How to Choose a Woven Pendant Light | A Guide to Our Collection
A woven pendant does something that a glass or metal fixture doesn't: it absorbs light rather than reflecting it, diffusing warmth through its natural weave rather than throwing it. The effect is softer, more organic, and it changes with the time of day in a way that manufactured lighting rarely does.
We make nine woven pendant lights, each with a distinct form, material, and origin. Here is how to think about choosing between them.
Start with the shape
Shape determines how a pendant reads in a room before anyone looks closely at the material.
The FAWN is wide and floating with a form that drapes around the bulb (especially in the large size). It works best where you want the light to feel expansive: above a large dining table, in a bedroom, or in a living room with generous ceiling height.
The PEAKED FAWN is a variation of our Fawn pendant, wide and draping with a small triangular peak at the crown that gives it a distinct silhouette. It is the most sculptural of our pendants.
The SUNHAT is a shallow cone, and has the quiet confidence of a classic shape. Where the Fawn drapes, the Sunhat sits a in more upright and predictable way. It is the most adaptable of our pendants as it suits most dining rooms and kitchens, and works at a range of ceiling heights.
The BONNET rises to a taper. Its taller conical form gives it more presence overhead than the Sunhat, and it emits a warm, focused glow that suits dining rooms, hallways, bedrooms, and hospitality spaces equally well.
The LANDSLIDE begins as a shallow cone and is then shaped by hand into gentle, undulating waves. It is the most textural and idiosyncratic of the four elephant grass pendants.
Then consider the material
The five pendants above are woven from elephant grass by members of SWOPA in northern Ghana. The grass grows along West African riverbanks, is harvested by hand, and sun-dried before weaving. It is a warm, neutral straw color that works with almost any interior palette.
The two pendants below are woven from indigenous Mexican fan palm by award-winning weaver Belén Perez Garcia in Oaxaca. The palm is harvested and processed by hand, sliced into fine strips, and worked into conical shades that glow softly when lit.
Where the Palma is a wide, softly structured cone, the Duende is tall and narrow. The tightly woven palm diffuses light evenly and softly. If you are drawn to a finer, more refined weave, the PALMA and DUENDE pendants are the most considered of our pendants, pieces that reward close attention.
Carrizo (Arundo donax) is a bamboo-like river reed, harvested in Oaxaca and processed by hand by master craftsman Edgar Perez and his family, who have worked with this material for four generations. The rigid nature of the reed produces a sturdier, more open weave than the grass or palm pendants. Both CARRIZO pendants have a wide, shallow dome form, available in natural (pale reed) or toasted (where the strips are toasted over open flame before weaving, producing a darker, warmer tone with visible variation across the surface).
And finally (not a woven pendant but a ceramic one), the MUD pendant is made from river clay gathered in northern Ghana, formed by hand using the ancient coil technique, and pit-fired. No two are alike. The finish ranges from warm chocolate brown to deep charcoal, determined entirely by the piece's position in the kiln.
Then think about scale
Most of our elephant grass pendants are available in small, medium, and large. As a general guide: for a dining table up to six feet, a medium or large Fawn or Sunhat will anchor the space well. For a kitchen island, a pair or trio of small Bonnets is often the right call. For a bedroom, a small pendant in any style sits well at lower ceiling heights and keeps the space from feeling weighted.
If you are placing a single pendant in a generous space, like a double-height hallway, an open plan living area, a restaurant dining room, go larger than you think you need. Woven pendants read smaller in a room than their dimensions suggest, because they absorb rather than reflect light.
A note on choosing your piece
Because every pendant is woven by hand, each one is slightly different. If the specific character of your piece matters to you, we offer in-person and virtual appointments at our Lincoln Heights studio so you can choose yours before it goes to our lighting technician. We find that people who take this step are rarely uncertain about their choice.
All pendants are wired in Los Angeles to US standards, with a range of cord and canopy options.