Light Up the Darkness

These magical, whimsical creations are the result of a unique collaboration between fashion designers (such as Agnes B., Christian Lacroix, Sonia Rykiel, and Vivienne Westwood) and women in South Africa and Burkina Faso whose lives have been devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic . French designer Cyrille Varet dreamed up the enterprise and called it Ithemba, meaning “hope.” He recruited others in the fashion industry to send ideas for decorating light bulbs to the African women, who then painstakingly re-create the designs, using beads, feathers, plastic heats, metal stars, and tiny coils of wire. Varet distributes the bulbs around the world, and the money goes where it’[s so badly needed. – Paul De Marchin, Hudson, New York (518-828-3918); or Pylones, New York City, 212-317-9822… visit: ithembafrica.com
Photo courtesy: ithemba