Tableware International

TableWare www.tablewareinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL

Month: Sept/Oct 2014

Issue: 4

2

134

Volume: 136

Shape of your desire

Tableware Team

TableWare

EDITOR KATE BIRCH kate@lemapublishing.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL

Stateside Success

ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER PAUL YEOMANS pyeomans@lemapublishing.co.uk

PUBLISHER MARK NAISH mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

MANAGING DIRECTOR MALCOLM NAISH malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR PAUL NAISH paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Published by Lema Publishing Ltd. 1 Churchgates, The Wilderness Berkhamsted Herts HP4 2UB PUBLISHING

At the heart Tel: 00 44 (0) 1442 289930 of retail Fax: 00 44 (0) 1442 289950

Front cover illustration supplied by Rudolf Kampf. For more information see the website www.rudolfkampf.eu

TableWare www.tablewareinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL

Month: Sept/Oct 2014

Issue: 4

2

134

Volume: 136

Shape of your desire

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ord on the North American Street is that US consumer mood is brightening, with consumer confidence last month (September) rising to its highest level (84.6 on the consumer-sentiment index*) in just over a year; and US retail sales in August recording increases of 0.6 per cent over July and 5 per cent over August 2013**.

“August [2014] sales figures signal that consumers are willing and ready to spend as the economy improves,” said Jack Kleinhenz, NRF’s chief economist.

Good news for the North American tabletop market, which appears to be flourishing. New York-based tabletop company Q Squared NYC is expanding into Europe after phenomenal US growth; Korean porcelain company Hankook has launched its US boutique brand Twig New York; while Asian tabletop brand Spin Ceramics opened its first store in New York this month and Japanese kitchen retailer Muji announced it will open its first store in Canada.

And this issue, with a very close eye on the American tabletop market, and in anticipation of the upcoming New York Tabletop Show, we travel Stateside, delivering all the goods on US retailers, US designers and US shows.

We did, quite literally, travel Stateside in August to attend NY NOW’s Summer Market and check out the retail scene. With some 600 new exhibitors, including in tabletop – think French brand Oscar de la Renta, UK brand Typoon Homes and Chinese brand Auratic – we spent three days trawling the Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares section, discovering the latest tabletop trends (think brass, peacock motifs, rustic accents) and the newest tabletop brands (think Twig New York, Lorena Gaxiola, Anna New York). See page 68.

While Stateside, we also caught up with American artist and ceramicist Molly Hatch.

This issue’s spotlight designer (page 22), the very talented Molly not only designs tableware for retailer Anthropologie but has collaborated with new tableware brand Twig New York.

Turning to tableware retail, while Stateside, we took ourselves to one of the favourite homeware haunts of American magazine stylists – tableware store Global Table in SoHo, New York. Offering a cluttered treasure trove of affordable, exotic and casual tableware from around the world, the informal store delivers

“Not only are we excited about celebrating the 40th anniversary of the show with brands like Noritake, who has resided in the famed tabletop building since the start, but we can’t wait to discover tabletop’s exciting new A/W debuts” a mix and match concept that speaks directly to today’s consumers. See our interview with founder Nathalie Smith on page 42.

Encouraging creativity and communicating individuality, the mix and match tableware concept that is so successful at Global Table, continues to grow internationally, with more and more manufacturers delivering collections that offer such versatility and creativity.

Discover what’s driving such growth and what mix and match collections manufacturers have on the table right now on page 32.

From a mix and match concept store to an old-meets-new concept store, we also head West from New York, to Chicago – home of the International Home + Housewares Show – to check out the P.O.S.H Approach. We talk to founder Karl Sorensen about his innovative retail store (P.O.S.H) which, like Global Table, is born from wanderlust with its international point of view, but which mixes vintage with new items for a unique take. See page 30.

The US is also in the limelight in the leadup to this month’s New York Tabletop Show at 41 Madison. Not only are we excited about celebrating the 40th anniversary of the show with brands like Noritake, which has resided in the famed tabletop building since the start, but we can’t wait to discover tabletop’s exciting new A/W debuts. Get a sneak peek on page 66.

Kate Birch Get social with TableWare INTERNATIONAL

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* University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index ** Monthly retail sales report from the US Bureau of the Census

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September/October 2014 • ISSUE 4

News

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TableWare INTERNATIONAL

10

News A round-up of international stories

14

Exhibition news News from the shows worldwide

16

Product news The latest releases and launches

22

Design & licensing news We spotlight some of the industry’s most exciting designers/licenses

Trends 24

Product trend Spotlight on geometrics

26

Column: The art of the pour Tableware specialist Donna Ferrari looks at coffee and teaware

Features 28

Profile: Rudolf Kampf We talk to the luxury Czech brand’s development director

30

Retail: P.O.S.H. Chicago We visit an old-meetsnew tableware store that’s flying high

32

Guide: Mix and Match Chinaware From multi-functionality to creativity, we highlight the industry’s most versatile collections

42

46

48

64

Retail: Global Table New York With its mix and match appeal and informal vibe, we discover why Global Table is the go-to spot for tableware Profile: Zieher We discover how German hospitality brand Zieher is taking its food presentation to even greater heights

56

Hospitality Table Talk We talk to tableware distributors Goodfellows & Goodfellows

58

Profile: Vidivi We discuss glassware trends, glass transparency and the Vidivi brand with Italian glass manufacturer Vetrerie Riunite S.p.A

Shows

A Place for Everything From placemats and tablecloths to salt and pepper mills, we look at the trends topping the tabletop accessories market

60

Show Preview: Brand Licensing Europe Discover why licensed products can be lucrative and why you shouldn’t miss BLE 2014

64

Show Preview: 41 Madison We take a sneak peek at what will be on show during the 40th anniversary of The New York Tabletop Show in October

68

Show Review: NY NOW Discover the most innovative and creative products and the most prolific tabletop trends at the Summer Market

72

European Show Reviews We deliver the news and figures from Tendence 2014, Maison & Objet Autumn 2014 and Autumn Spring 2014

74

Eye on design Spotlight on designer Guy White

30 The views of the contributors expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher or Lema Publishing Ltd. Comments, letters and criticism are welcome.

DAISY W EDGWOOD.COM

general News

Introducing David Shrigley’s wonky ware for London restaurant Sketch One of London’s finest gastronomic establishments, Mayfair restaurant Sketch, has unveiled its artistic collaboration – think distinctive ceramic tableware – with Glasgowbased artist David Shrigley. Best known for his wobbly cartoonlike works that satirise everyday situations, Shrigley has created a range of wonky white bone china tableware that has been manufactured by British heritage potteries Caverswall. Works of

Clay Craft India relaunches its JCPL brand Since acquiring one of India’s largest fine bone china manufacturing brands Jaipur Ceramics earlier this year, Clay Craft Group (India’s leading manufacturer and retailer of Fine Bone China and ceramic tableware) has announced the reintroduction of its JCPL brand through etail and retail business. “We will introduce more than 200 products under JCPL brand for a re-defined target segment… and have stepped up our production capacities by 15-20 per cent,” said managing director of Clay Craft Group, Rajesh Agarwal. With nearly 12,000 retail counters, over 150 channel partners, and seven company-owned stores, Clay Craft Group is present in more than 22 countries globally.

“We have redesigned the packaging where the products will now be offered to our consumers in wooden boxes providing more safety to the products,” said Rajesh. www.claycraftindia.com

art in their own right, the pieces are wonkily shaped and white with satirical drawings, patterns and typography, ranging from plates illustrating the restaurant’s location, to an espresso cup with ‘It’s OK’ written inside, to an assortment of bespoke afternoon tea accessories.

These stunning pieces now grace the tables of the newly relaunched Gallery restaurant at Sketch London.

www.davidshrigley.com or www.caverswallchina.co.uk

Sieger and Spal relaunch websites With today’s consumers looking for ideas and inspiration 24/7, more brands are revitalising their online offerings to deliver compelling, userfriendly and inspirational information along side the chance to purchase.

Portuguese porcelain brand Spal is one (www.spal.pt). Intuitive and userfriendly, the new Spal website delivers

81%

the brand’s latest news, as well as its portfolio of products, brand facts, designer info and inspirations.

Premium lifestyle brand Seiger (www.sieger-germany.com), which offers porcelain, has relaunched its website with an e-commerce facility, delivering a new distribution channel for its customers.

The number of people who believe presentation of tableware is a very important factor, according to a poll carried out by OnePoll on behalf of hospitality brand Steelite International. Some 61% of those surveyed said that a well-presented table positively impacts their dining experience; while 60% said they expect a higher level of tableware the more they pay for a meal. www.steelite.com 10 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

3% The percentage of growth achieved by Portmeirion Group...

Q Squared NYC

IS GOING GLOBAL The premium melamine industry leader Q Squared NYC has announced its global expansion with the establishment of European headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. Since launching in the US in 2011, the company has seen explosive international customer demand. In response, they have now formed a strategic partnership with housewares industry veterans in the European sector to create a new venture, Q Squared NYC GmbH & Co. KG. “Our expansion to Germany was a natural step in our growth, allowing us to better serve our international customers,” says CEO Nancy Mosny, further explaining how they will unveil further centres in Asia and Australia over the next two years.

