transforming the spaces and people within”.
“Travel, explore, listen to others, read widely, and absorb culture whenever possible. Knowledge is NOT something you can invent; you have to gather it diligently. Da Vinci was an artist and an inventor but a scholar first and forever” - Carlotta de Bevilacqua
Designed By Carlotta de Bevilacqua:
Artemide Come Together LED Portable Lamp
Artemide A24 Magnetic Track System
Artemide Empatia LED Table Lamp
Artemide Copernico LED Suspension
Constance Guisset is a French designer who discovered her passion for design after a trip to Japan. As a child, she dreamed of a career that was both manual and intellectual, and during her studies she realised that she did not want to be on the side of the design process but instead at the heart of it. She believes in injecting humour, movement, and lightness into her designs as well as creating pieces that have a purpose, believing that designers have the opportunity to transform the world we live in. In 2009 she founded her studio and has since worked with notable brands such as Petite Friture, where she created the Vertigo Pendant. This soon became one of their best-known pieces and it perfectly showcases her work, creating a perfect balance of ergonomics, delicacy, and imagination which originates from the search of movement.
In 2016, she created an exhibition for the mudac in Lausanne in 2016 that explored what it means to be a woman in design. The exhibition featured two identical rooms. In one room, everything was in shades of grey, while in the other everything was different colours. Her focus was to ask the question why people think objects appear more “rational” when in grey than when they are in pink, despite the fact they serve the same purpose. The exhibition was to highlight prejudices seen in the design world, something that Guisset acknowledges that all female designers have in common.
As well as advocating for equality for women, she strongly believes in supporting the younger generation, and her studio often welcomes interns, passing on their knowledge and offering support.
"I imagine I am a very curious person. I started with product design, but I was lucky enough to be asked to conceive scenographies for dance shows or for exhibition, to imagine offices as well as a restaurant or a hotel. My ultimate goal is to always be surprised by what will come next." - Constance Guisset
Designed by Constance Guisset:
Petite Friture Vertigo Pendant
Petite Friture Vertigo Nova Floor Lamp
Petite Friture Francis Mirror
Petite Friture Vertigo Nova Wall Light
Women Led Brands:
Bover was founded in 1996 by Joana Bover. Her female-led studio is run by and mainly staffed by women. Joana believes that a company is more than the products it manufactures, but the people who create them, and she prides herself in the fact that many of the staff who work there today have been with Bover since its conception. Today, the studio serves as a space for constant learning, where designers can continue to grow and create products that define Bover’s identity.
With a Mediterranean heritage, Joana Bover draws from her roots to create her designs. Warmth, light, and harmony can be seen in all of her work, which is something that she believes characterises the Mediterranean lifestyle. She believes that light bonds people, and her mission is to create innovative lighting solutions that enhance and enrich people’s daily lives. Each piece is expertly handmade with precision and strikes a balance between product quality and value.
As well as empowering women within the workplace, Bover has
a commitment to sustainability. To minimise waste, they reuse and recycle
materials for their products as well as using LED technology to reduce energy consumption.
In 2012, Joana Bover founded Bover USA, which has seen the company grow and gain notability in the American market. However, despite Bover becoming a leader in the lighting industry, Joana Bover still maintains her original vision of creating timeless designs.
Joana Bover continues to support women in
the workplace, believing they have intuition that distinguishes them: “intuition
is a genuine female value that distinguishes us from males. We have a sixth
sense that guides us on silence, it is important to take advantage of this
natural sense and learn to listen to ourselves in the inside. Everything else will
arrive with a good bit of endeavor.
Designed by Bover:
Petite Friture was founded in 2009 by Amélie du Passage. Her
mission was to use the brand to identify emerging designers, ones that shared the
same vision as Petite Friture, balancing sensitivity and poetry to create
unique pieces that ignite the imagination.
Amélie du Passage named the company Petite Friture, after the small fish that can be caught in rivers. For her, they symbolise a summer’s evening dinner, a moment shared with family and friends. Since its conception, Petite Friture is now available in more than 70 countries and works with over 60 designers. After breaking into the European market, Petite Friture now has plans to break into the United States, and they have high hopes for the company’s future growth.
Over half of the staff at Petite Friture are women, however, although Amélie du Passage is an ambassador of women in the workplace, she strongly
believes in the individual. Although they don’t use their female-led workplace
as part of their brand identity, Amélie du Passage is to be representative of
the diversity that exists. She strives to nurture everyone in the company, from
designers, creatives, manufacturers, to their dealers as she believes that the
heart of Petite Friture is in their hands and the narratives that they create
through their designs.
Designed by Petite Friture:
Celebrating women in design is an important topic in our field. This is just a small selection of the many amazing and inspirational female designers and their iconic products that we stock at David Village Lighting. These inspiring women have paved the way and are helping make the world of design a more diverse and inclusive place, and for that we congratulate them!
100% Authentic products
Free delivery on orders over £100 (UK Mainland)
14 Days Return Policy
Overseas Shipping Available
Over 70 Designer Brands
Excellent Customer Service 
