Peralta Vidavi’s Custom Lampshades Are a Maximalist’s Dream
A bright light.
Peralta Vidavi’s light fixtures are not for minimalists. Some of the ceiling pendants are oversized and festooned with fringe that sways like a Roaring ’20s-era flapper’s dress. Others look like striped beach umbrellas, suspended midair, or a cluster of palm fronds fashioned from raffia and cane. Except for a handful of more sedate models, including one that looks like a Noguchi-inspired hot-air balloon, the Spanish brand’s creations have an undeniably playful, cinematic quality. Peralta Vidavi has taken lamps and lampshades—the supporting characters of a well-designed room—and infused them with Main Character Energy. Silk, velvet, linen, rattan—the materials and colours are as vast as the customer’s imagination. “We are artisan manufacturers,” says COO David Escudero. “So everything can be customized. We can even manufacture any model with your own fabrics.”
Hyperpersonalization is a formula that’s landed the Valencia-based company in more than 30 countries around the world. Its success reflects the merger of two influential Spanish lighting companies. The Vidavi group—consisting of Escudero, CEO Davinia Tomas, commercial department manager Vicente Tomas, and product manager Pilar Ibañez—acquired the 40-year-old Peralta brand in 2011.
“The idea was to position ourselves in the market with a brand consolidated over time in terms of name and image but at the same time to practise a total renewal of the style,” Escudero says. “We wanted to adapt to the needs of the market until we became a brand of reference in national and international lighting trends.”
The creative process, he says, is all about collaboration between the four partners. Davinia Tomas leads the design process alongside Ibañez. Escudero and Vicente Tomas weigh in on the final finishes. Everything is manufactured at Peralta Vidavi’s factory in Valencia with exclusively Spanish suppliers, which allows the company to fulfill its mandate of supporting national businesses but also be agile enough to respond to customer requests that fall outside the norm. The scale and adaptability of the bespoke fixtures makes them a popular choice for hotels, restaurants, and boutiques. “We have even manufactured models up to 24 metres long,” Escudero says.
Though the brand has no distributors in Canada yet, Escudero says that it’s only a matter of time. “Our goal is to continue growing and for our exclusive Spanish products to gain international recognition.”