... for the first six months of 2014 (ending June 30) compared to the same period in 2013. The international homewares company Portmeirion Group, which has four brands – Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel – has seen revenues rise to £24.5 million. The company also revealed that it had achieved sales growth of 7 per cent in the UK driven by an increase in online sales of more than 50 per cent. www.portmeiriongroup.com

www.qsquarednyc.com

Re-ordering tabletop bestsellers made easier

The British Independent Retailers Assocation (bira) has announced its latest campaign aimed at supporting the independent retailer in the UK. Offering them the opportunity to restock quicker and to further manage both stockholding and cash flow, bira direct has launched its ‘50% carriage paid reduction’ campaign. For a limited period – September 1 to December 31, 2014 – 27 leading suppliers to bira direct areas including the Tableware, Cookshop and Giftware sectors are supporting the campaign to offer the 50 per cent reduction to bira members. www.biradirect.co.uk

News in brief

Argos to launch Heart of House British retailer Argos has launched a new homeware and furniture brand, Heart of House, which takes into account the results of recent research conducted by the company into the daily lives of Brits. For example, the advent of flat-screen TVs has led to a drop in the demand for TV cabinets. www.argos.co.uk Williams-Sonoma to re-open first location Kitchenware retail giant Williams-Sonoma will celebrate founder Chuck Williams’ 99th birthday this month (October 2014) by reopening the company’s original location in Sonoma, California. The retailer will also open a new store in Sydney, Australia. www.williamssonoma.com Sales of Kilner jars surging With the sales of Kilner jars on the increase, the team at UK’s Rayware Group has launched its biggest ever combined TV and digital marketing campaign, reaching 12 million people, and is urging retailers to stock up on the range in order to meet demand. www.rayware-trade.co.uk

This powerful, visual representation can be used to kick-start design “discussions and empower purchasing decisions of restauranteurs across the

country. Whether they are opening a new establishment, refreshing their existing space or exploring new presentation options, this application brings their creative tabletop vision to life.

”

Susan J. Dountas, director of foodservice marketing for Libbey on the launch of Libbey’s brand-new virtual tabletop app that is designed to help restaurateurs envision and explore the creative possibilities of their establishment.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 11

general News RETAIL COLUMN

Understanding the Asian retail opportunity With vast experience in Asia, general manager Kevin Liu of Beauterama Trading, a distributor of natural and eco-friendly brands based in London, but with several offices in Asia, highlights below the opportunities of selling to Asian consumers and markets Made in Britain Matters Asian consumers are very particular when it comes to quality and innovation and are drawn to brands with great stories to tell. There are just a few countries in the world that matter to Asian consumers, with Britain, New Zealand, Germany and Japan in the top four. Quintessentially British brands appeal, with Britain much associated with quality in Asian minds. Brand Scandinavia, however, which in Britain is considered stylish and good quality, doesn’t ‘translate’ quite the same way in Asia.

Inspiration is now key The formats of many Asian outlets/department stores are rapidly changing to meet the demands of changing lifestyles. They are now more open, less regimented, and specifically of relevance to the tableware sector, is the fact that they are becoming more aware of merchandising, offering inspiration and giving their customers a picture of what their homes could look like.

A passion for brights and accessories There is particular interest in vibrant colours that translate into all areas of the home, not least, the dining and living areas. This provides a greater opportunity for retailers. The Chinese are moving away from a minimalist approach and an era when they literally did not have much. Other accessories are therefore becoming a good supplementary product for retailers – scented candles, for example, are growing in popularity as homeowners learn more about mood setting and fragrance.

Innovation is being embraced Instead of clinical counter-by-counter arrangements, there is more

innovation now in Asia, with more and more concept stores opening up, including Pop-up Stores. We recently secured a deal, for example, to feature the playful contemporary British homeware, gifts and clothing brand Victoria Eggs within a pop-up store for six months in Global Harbour, one of China’s largest shopping malls.

Asia and online shopping is over-hyped The population may be huge but per capita spending is still tiny compared to Britain, for example.

E-commerce is probably not that profitable unless you are Alibaba or trading on one of its platforms.

There are a huge number of online retail outlets (we have our own on Alibaba’s Taobao) that tend to start in a niche area, diluting to become a lot more general over time. And I expect there will be a huge number of merges and acquisitions in the online arena in the next few years.

Asians like stories One thing that Taobao does is provide a lot of detailed data, so it’s easy to see what sells and to see where more detail and better stories are needed to convert browsers to sales.

We have learned from this, and so we are crafting more and longer stories. Take something as simple as an apron – we have created different scenarios to appeal to different potential purchases.

Spending on the home is increasing but with eating out still very inexpensive and entertaining family and friends traditionally happening outside the home, it is the story and education of lifestyle trends that is convincing local consumers. www.beauterama.co

Selfridges choose Studio William British design-led flatware brand Studio William was asked to participate in British department store Selfridges’ ‘Meet the Makers’ display, which took place at the Oxford Street store in August. We asked assistant buyer Clare Sprigings about the display…

Why did you select Studio William for the event? We chose Studio William to celebrate the design expertise of William as well as his long history in the Flatware industry. We already currently stock five Studio William patterns, including Karri, Oliver Mirror, Baobab Satin, Mulberry, and we are the exclusive stockists of Royal Oak Gold Plate.

What stands out about Studio William cutlery? The great designs and quality. You can look at the patterns and tell that there has been a consideration to make sure all the pieces marry together.

What does the consumer look for when purchasing a new flatware pattern?

The average consumer is looking for a competitive price point and timeless design. A wide range of pieces that they can add to over time is also important.

Your favourite pattern?

Mulberry – it is a timeless design that will suit any style of tabletop from contemporary to traditional.

& Wolf wins award for Mr Men range LICENSING SPOTLIGHT Wild The stunning collection of Mr Men and Little Miss ceramic mugs and stainless steel water bottles from British designer and manufacturer Wild & Wolf picked up Best New Product at The CHA @ Autumn Fair Awards 2014.

Celebrating the best new cookshop and housewares items in the UK annually, winners are picked by an independent panel of retailers. The Mr Men mugs, taken from the books by Roger Hargreaves and BBC cartoons, were chosen for their striking style and strong brand, which the panel thought would sell well with their customers. www.wildandwolf.com 12 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Now You Do Have Your Magical Table

www.soizick.co.uk www soizick co uk contact@soizick contact@soizick.co.uk co uk +44 (0) 203 445 0560

Hand-Painted Crystallised with Swarovski速 elements

exhibition News

Ambiente India proves successful

Indian handicrafts fair gets makeover for 38th edition The Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) which has been held bi-annually for the last 18 years, has been completely re-branded in time for the upcoming 38th edition of the IHGF, taking place from October 14-18 in Delhi, India. The revamped show will be bigger, more buyer-friendly, with a focus on lifestyle and diversity, and will display a different look and character in its organisation and presentation.

Boasting intricate workmanship, vibrant colours and a wide use of eco-friendly raw materials, more than 1,200 product lines will be on show in some 20 product categories, including Home Textiles, Houseware, Gifts and Decoratives, Furniture & Home Accessories, all made from a diverse range of materials – from wood, metal, cane and bamboo, to stone, terracotta, lacquer and jute – that have put Indian handicrafts on the world map. It is estimated that the revamped trade show will attract more than 11,000 international buyers looking to source innovative products with a unique ethnic flavour from a country well-established for inimitable craftsmanship. www.epch.in/ihgf

LIMA UK announces ‘new home’ at BLE 2014 LIMA UK, the London office of the global licensing trade association, will have a new home at Brand Licensing Europe 2014 (BLE) when it akes place at Olympia, London, from October 7-9. LIMA UK will take a premium location within the ‘Brands’ area upstairs on stand L100. The freshly designed LIMA stand will feature a promotional area where staff members will be on hand to discuss the benefits of a global association, with the aim to be the leading international provider of licensing education and information. Staff will also be available to discuss member benefits for the upcoming year.

For more information on BLE 2014, see page 60 www.licensing.org

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IHGF IN NUMBERS

5 Packed days 2,750+ Exhibitors 900 Permanent showrooms

14 Halls (six new) 2,000+ Products 20 Product Categories

30 Themed Settings

The debut edition of Ambiente India (the international offspring of the world’s most important consumer goods trade fair) which took place June 19-21, received an impressive visitor turnout, with 6,525 trade visitors over its three-day course.

Some 163 companies from India, Germany, Japan, Sri Lanka and Turkey chose Ambiente India to showcase their inspiring art pieces, home furnishing and décor.

India’s leading retailer Future Retail visited to plan its pre-festive retailing. “We found a good mix of home textiles and interior décor and were impressed with the products on show at both Ambiente India and Heimtextil India,” said assistant manager – design at Future Retail, Sheetal Shah. www.ambiente-india.in

Manufacturers are bullish. The “upcoming New York Tabletop Market at 41 Madison in October promises to be filled with new introductions from all the major brands. Retailers are bullish. And so, there will be lots of great product options on show.

”

Laurie Burns, senior vice president and director of Forty One Madison The next New York Tabletop Show takes place October 21-24, 2014. (See page 64 for a full review)

The number of countries that participated in this year’s international consumer-goods fair Tendence, up from 86 countries last year. After Germany, the top 10 nations on the visitor side were Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Poland, Great Britain and Spain. As per last year, one in five visitors came from outside Germany. For more information on this year’s Tendence, see page 72.

