Valley Of Lights

Switched on to the world by digitalisation, US lighting giant Hudson Valley Lighting Group is enjoying new opportunities in the Middle East, Europe and beyond…

- CATHERINE BELBIN

Working with leading US-based lighting designers, the lighting firm – which has been illuminating the interiors of many of the UAE’s most prestigious hotels and palaces – is planning on taking a more focused approach to our market.

During Maison et Objet in Paris, identity spoke with the company’s founder, David Littman, who spoke about how the internet has helped spread the word about and indeed exports of his lights.

“Through our social media and digital campaigns, we suddenly became more global – people were finding us, dealers contacting us – which is why we are here at this major European design show,” he enthused.

“We have enjoyed a long relationship with Four Seasons Ramesh Gallery and have been doing business with them for the past 14-15 years. Now we are in the process of establishing another new partnership and concept with Marina Home.” The first collection with Marina Home will be available in the UAE during the Spring/Summer season.

With a new corporation established in the Netherlands, the firm is overseeing northern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, France, Germany, and the UK.

“We are getting a lot of interest from the Middle East and Africa, and we also have a new Australian dealer,” he added.

Littman, whose family has been in the lighting industry since the 1930s, also attributes his brand’s new global expansion to the decision to start wiring to CE standards, in order to make the products compliant with the wiring and electrical standards in countries outside the United States and Canada.

In addition to its four factories in the US, Hudson Valley Lighting Group also manufactures in Asia – in China, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Indonesia – and is looking at partnering or building a facility in Poland, Romania or Ukraine.