Accent Lighting Designs

“[The outdoor lighting industry] was kind of like the wild frontier,” Lehman said. “There were no books written on it.”

In the 30 years since the meeting at the Menger Hotel, the World Trade Center in Dallas has begun offering training in installation of outdoor lighting, and trade associations and guilds have been launched for outdoor lighting professionals.

Lehman and his business partner, Shirley Rogers, began shifting the focus of Accent Lighting Designs in the late 2000s. Steampunk, a term that refers to a style of art and literature recalling 19th century steam-powered machinery, captured Lehman’s imagination in a way similar to when he first began working with outdoor lighting, he said.

Now he calls steampunk a bonafide movement, and the aesthetic is starting to creep into homes, restaurants and bars. That provides what Lehman sees as a business opportunity.

“Who’s going to supply the wall sconces?” Lehman said. “Who’s going to supply the lights on either side of the front door?”

Kyle Mylius, co-owner of the Root Cellar Café, recently contracted Lehman to provide lighting at the restaurant’s bakery.

“We wanted you to be able to walk in the bakery and not know what year it was,” Mylius said. “He had some great ideas about how to position the Edison bulbs to make that happen.”

With demand growing, Lehman said he hopes to open a large manufacturing facility and hire up to 10 new designers.

“I see [demand for steampunk] growing big time, and I’m hearing about it because they’re coming to me to do it,” Lehman said. “I have to turn down a lot of things because I don’t have the time or the space.”