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product News Bretagne by Pillivuyt

Splash by Abigails

Indigo by Annieglass

True blue continues its reign Blue in all its permutations continues to reign tabletop supreme: Sapphire blue is the colour du jour at Julia Knight, while Stelton¹s latest range for tea/coffee was delivered in a pale blue with a retro design and Nordic feel. “The blue and white trend is everywhere today. We see it in everything from home

décor to fashion and it has quickly become a favourite of both our more traditional and contemporary or modern customers,” says Abbie Voelker, founder and product development head at Abigails, which has introduced a new line of dinnerware in blue and white. Handmade in Portugal by fine ceramic

craftsmen, so each piece is unique, Splash comes in various shades of blue and white splashed on to each piece, creating a new pattern. Similary enchanted by the deep blue of the modern glass colour, and in tune with today’s fashion trends in both home and apparel, American brand Annieglass has designed

Indigo, a striking new collection of glass plates, platters and bowls in navyblue indigo boasting a spiraling undulation and texture that catches the light. Finally, French brand Pillivuyt, known for its white porcelain, has jumped on the blue bandwagon, launching a range, Bretagne, devoted to all shades of blue.

Did you know…?

Luxury English crystal maker Cumbria Crystal has extended its popular Georgian-inspired range of crystal that is used on the set of worldwide hit drama Downton Abbey. Additions include a new coupe champagne glass and a champagne bucket. www.cumbriacrystal.com

Futuristic flavours from La Cafetiere Sporting a futuristic design and smart drinkware technology, La Cafetiere’s new Bola range of cups are the perfect fusion of form and function. Thanks to an innovative double-walled design and high-quality handmade borosilicate glass, hot drinks are kept hotter for longer, while the cup remains cool to the touch. The cups come with matching porcelain saucers in cool colours (pistachio and retro blue) and can also be customised. sales@lacafetiere.com

As pretty as a peacock Inspired by the luxurious ornamental feathers of peacocks, Italian artisan brand Vietri has launched its Peacock Glass collection of plates. Sporting rich colours and glowing gold (there are four shades) in a peacock pattern, the pieces are designed to be mixed and matched with Vietri’s other chinaware collections for a creative dimension. www.vietri.com 16 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

JAN 31-FEB 4 - JAVITS CENTER + PIER 94 , NEW YORK Be in the moment when the newest design-driven products are revealed. Where emerging talent is discovered.

And emerging trends are boldly defined. This is the collaborative marketplace where four exciting collections — HOME, LIFESTYLE, HANDMADE and NEW! — showcase all that is fashion-forward and current. If it’s fresh, new and in demand, it’s here. At NY NOW. Make plans now to attend, visit NYNOW.COM ADRIANA LOPES RAKÚ TEAPOT FROM BRAZILIAN HOME COLLECTION. ©2014

product News SIMAX recognised for Smart Touch Casseroles

The Just Slate Company turns to copper Renowned for its high-quality designled slate serveware, Scottish tableware brand, The Just Slate Company has translated the up-and-coming copper trend into a collection of unique and elegant serveware designs for A/W 2014.

Designed with practical luxury in mind and with quality craftsmanship at its heart, the hand-beaten copper designs

create maximum impact and perfectly compliment the brand’s range of handcrafted slate tableware. The Copper Luxe range includes seven serveware designs, including a statement copper serving bowl with black acacia servers; a unique copper accessory set; and a copper condiment set with spoons.

www.justslate.co.uk

Spotlight on…

LSA International Offering an extensive range of porcelain in the brand’s signature style, LSA International’s collection of originally designed tableware and serveware is presented in high quality photographic gift packaging, supporting its broad and enduring appeal. The Dine Collection (pictured) presents a comprehensive and versaatile combination of white porcelain with sustainably sourced, 100 per cent approved European oak. Pairing the clean, smooth finish of porcelain with the depth and warmth of natural wood gives the mixed material collection its unique charm.

www.lsa-international.com

INSPIRED by… The story of Aladdin This East meets West magical tale is the perfect metaphor for designer Nick Munroe’s debut collaboration with Chinese bone china brand Auratic. The tea set is shaped like Genie’s lamp and comes in four gradient shades.

18 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Renowned for creating kitchen products made from the highest grade of borosilicate glass, the SIMAX brand was this year recognised for its fantastic design and functionality by being named Finalist in the Housewares Design Awards 2014 (Cookware & Bakeware category) for its SIMAX Smart Touch Casseroles line.

Created from the highest grade borosilicate glass, the dishes guarantee heat resistance up to 572°F. The casserole dishes have thicker walls and so, superior strength, and can resist thermal shock of 410°F. Furthermore, the dishes have inset handles, a unique design feature that simultaneously allows for smart stackability for storage and a safe grip during handling. “The new, modern yet simple design partnered with the enhanced functionality of heat resistance and oven safety make Smart Touch line a winner in the kitchen,” comments marketing manager, Olga Gronychova. A brand of Czech glassware manufacturer Kavalier, which has been the leading European producer of borosilicate glass for 177 years, SIMAX glass cookware comes in more than 200 shapes and sizes, www.simax.com

Stag Highland Fling Collection An inspirational range of tableware from Katie Alice. The design incorporates heritage patterns mixed with florals and spotty elements to create a unique quirky range of products.

Mikasa Cheers celebrates its 10th anniversary Launched in 2004 with sets of four glasses, including crystal goblets and highballs, the Mikasa Cheers Collection from Lifetime Brands, Inc. has proven so popular in the last decade that it has expanded to include a vast array of barware, dinnerware and serveware. Timeless, fun and contemporary, Cheers has from the start been known for its iconic etched designs of dots, spirals, vertical stripes and horizontal stripes, which have been customised in different ways. “In order to keep Cheers relevant, we reinvent the iconic design elements and reapply them to new items that are right for how people entertain,” says Hugh Biber, SVP/Global Design Director, Tabletop, Lifetime Brands, Inc., further explaining how they have added colour and offered mixed materials such as slate, glass, metal, ceramic and cork. “All of this helps to keep the look

fresh and relevant to today’s consumer,” says Hugh.

Celebrating the art of entertaining, Cheers is Mikasa’s Number One bridal franchise.

“The fun and whimsical designs of the Mikasa Cheers collection sets a festive celebratory mood at any gathering. The pure, graphic elements are playful and appeal to a wide range of consumers,” says Lisa, highlighting how the current Cheers bestsellers include the Balloon Goblets, Red Wine Glasses and Stemless White Wine Glasses. To celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, Mikasa has unveiled a variety of new Cheers products, including formal dinnerware in gold and platinum; gold and platinum stemware; dessert bowls; cork serveware; carafes; decanters; a punch bowl set; cake pedestals; and a chip and dip, to name a few.

www.lifetimebrands.com

For more info about this range. email: sales@creative-tops.com, marketing@creative-tops.com Creative House, Corby, NN17 4DU. Tel: +44 (0)1536 207710 www.english-table.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 19

MSGlassco brings elegance and style to enrich your table anytime of the day.

gi s M

visit us at

Email: msglass@msgi-sa.com Tel : +966-12-6366366 Fax: +966-12-6372043 P.O Box 32777, Jeddah 21438- Saudi Arabia msgi-sa.com

design News

Spotlight On… Molly Hatch With a passion for drawing and ceramics, US designer Molly Hatch creates tableware that’s modern yet traditional. She talks to TI about her collections, commissions and collaborations with Anthropologie and Twig New York

M

olly Hatch began her career as a studio potter in 2008 and it was her formal education in ceramics, printmaking and drawing that resulted in the development of her signature style… that of making contemporary ceramics with hand-drawn elements inspired by art history. It was two years later in 2010 when Molly launched her first tableware collection.

“My career began as a studio potter and then shifted into licensing my designs and building my brand,” says Molly, explaining how she licenses her tableware to retailers like Anthropologie and porcelain brands like Twig New York (Hankook).

This graduation from studio potter to designer is something Molly cherishes. “I think one of the best aspects now is the continuous development of new ideas,” says Molly, explaining how when she was simply making and selling her own pieces, she was limited in what she could develop in terms of forms and surface patterns as she had to spend so much of her time executing the work.

“Working as a designer as I do now allows me the time to create new designs constantly, and I get to work

collaboratively with other companies – I really enjoy bringing my ideas together with other brands’ ideas and working together to make beautiful tableware,” says Molly, explaining how her designs began with tableware but have since expanded to a wide range of lifestyle products, from stationery to quilting fabrics to wallpaper.

Despite such expansion, Molly says that ceramics and more specifically tableware remain at the core of her brand. “My first love in the arts was drawing, my second, ceramics and when I combine the two, I’m happiest.

I enjoy that my designs are versatile and work on many surfaces and I’m always excited by new design challenges,” says Molly, explaining how she looks to tableware designers like Laura Zindel and Rae Dunn for advice.

Describing her design aesthetic as “modern yet traditional”, Molly – who has a passion for decorative arts history – explains how everything she does is grounded in history or boasts an historic aesthetic tradition that she reinterprets in the form and surfaces of her designs. “I generally incorporate contemporary colours and re-think scale and proportion in the patterns I design,” she says, further explaining how much of her inspiration comes from historic fabric.

This inclusion of past and present is one of the many reasons retailers love her: Keith Johnson,

former buyer for high-end retailer Anthropologie, says: “I love [Molly’s] hand and I love her style… she is clever about incorporating a new idea into something that is very old.”

Molly cites the Pink Aster surface pattern, which she explains was inspired by an 18th century Indian export fabric: “I reinterpreted one small spot of the fabric and developed a whole new pattern and colourway.”

But it’s not just her patterns or décor that are historically inspired – it’s also the form. “I was inspired by a bowl in a Giorgio Morandi Painting for the form of my café bowl. It was a still life painting that was expressive and I fell in love with the one bowl form in the painting and wanted to see it come to life in form, so I made one.”

The forms Molly creates for her tableware, she says, tend to be simple and functional as she designs for everyday use. “My aim is to make every durable and functional designs dura for d daily use, from serveware to dinnerware and glassware,” says Molly. dinn Sin Since become a designer and

Heritage Daisy Chain

Pink Aster pattern

licensing her products, Molly has had collaborations with Anthropologie, BHLDN and recently, Twig New York.

“My relationship with Anthropologie has been ongoing since 2010, while my collection with Twig New York, called Heritage, will be the first collaboration with a company that makes my tableware widely available.”

Currently being unveiled to retailers, the Heritage collection is inspired by the look of historic teacups of 18th-century European factories. The collection, which reflects the traditional yet functions for a contemporary lifestyle, boasts four different patterns, including Daisy Chain and Blue Bird, the latter set to be expanded to tea and dinnerware later this year.

Molly even decorated backs of the plates and the bases of cups as she loved the idea of seeing the décor on the base peek out as a last sip of tea is taken, for example.

Molly also creates small editions of hand-decorated tableware, which she sells locally and through her online shop, as well as one-of-aon kind kin artwork, represented in her own ow gallery, Todd Merrill Studio Contemporary in New York City.

Co “I recently created exclusive hand-decorated ha limited editions for the th V&A Shop in London, as well as the th High Museum Shop in Atlanta,” explains ex Molly. www.mollyhatch.com ww

INSPIRED by...

FRESH FLOWERS Anja Vang Kragh for Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica is one of the world’s most prestigious and luxurious porcelain collections and Danish Designer Anja Vang Kragh has done a stunning and new interpretation of the precious dinnerware named Flora.

Anja has a design career embracing couture fashion, theatre costumery, illustration and product design – she is highly acknowledged for her womenswear design for Stella McCartney from 1999 to 2004 and her haute couture design for John Galliano/Christian Dior from 1999

to 2011.

Now working freelance for Royal Copenhagen and for leading theatres in Copenhagen as a costume designer, Anja’s distinctive vision fuses imagination, fun and a touch of flamboyance.

With Flora, Anja conveys the flowers’ natural wildness within the bounded form of each beautiful Royal

Copenhagen cup and saucer. The result? A design that is playful, joyful and poetic. ”I hope Flora will bring nature’s imaginative energy into people’s homes and onto their table in the same way as a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers”, says Anja.

DESIGN DUO THE COMPANY bobble THE DESIGNER Karim Rashid THE BACKGROUND After working with Move Collective, the original founders of bobble, on luggage design, iconoclast designer Karim Rashid suggested the idea for a special water bottle that would be perfect for travel. Enter the phenomenon that is bobble, the world’s first on-the-go water filtering bottle brand that is superstylish, reuseable, BPA-free and made from recyclable plastic. The carbon filter comes in six different colours and filters chlorine and organic contaminants from regular tap water.

Why this water bottle?

I travel constantly and bobble came about from my frustration with airport security and not being able to bring bottled water with me. I suggested to Move Collective, who I was working with to develop luggage, the idea of a built-in filter, so I could dump out the water and refill on the other side of security from a bathroom tap.

What were the most important elements to consider when designing it?

Iconic familiarity in the silhouette of the bottle was key as we wanted it to have a strong identity. Then I had to ensure the material was thick enough to be squeezed over and over without creasing, but thin enough to not make

it too difficult to squeeze. I also had to work with the limitations of the blow moulding process in the achievable ratio between the widest and most narrow parts of the bottle, hence the figure eight shape.

What inspired the design?

It was conceived as a necessary and responsible product and it’s important to me that the result of my work, and my collaboration with a client, manifest into something that will connect with the user, and sustain relationships with the consumer and be ecologically responsible. For such a human product, I wanted to create a soft friendly organic form that spoke about its use and its necessity.

What do you feel the finished product communicates?

The importance of conservation as shipping costly water is a huge detriment to the Earth. Getting one’s water straight from the tap, using BPA-free plastic and saving hundreds of bottles at a time can only help. We throw away 14 million plastic bottles a day just in the US alone and 80 per cent end up in landfills. Therefore, bobble is a revolution, not only to reduce landfill waste and save people money, but also to save a lot of energy and reduce the carbon footprint from all bottle water production. The bobble

water bottle has become a global phenomenon and the entire world is embracing our ideas – there are several copies now.

How important is design when it comes to entertaining?

Extremely important. Well-designed objects bring with them a sense of joy, luxury, hospitality and connectivity.

Design can foster our enjoyment of living and nurture a direct experience with the energy and modus of the time. www.waterbottle.com www.karimrashid.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 23

trends products

CHARLENE MULLEN Royal Doulton

TANNER TEAL Mikasa Among Mikasa’s many new porcelain dinnerware collections, both formal and informal, are a number of geometric designs, including the formal dinnerware range Tanner. Available in white, slate or the very on-trend teal tone, this collection boasts a modern and stylish full coverage geometric design and is delivered as a five-piece setting, as well as accessory pieces.

A collaboration between Royal Doulton and London-based homewares designer Charlene Mullen has delivered a collection that includes Charlene’s soft geometric ‘foulard star’ pattern, which is at the core of the collection. Inspired by Charlene’s widely recognised ‘blackwork’ embroidered textiles, the striking hand drawn pattern offers a subtle yet impactful design with Charlene’s unique signature accent of red featuring on each piece. www.royaldoulton.co.uk

www.mikasa.com

TREND: Geometrics Inspired by everything from architecture to musical instruments, geometric designs are de rigueur on dinnerware collections ORQUESTRA Vista Alegre Taking inspiration from a musical orchestra, the aptly named tableware collection Orquestra (Orchestra) designed by David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussalem combines different patterns of geometric lines, recreating the complexity of harmony and musical rhythms. Each line is different in both direction and density, reflecting the discipline and excellence required to perform a symphony. www.myvistaalegre.com

TOSCA COLLECTION J.L Coquet The geometric shapes of the pattern in French brand J.L Coquet’s new Tosca Collection are reminiscent of piano keys. Boasting a metallic finish, the colours change and vary depending on the light and viewpoint: the Tosca Dore colourway boasts shades of lime green and mineral blue, grey and golden shades, while the Tosca Noir colourway delivers pink/ lavender and black/sea green hues. www.jlcoquet.com

24 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

„Skyline“ The Original!

„Solid“ & „Sphere“

ZIEHER Novelties 09/2014!

www.zieher.com

GERMANY

„SelectionA.“

Trends Column

Tableware Trend Analyst Donna Ferrari

Donna Ferrari has worked in magazine publishing for over thirty years. As a consumer magazine editor she specialised in the tableware, homeware and bridal markets, and styled and produced stories related to bridal gift registry, wedding reception design and at-home entertaining. Personally, she has eleven different sets of dinnerware and closets dedicated just to tabletop accessories; she says she loves not ever having to set her table the same way twice.

B

Steeped in tradition

Christofle Wedgwood CB2

Saint-Louis

26 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Tableware specialist Donna Ferrari spots what is hot and trending in coffee and teaware designs e it with a cup to start the day, or when socialising with friends, drinking tea and coffee is a mainstay in most cultures. For centuries, the designs of the pots and vessels used to prepare, drink, and serve these beverages have related to lifestyles of the time — think yesteryear’s sterling silver sets vs our contemporary to-go cups. So whether it’s for a cuppa, a cup a joe, thé, chá or café, here’s a look at some of the latest trends and products to make a tea or coffee experience satisfying to the last drop.

Steeped in tradition

Royal Crown Derby

The Art of the Pour

Richard Brendon

Serving tea, once a precious commodity, is rich in traditions and etiquette. While the way of tea in an Asian tea ceremony remains an artistic and spiritual discipline, in many cultures serving tea has gone from a prim affair to a tea party. Made from silver-plate and borosilicate glass, Christofle’s Tea Fountain from the Silver Time collection designed by Jean-Marie Massaud, offers a chic yet convenient way for guests to serve themselves.

The Lord Wedgwood Etruria blend is one of several varieties of tea blends in Wedgwood’s newly launched Wedgwood Tea Collection. With multi-function in mind the stainless steel Cha teapot, by Naoto Fukasawa for Alessi, works as a kettle, infuser and teapot suitable for the table. The Limoges porcelain Han Green Tea Cup with Lid from L’Objet recalls China’s tea and porcelain history.

Saint-Louis also looks east with its Théorème selection of cut crystal tumblers; the Delta shape is styled

like glasses used for tea drinking in Turkey and North Africa. Michael Aram’s special edition Mughal Garden tea set, made with nickel plated stainless steel, amethyst and jade, celebrates the pastiche of India’s artistic heritage. CB2’s Lizzy teapot updates a pot in the style of the “romantic-past” by enrobing the porcelain in a coating of bright yellow silicone. Mechanical themes, seen on Royal Crown Derby’s two spouted fine English bone china Steampunk teapot, bring the retrofuturistic kit of the 19th-century inspired Steampunk movement — popular in fashion, art and films, to tableware. Upcycling vintage pieces is a burgeoning trend. Richard Brendon’s Reflect collection pairs antique “orphan” saucers with new mirror finished platinum, or gold gilded bone china teacups that literally reflect the saucer’s pattern to create a unified whole. The fashion for transforming functional tools into objects of desire is exemplified

by Nambés Bulbo Standing Steeper designed by Lou Henry and made of stainless steel and Acacia wood.

A cosy may be an old-school way to keep your pot warm but there’s nothing outmoded about by nord’s Hedgehog cosy which is digitally printed on cotton canvas.

Coffee culture The cultivation of the coffee plant, and ensuing coffeehouse culture, began in the Arabian Peninsula in the 15th century. By the early 17th century coffee made its way to Europe, probably through Venice, the main port for European and Middle Eastern trade at the time.

Coffee culture

Könitz

World cups

Freud

Bernardaud

Villeroy & Boch This backstory comes into view with Bernardaud’s Venise Limoges porcelain Oriental coffee pot in the shape of a dallah, or Arabian coffee pot, and decorative motifs from classical Venetian architecture.

Hario’s new copper-plated stainless steel Copper Buono Kettle addresses the trend towards the red-brown metal and the popular pour-over brewing method. The amenity of a wood handle on Freud’s stainless steel Cafetiére (a French press method pot) is in step with the style for mixing materials as well as a practical “cool-touch” feature.

Mikasa has extended its Cheers line to include insulated coffee and tea glass mugs that keep in the heat; the set of four different designs also help guests keep tabs on their cups. Café au lait fans can fortify their day with one of Michael Devine Home’s new Thomas Limoges porcelain oversized breakfast cups and saucers.

And for supersized to go, the Könitz XXL porcelain travel mug with a silicone lid holds a mighty amount.

World cups Armchair travel with a cup of coffee or tea in hand was never easier as cups, and mugs, with cityscape designs are getting as numerous as there are cities to see. Artist Liu Wei’s, The Purple Air paintings, which are evocative of the dynamism in urban settings, inform his new edition for Illy’s Art Collection of porcelain espresso and cappuccino cups and saucers. Rosenthal Studio-Line introduced Big Cities, designed

by BIG+KILO, to its TAC Gropius porcelain tableware range. A single blue line on the pattern draws a skyline comprised of international landmarks and brings large-scale architecture down to human scale.

Musuta studio’s porcelain City Mugs collection for iittala

represents six cities. Designated stores in the cities represented carry just that city’s mug; the project is aimed as an upscale globetrotter’s souvenir. Villeroy & Boch’s New Wave Caffé Cities of the World collection in Premium Porcelain now counts Amsterdam, Cape Town, Moscow and Shanghai among its destinations.

Entomology Butterflies, bees, and other entomological beauties continue to alight on products for the table. The Crystallized™Swarovski elements that accent Prouna’s My Honey Bee fine bone china mug give this design extra buzz. According to the forward in her book,Treasure Yourself, celebrity model and author Miranda Kerr likens the individualised aspects of each butterfly and flower to each woman’s unique qualities. The designs on all five patterns (Friendship shown here) in the Miranda Kerr for Royal Albert fine bone china collection were in part inspired by this POV. Royal Doulton’s Street Art Pure Evil Neon Butterfly mug in bone china fuses nature and graffiti.

The kite-like butterflies on the V&A Butterfly Charm fine china mug from Creative Top’s were adapted from a 1940’s illustration. Offering a contemporary take on its Butterfly Meadow range Lenox’s new Butterfly Meadow Trellis white porcelain

boxed gift sets feature a dragonfly and array of butterflies on boldly coloured backdrops.

Just your cup

Just your cup It’s good to have a special cup or mug of your own to greet you in the morning, make a statement on your desk or fill with a relaxing herbal tea or toddy at day’s end. You can easily I.D. your mug with one of the new font focused designs like Rosanna’s porcelain Alphabet Studio collection, or dare to declare yourself with a porcelain Optimism mug by Bruce Mau for Indigo; the letters on these mugs underscore words like awesome, brilliant, and heroic. The fine porcelain Pimpernel Botanic Garden Zodiac Mugs from Portmeirion get at the root of personalisation by teaming your sign’s flower with your astrological profile. The pied colors of Kate Spade New York’s Greenwich Grove porcelain teacups and saucers are totally on trend for fashionistas, as are Nikko’s fad for fur inspired Desert Leopard and Snow Leopard fine bone china espresso cups and saucers with matching dessert plates.

Kate Spade New York

Rosanna

Entomology

Prouna

Miranda Kerr for Royal Albert TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 27

INTERVIEW Rudolf Kampf

“Every one of our products has a story to tell” This year, heritage Czech brand Rudolf Kampf celebrates its 105th anniversary. We talk to development director Michael Belov about what makes the brand stand out What is the design aesthetic of Rudolf Kampf? Rudolf Kampf porcelain is completely different from any other brand. Rudolf Kampf is the Count of Monte Cristo, an intelligent cosmopolitan who, after being imprisoned for years, is ready to show the world his treasures.

How important is the fusion of functionality and high design?

Both are of course important.

However, we need to distinguish between ‘high fashion’ and ‘everyday use’. Here at Rudolf Kampf, we have products in our portfolio that boast an unusual design, with their main function an aesthetic one, while more everyday tableware collections combine both visual appeal and functionality. When creating the form of any pieces of tableware, our design department examines every convenience, from whether it’s comfortable to hold a cup of hot tea by its handle, to what it feels like when touching the porcelain rim with your lips.

How important is it to have complete collections?

Such completeness is very important for consumers. For many years, the absence of a dinner set in our bestselling Kelt Collection undermined this collection.

However, in 2013 we finally launched the dinner series and demand for Kelt has grown even more since. Similarly, the Ancient Egypt Collection, which is both practical and aesthetically unusual, 28 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

was extended to include a dinner set in 2013 and sales continue to grow, with this collection now one of the brand’s most successful developments. And while our latest range – the 105th Anniversary Collection – released earlier this year currently only comes as a tea set, we are planning to complete the dinner set within 2014. The potential of this collection, a redesign of the pre-war 1930s set, is huge as it represents that never-fading classical appeal.

Once this is launched, we will have two complete classic lines, this and the National Traditions Collection.

What other bestselling collections do you have?

Aside from the Kelt Collection, the Ancient Egypt Collection and the National Traditions Collection, all of which sell well, our Rose & Ribbons Collection, which we launched together with the Italian Savio Firmino furniture factory, is very successful. This collection embodies the kind of never-fading Italian style that’s loved by many and fits perfectly into any interior. It also includes dinner, tea, coffee and mocha sets, meaning a complete collection. Meanwhile, our Antique Medallions Collection is ahead of the competition in the haute couture porcelain segment.

What inspires the collections?

The history, heritage and culture of Europe and of the world – porcelain is a historical material and we believe it is important to

Kelt

National Traditions

Ancient Egypt

show consumers that every one of our products has a background, a story to tell. The immersion into the culture and values of different countries can bring to life great ideas for projects as it has with many of our collections, from the 1930s America art deco-inspired Manhatten Collection to the 1930s Rococco style-inspired National Traditions range. Equally important to the Rudolf Kampf story is the tradition of European porcelain manual manufacturing, which we have retained. Bohemian porcelain has a long manufacturing tradition and we are proud of the fact that, on the one hand, we preserve certain traditions – sometimes even revive them – and on the other hand, try to develop the brand in line with international and cultural changes.

Rudolf Kampf is without doubt the modern face of Bohemian porcelain – it’s not like any other Bohemian porcelain brands either in terms of its manual production technology or its final product quality. It is 100 per cent ‘Made in the Czech Republic’ and today, the words ‘Made in Europe’ have a competitive edge.

Is having a story and manual production in demand again?

The reason why a consumer purchases a particular product differs from market to market, largely due to the fact that the consumption culture is at different stages of its evolution. The presence of a story alongside manual production, which Rudolf Kampf has, is I believe a new development in consumption – the polar opposite of the ‘global supermarket’ concept.

What are Rudolf Kampf’s plans?

We are focused on complementing the tea collections with dinner sets, and by the end of the year, we plan to release a dinner set for the 105th Anniversary Collection. We will also launch, as we do annually, Chinese zodiac signs – stylised and arty animal figures symbolising the coming year, which are popular in Russia and the CIS. In 2015, we are planning to create the second series in our World Sports Icons series (the first was the Muhammad Ali Collection). We have a number of agreements with athletes, so watch this space. www.rudolfkampf.eu

Retail P.O.S.H.

The P.O.S.H. Approach With its old-meets-new product mix and tableware that tells a story, this innovative Chicago-based retail store is flying high. We talk sourcing, silverware and survival in a rapidly changing retail world with founder, owner and director Karl Sorensen

I

s it an antique shop? No, it isn’t. Is it a tabletop shop?

No, it’s not really that either.

Is it a gift shop? Perish the thought (even though you’ll find a thousand and more gift ideas here). So what is P.O.S.H.?

P.O.S.H. is a remarkable retail store that was born from a marriage of wanderlust, and from an idea that the shopping experience could be something different than it typically was in 1997, when the store was originally founded.

“When we opened, the mix of both vintage and new items in the same shop was simply not being done,” explains owner and founder Karl Sorensen. “And it was that mixture that made P.O.S.H. 30 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

stand apart from other home and housewares stores. The common desire to categorise everything and put things in neat, familiar boxes made it difficult for some people to get their heads around at first, but for most people, P.O.S.H. was a breath of fresh air,” explains Karl.

Since P.O.S.H. opened its doors, there have been other stores that have adopted a similar concept and taken on its unusual approach to retail, but Karl just sees this as a form of flattery and continually strives to maintain his store’s many points of difference. “It’s all about attention-todetail – an aesthetic formed by years of living in Europe, and the small, accessible pieces that are culled from the European markets,” Karl says.

“For the past 17 years, it’s been our mission to capture the romance of the Golden Age of Travel, the luxury of the Grand Hotel, the earthy charms of the French bistro, the elegance of English afternoon tea, and the homely comfort of an American roadside diner, all the while making these icons seem very fresh and of the moment,” says Karl of his refreshing mix of product.

A happy jumble of old and new – sometimes 70 per cent vintage, 30 per cent new, sometimes 50/50 – P.O.S.H’s product mix is what makes the store both unique and relevant today. “I’ve always thought that this mix was key, because in the end, that is the way we live… our homes aren’t museums, filled only with

antiques, but rather an interesting blend of both new and old,” says Karl, explaining how his store satisfies our nostalgia for the past in a way that brings the past comfortably into the present. “The old pieces give the new merchandise more gravitas, while the new items keep the vintage wares from feeling dusty and irrelevant,” Karl explains.

And while P.O.S.H isn’t strictly a tableware store – it stocks everything from bath salts to children’s books to egg cups – tableware has always been the backbone of the brand’s product mix. “It is a challenge because people typically don’t buy sets of dishes that often, so surrounding the tableware offering is a collection of other products that

are easier for people to purchase, such as candles, tea towels and greeting cards,” explains Karl. “We may sell a lot of the ‘other stuff ’, but our motto has always remained ‘Tableware that tells a story’.

And the tableware offerings from P.O.S.H, whether old or new, certainly do that: there is vintage hotel silver; hotel napkins from a French mill; American diner china; both vintage and new glassware; and a myriad of vintage or antique serving pieces, from escargot trays to coffee pots to barware. Though not a brandcentric store – the stories behind the tableware more important than the brand offered – P.O.S.H does feature brands, both vintage and new, when the brand itself tells a story.

“We look for brands I call ‘heritage brands’, those that have stood the test of time, whether it is cutlery produced in Laguiole, France or vintage Wedgwood china,” says Karl, highlighting Spode, Royal Doulton and Homer Laughlin as brands P.O.S.H has chosen to carry.

And it is the French tableware – the Laguiole steak knives and the Mariage Freres teapots – that are most popular. “Americans love all things French and our Chicago customer responds to the rich culinary heritage of France and appreciates the French approach to tablewares,” explains Karl. Saying that, the biggest sellers at P.O.S.H continue to be American diner coffee mugs, as well as the store’s vintage mix and match silver-plated cutlery

from England, which it customises uniquely for customers.

“We offer a gorgeous selection of hotel and estate cutlery in classic British patterns, such as Kings, Queens, Bead, Rat Tail, Fiddle and Albany, with many pieces stamped with the name or crest of a hotel or tea room or engraved with someone’s monogram,” says Karl, explaining how they hand-pick the cutlery from markets all over England, before having it lovingly restored and replated by a Sheffieldbased silversmith. “We sell quite a bit of the cutlery online, so people place an order and trust us to put together an amazing selection just for them.

“The whole process is very personal – we keep records of all the patterns we send to customers so we can add to their collection over time while keeping it cohesive and we look for monograms that match the customer’s own name,” explains Karl of the added personal service the company delivers.

To source such unique product, Karl and his team regularly take buying trips to Europe in search of vintage wares (“Nothing trains your eye quite like a trip to Paris or London”) as well as visiting a few shows each year – the gift shows in New York (NY NOW) and Atlanta (AmericasMart) and Maison & Objet in Paris – to look for new product and see what trends are highlighted.

The refreshing ‘old-meets-new’ product mix is also cleverly mirrored by the music played in-store, a

“You have to have an idea or a concept that is completely unique, that will somehow captivate peoples’ imaginations, and that can’t be duplicated by a national chain retailer.” Karl Sorensen drawcard for customers, says Karl.

“Music can have a powerful effect on people, and the P.O.S.H. ‘ soundtrack’ is something that transports and inspires customers,” says Karl. “Much like our merchandise mix, our music spans a broad range that somehow has a common thread. It’s a combination of classic American standards sung by the torchbearers of the American Song Book, as well as some jazz and café music from France. In the main, the music is from the 1920s through the 1950s, but of course, some of the music is newer, yet with an old spirit.”

It is such an atmosphere along side unusual product finds – think silver once used in the oldest social club in Chicago – that keeps people coming back. “P.O.S.H. transports people to another place and time and is an escape from the busy streets of downtown Chicago and the harried pace of our 21st century lives,” says Karl. “As long as we keep taking the path less-travelled, we will keep finding the products that prompt our customers to ask: ‘Where do you find all this stuff?’” says Karl.

The path less-travelled is one that has proven itself to be incredibly rewarding for Karl, and he has no hesitation when it comes to offering his advice on setting up and surviving in a rapidly changing retail world. “The most important bit of

advice to anyone with aspirations of starting out in retail is the importance of ‘The Idea’. You have to have an idea or a concept that is completely unique, that will somehow captivate peoples’ imaginations, and that can’t be duplicated by a national chain retailer,” he says.

“The chain retailers will always be able to do it cheaper than the independent, single-location shop, but the little shop with a big dream has the ability to create something that feels fresher and more heartfelt than anything devised by a corporation,” says Karl, pointing out that it is both P.O.S.H.’s unique product mix and focused point of view that keeps it successful.

Karl also knows that it’s his passion for P.O.S.H that gets him through the long hours, the struggles resulting from an oft-uncertain economy and the challenge of always offering his customers something new. “If people want the predictable, they will go to the national retail chain, if they are looking for something with personality and charm, they will hopefully go to the independent shops in their city (or even online) and ensure that those unique outlets not only survive, but flourish.” www.poshchicago.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 31

Guide Chinaware

China Buyer’s Guide

Mix & Match Mania For retailers, tableware today should be about offering small place settings, extensive accessories and tableware series in a variety of textures, patterns and colours for the ultimate in mixing and matching

T

SPOTLIGHT ON… Wanderer by Creative Tops A beautifully eclectic range heavily inspired by distant cultures, Wanderer is a mismatched bohemian range – think different materials, patterns and colours – which emulates a Far Eastern market, offering consumers the chance to curate and

48 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

personalise their own tablescape by mixing and matching their favourites. The collection includes scalloped plates, bowls and tea cups in both stoneware and fine china in colourful eclectic patterns and block colours. www.creativetops.com

here was a time when consumers bought 20-pce dinnerware sets – when tableware sat at the back of cupboards gathering dust – but the buying of tableware has come a long way since. Lack of space, the rise of single households, different dining styles, increased travel and home entertaining, and a desire for individuality has led to demand for versatile collections that can be used for multiple occasions, in multiple settings and in multiple ways, taking the consumer from casual breakfasts to formal dinners with minimal effort or expense and maximum creativity.

What this means is that consumers are buying smaller but high-quality sets – 3-pce or 5-pce sets – and adding to them over time with individual accessories or accent collections that can take on any number of interpretations. The focus for retailers then is to offer smaller place settings but with extensive accessory offerings, allowing consumers to change up collections with new and different pieces.

“Tableware is an investment, so it needs to be versatile,” says Rachel Daniels, group marketing manager, Portmeirion Group, explaining how the trend towards less formal dining is one of the drivers behind the demand for versatility, with consumers desiring dinnerware that can take them from relaxed breakfasts to elegant dinner parties.

“The practical yet beautiful Sophie Conran for Portmeirion range is so popular because of its versatility, to suit all occasions,” says Rachel..

Managing director Stephanie Saalfeld of German porcelain brand Fuerstenberg concurs: “Consumers today no longer have different tableware for different occasions – it’s therefore important that a

B by Brandie Villeroy & Boch Nikko tableware series can be used flexibly.”

The desire for individuality – putting a personal stamp on your table – is also key, with consumers wanting to create their own collections over time. “Today, customers seem to want to expand gradually and individually compose their favourite collections,” says Stephanie.

Hugh Biber, SVP/global design director, Tabletop, Lifetime Brands, agrees: “Versatility allows the consumer to personalise their table and create their own look and style. People own dinnerware for many years, so to be able to make their table look different for various events is key,” says Hugh, pointing to its Cheers and Avery patterns, which provide consumers with flexibility to create different looks on the table.

Retailers and etailers are finding this trend, too. “Most couples today don’t want everything to match… they want to add originality and a new dimension to their table. I’m seeing a lot of couples registering for a solid colour place setting, usually white, but then adding patterned accents in dessert/salad plates or serving items,” says Caroline Baroody, New York wedding specialist for etailer La Terrine. Donne Black of bridal etailer Wedding Gifts Direct agrees: “Young couples, in particular, are leaning towards mix and match tableware. It’s all about expressing their personal style.”

Mixing & Matching Mix and match is at the heart of Denby’s tableware philosophy, with its concept stretching back to the ‘60s. Villeroy & Boch was also one of the earliest adopters when it introduced its Mix and Match concept back in 1986, enabling

patterns to be freely combined and subsequent purchases to be made according to individual demand, with the effect that consumers are not compelled to buy a 12-pce service. On the contrary, they can use variable, coordinated tableware designs to create a constantly new look for the table, say Villeroy & Boch.

Take the brand’s premium bone porcelain Anmut series: based on the classical Anmut shape, the series offers a harmonious choice of colours and inspirations that continue to grow, with this year seeing the launch of a floral version, Anmut Flowers. Consumers can combine this new floral decor with the Anmut My Colour series (think eight colours), the plain white series and the Anmut Platinum series.

“This way, our customers are no longer forced to buy a complete set of tableware but rather have the opportunity for variety,” says Nicolas Luc Villeroy, head of tableware division, Villeroy & Boch.

Italian artisan brand Vietri is another brand that started doing mix and match long before it was a trend, as such interchangeability is part of Italian culture, they say. “The first Vietri collection – Campagna – offers endless combinations,” says product development manager for Vietri, Joan Bolick, explaining how Vietri creates colourful patterns and rich solid collections letting customers create unique settings.

Luxury lifestyle brand L’Objet says its entire design language is driven by the mixing and matching of different looks and collections: “It makes the experience that much more unique and individual,” says president and creative director of L’Objet, Elad Yifrach, highlighting

how every collection L’Objet introduces has an element that works well with previous ones, allowing for fun combinations. One of its latest releases, Sous Le Ciel, consists of the Han dinnerware pattern in both gold and in white; the Soie Tressee in gold, platinum and white; and the latest Autumn 2014 collection, Sous La Lune, a dinnerware and accessory range, all of which mix and match.

Collections are increasingly being created with coordinating patterns and colours, allowing for endless arrangements. Take Denby’s Heritage Collection, which “recreates the mix and match approach with a modern twist,” says Denby’s design director, Richard Eaton. “It takes the concept a stage further by allowing all the patterns within the range to mix and match with one another.”

There’s the ‘50s-inspired Heritage Pavilion with its graphic motif and duck egg blue/lemon palette; and Heritage Veranda, with its ‘60s Arabesque-inspired patterns and p tones of buttery yellow and sage.

This year, Mikasa asa (Lifetime Brands) launched d its mix and match concept Avery – think three colours and four patternss with a ‘60s vibe – that allows consumers umers to create a different tablescape ape every day.

“Avery is an updated pdated look with varied modern ern patterns done in a similar hand. This makes it easy to mix and match any of thee looks offered in the pattern, ttern,” says Lifetime Brands’ nds’ Hugh Biber, pointing nting to the fact that they hey

Mikasa

Prouna Herend

What the retailer says… “I wanted an informal nformal store that didn’t focus on sets, but instead would allow the customer to be creative and put a lookk together themselves.” Nathalie Smith, owner of independent New York-based tableware store, Global Table TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 33

Guide Chinaware

“

The secret to mixing and matching tableware is to not overdo it.

Try using a neutral background colour to bounce pattern off and then start experimenting with colour. Our Fable Collection was specifically designed not to overwhelm but still bring character into any interior.

With a crisp white background, you are able to use pattern and colour in a simple but effective way. By using only two vibrant colours, blue and red, the Fable collection allows you to be more adventurous with your wider interior scheme but still boasts bold shapes and interesting patterns to hold prominence within a room. If you would prefer to soften these patterns, we suggest teaming side bowls and saucers with plain white plates. Not only does this create a relaxed feel, but it also means you can alternate between versatile sets depending on the atmosphere.

Antony Robson, European marketing manager, Royal Doulton

Royal Doulton

Lenox

also offer ‘Avery’ in a 32-pce set, including the Chevron and Star patterns, instantly giving the consumer a compelling mix and match look. “This is a plus to the consumer who wants the mix and match feel, but perhaps doesn’t have the design confidence to create it themselves,” says Hugh.

Similarly, Royal Doulton’s Fable lets consumers mix and match three different ranges – think crisp white, blue garland and bolder illustrated accents (see above).

B by Brandie, a debut tableware range by American style guru Brandie Gehan, was launched to tap into the desire for creating a different tablescape daily.

“I wanted people to have the opportunity to dress the table as they do themselves, with their own unique twist,” says Brandie of her new mix and match fashion concept. Creating a custom feel at an affordable price, the collection comes in a number of bold colourways (from gold to grey, navy to red) and mesmerising patterns

– think the hypnotic Zelda and the graphic Truman.

Such dramatic clashing of patterns and colours is a trend today. At the start of the year during Home London, Trend Bible’s home trends editor, Anri Hamilton, foresaw this trend: “The trend for colour clashing remains important for A/W 2014/15, so expect red and pink, and pink and yellow to be used together within objects.”

One of etailer Achica.com’s bestselling collections is Maxwell & Williams’ Enchante Collection, which offers a wide selection of vintage florals in clashing patterns for modern-day mixing and matching.

Creative Tops recently released a range (Wanderer) that, with its mismatched bohemian clashing colours and patterns, alongside solid coloured pieces, allows consumers to create their own eclectic tablescape. Casa Alegre’s Mix Me collection features a wide range of different colours, patterns and textures – green, yellow, coral and blue stripes, spots and dots – that can be combined in a multitude of clashing ways.

As can the recently launched Ca d’Oro (Golden House) collection from Sieger by Fuerstenberg.

Featuring 35 stunning pieces, this black, white and gold accented collection with its geometric interplay of stripes, squares, circles and other architectonic patterns creates exciting contrasts and

”

visual differences when mixed and matched in different combinations.

Fuerstenberg say that they have increasingly been addressing the concept of mix and match on three levels. The first, in the combining of classic and modern forms, like the mixing of their traditional perforated porcelain baskets with modern, clear forms like Carlo porcelain, which they say is proving popular; the second, in the combining of their decorated pieces with their white pieces, which they offer in the same shapes or styles; and finally, in the offering of one design but in different colourways and decors as with their Aureole tableware series. This is delivered in four versions – pure white, a colourful décor (Coloree), with ornamental gold decor (Doree), and the latest, with variations of the moon in black, white and gold (Clair de Lune).

Each offers enough variations to be individually mixed and matched for unique tablescapes. Coloree, with its large leaf motifs in four bright hues, offers an open invitation to creative colour blocking combinations.

“With the Coloree underplate in the colours lagoon blue, absinthe, orange or warm chestnut brown, you can newly arrange and highlight all white tableware, for example,” says Stephanie. The gold detailing of Doree, meanwhile, allows customers to combine with the Aureole white version and so take the table to next level, dressing

What the retailer says… “Our couples demand versatility and like dinnerware that can be used for different settings. Whether indoor or out, casual meals or special occasions, they demand pieces they can dress up or down accordingly.” Donne Black, bridal etailer, Wedding Gifts Direct 34 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Casa Alegre

Porcel

Merchandising Mix And Match

Fuerstenberg it up for a formal occasion.

Dress Up, Dress Down Many brands have in fact added gold and/or platinum décor collections or gold/platinum décor accent pieces to their tableware series, as increasingly consumers want collections they can use during the day and then change up for formal. “Consumers appreciate having the option to use product more often and in different types of settings,” says L’Objet’s Elad, explaining how collections that can be dressed up for formal is a much better investment and use of product.

Robert Suk, head of creative center at Rosenthal says he is increasingly finding that as in fashion with ‘one dress, two looks’ consumers are desiring one highquality collection that can be used in the day and then dressed up at night for a more formal look. And Rosenthal delivers on this score with its TAC series – a rigid and geometric series with different versions – TAC White, TAC Gold, TAC Big Cities, and due to debut, TAC Skin Gold, providing the perfect platform for a variety of interpretations. “With its sophisticated look and easy understanding, TAC serves for every day, as well as a high-end dinner table setting,” says Robert, pointing to TAC Gold, which perfectly dresses up TAC White for night-time glamour.

Royal Crown Derby boasts a gold and black version in its 5-pce

Noritake

equine-inspired series Equus, allowing for the dressing up of its black and white version. Juliska recently unveiled select gold accented pieces in its Acanthus collection – accent/accessory pieces with 24k-gold painted leaf motifs designed to “elevate the collection from everyday to evening,” say Juliska.

Smaller accessory and accent collections that help dress up or give a different look to existing collections are more popular than ever. “Consumers invest in tableware collections and want to be able to add to them, as well as dress them up or down to give different looks, so just like in fashion, that’s where accessories come in,” explains Rachel, Portmeiron Group. “We find many couples register for a casual dinner set and then update it with a charger plate or add accessories when using it for a more formal setting,” says Donne Black, Wedding Gifts Direct.

Herend is finding this too, especially with bridal registries: “We find that many brides registering for Herend select a dinner plate with plain white centre and mix it with a salad/ dessert plate that is more ornate,” says Maureen Ellis, director of marketing, Herend and Moser, USA, citing the Herend Victoria pattern introduced several years ago. “It’s modestly decorated with just the border design from Herend’s popular Queen Victoria pattern and brides often select

Princess Victoria and then pair with Queen Victoria to dress it up.”

High-end fine bone china specialists Prouna has extended its My Color collection (think four colours) to include gift items and accessories, such as small plates, tea cups, mugs and napkin holders, with the aim of bringing the versatility of mixing and matching to the customer.

And brands are today continually adding accessories, as well as accent collections, providing consumers with greater variety and versatility. “We are always reinvigorating our best patterns with great line extensions that mix and match or coordinate to expand our reach and to bring the consumer something new to add to the collection,” says Sherri Crisenberry, Lenox, highlighting how during the upcoming Tabletop Market, it will be unveiling the extension of its 15-year-old highly successful pattern Butterfly Meadow to include porcelain outdoor dining dinnerware and serveware.

Combining Colours Gold accents aren’t the only way of taking an everyday collection to more formal heights. Colourways in more elegant shades can also work.

Portmeirion Group’s Spode brand has recently added two new colourways – Delamere Lakeside (a soft blue) and Delamere Bouquet (a cranberry colour) – that takes its everyday

Michael Aram

Such mix and match collections are perfect for interesting displays in-store. “Mix and match collections support each other better in store displays than standalone designs,” explains Tage Strom, Nikko.

“A dinnerware pattern designed in two colours which mix and match can easily be shown in a third combined colourway. Store displays can so conveniently and creatively be changed with mix and match products,” he says, explaining how this is especially true if knowledgeable sales persons demonstrate layering in other materials.

One retailer expert in this is independent specialty tableware store Global Table in New York, a store whose philosophy is based on mixing and matching.

“We pay close attention to combining colours and pieces that are complementary to one another, and so ‘style’ the store,” says founder Nathalie Smith, highlighting how she has fun putting together dishes in combinations that might inspire a customer. Turn to page 42 to discover more on Global Table.

Ideas for mixing and matching collections can also come from the manufacturers. Portuguese porcelain manufacturer Porcel, which delivers high-end dinnerware collections, suggests two different mix and match merchandising displays: the first, a display using a mix of platinum and florals (see page 38); the second, using accents of gold (see above). Porcel mixes its most recent collections, including Camelia, Belle Epoque, Heaven and Or, to show how Porcel collections can be interchanged for unique settings.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 35

Guide Chinaware

slate grey Delamere Rural design to a more elegant level. A plain white accent version – Rural – available in five key dinnerware items has also been released to complement the colourways. “This allows the consumer to mix and match and make any casual moment an elegant setting,” says Rachel.

Meanwhile, the extensive Bodo Sperlein for Nikko collection, a fine bone china range that includes Cloud dinnerware, has been designed in four colours (indigo blue, ash grey, dusky pink and jade green) to be mixed and matched.

“As Cloud dinnerware is sold open stock, a consumer can mix colours and combine sizes according to taste and personal preference,” says Nikko VP for the US subsidiary of the Japanese parent company, Tage Strom, pointing to the fact that ash grey and dusky pink particularly go well together. “Cloud can also be mixed with the interesting organic shapes in the Blossom collection by Bodo Sperlein for Nikko, which are available in these same colours.”

At Noritake, too, colourways are proving popular. Colorvara, a craft-inspired stoneware collection comes in white, blue, chocolate and green, all of which mix and match; while its Colorwave range – think 12 colours, with two debuting shortly – and three shapes (coupe, rim and Square), as well as 30 accessories, for the ultimate in versatility.

High demand in US Demand for mix and match is particularly key for the US market, say European porcelain brand Herend. “In the US, in particular, we’ve found versatility to be a key requirement and the majority of new dinnerware patterns we’ve introduced in this market in recent years were created with such versatility in mind,” says Maureen, Herend USA, explaining how most of Herend’s dinnerware introductions in the US are patterns that are well suited to mixing and matching both with Herend’s more traditional and well-known patterns, and with other brands. Herend’s top patterns – Rothschild Bird, Queen Victoria and Chinese Bouquet – have all been designed to mix and match, along with the Silk Ribbon dinnerware line.

36 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Such demand hasn’t escaped leading US tabletop brand, Lenox, which at the New York Tabletop Show earlier this year, introduced three-pce place settings in its most popular patterns, allowing consumers to mix and match more freely and create their own tablescapes. In addition, many of its patterns come in multiple colours, shapes and sizes, allowing for such mixing and matching. Take French Perle, with its vintage-inspired beaded motif. The collection offers four colours – white, pistachio, ice blue and violet – that are perfect for mixing and matching. There is also French Perle Charm, a white collection, highlighting the knots in a medallion style pattern; and French Perle Bead, also in white, that highlights the raised beading, both of which mix beautifully with the coloured versions. “Many consumers need help creating a mix and match tablescape, which is why patterns like Butterfly Meadow and French Perle are so successful,” says Sherri, Lenox. “They give the customer permission to mix and match them in the fact that we deliberately created them to go together.”

That’s not all. Lenox recently unveiled the crème de la crème of versatility with Entertain 365. Filling a void in the market for super-versatile white dinnerware, the concept boasts 30 white porcelain pieces in three patterns (Shape, Sculpture and Surface) available in various shapes (square, round and rectangular).

With the slogan ‘Mix it. Match it.

Make It Your Own’, Entertain 365 has been designed to work together in an inspired and endless array of combinations. “The mix and match capabilities are endless,” says Sherri.

Similarly characterised by its uncomplicated diversity – all-white in round, oval and angular shapes – is the multi-functional Loft series developed for Thomas by designers Queensberry Hunt for more than a decade. Various sizes of bowls and plates with fine grooved structure can be combined in any way. Recent additions include three angular platters and a three-piece étagère for creativity in serving appetisers.

See our best mix and match collections on the following pages....

“

It’s important is to keep it simple and easy to understand so customers feel confident enough to make their choices.

Within the Burleigh ‘look’ – its Blue and White rang es, Pink and Plum colourways – consumers enjoy mixing to create their own unique look.

Richard Eaton, design

director, Denby

”

Below: A mix of Burleigh Blue and White, including Calico, Arden, Felicity and Burgess chintz, all of which work together or alone.

L’OBJET The second instalment of the brand’s 10th Anniversary Collection, Sous La Lune is a curated collection celebrating the wonder of the Mediterranean skies. At the heart of Sous La Lune is the Lapis Collection – think porcelain dinnerware with multiple layers of rich blue and black tones masked upon each Limoges Porcelain piece.

Detailed in 24k gold, Lapis includes dessert and canape plates, espresso cup/saucer sets. They have been designed to be mixed with the Sous Le Ciel collection, which includes the Han dinnerware pattern in gold/white, and the Soie Tressee in gold, platinum and white.

www.l-objet.com

AURATIC SPODE Spode’s (Portmeirion Group) popular Delamere Rural range – think British floral décor in contemporary grey – has recently been extended to include two new subtle and elegant colourways, with the aim of taking the everyday grey version to more elegant and formal heights. Delamere Lakeside is a stunning soft blue, while Delamere Bouquet is a sumptuous cranberry colour. A plain white accent version Rural is also available in five key dinnerware items to mix and match with Delamere. Spode has also recently launched its new Glen Lodge pattern, a modern take on the archival pattern, which when paired with the original, takes on a fresh new look.

Chinese porcelain manufacturer Auratic has recently collaborated with tableware designer B by Brandie on a collection called Brandie Home (pictured below). Boasting subtle designs and pre-matched place settings, the collection is inspired by the seaside. The casual chic settings are mix and match and feature graphic patterns in neutral hues, bright whites and serene shades of blue and yellow.

www.auratic.com

www.portmeiriongroup.com

FUERSTENBERG 1947 Clair de Lune, the latest décor from Furstenberg in the Aureole series, has launched for Autumn 2014. Using black and white and 24k gold, Clair de Lune offers varied representations of the moon. Its multifaceted décor variations are an invitation for individual combinations to be created, as well as the combination with Aureole in plain white. It can also be mixed with the other two decors on the Aureole form, Doree and Coloree, for avant-garde styling. Doree is an ornamental gold version, while Coloree uses a firework of colours on its graphic leaves.

www.fuerstenberg-porzellan.com

LENOX X A complete system for home entertaining, Entertain 365 includes 30 versatile white porcelain shapes and sizes in three carved patterns that work together in endless combinations. The Shape pattern is smooth faceted in an octagonal shape; the Sculpture pattern is a 4-pce setting, both rectangular and round with a woven dimension on the rim; and the Surface pattern is textural and tactile – think a 4-pce setting of square and round shapes. There are also entertaining accessories, from nesting platters to stacking bowls with different textural elements. All pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe and chip resistant.

www.lenox.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 37

Guide Chinaware

ROSENTHAL Flexibility reigns supreme at Rosenthal with all its dinnerware collections, enabling the customer to create their own style. Rosenthal Studio-Line’s TAC series by designer Walter Gropius is the perfect example: think a tableware shape that’s rigid and geometric and provides the perfect platform for a variety of interpretations, enabling the consumer to mix and match. TAC comes in TAC White, TAC Gold, TAC Platinum, TAC Skin Gold (latest release) and TAC Big Cities from Danish architecture office Big & Kilo. The latter (pictured) complements perfectly the first two collections. In the latter, cities of the world like Moscow and Paris are imaginatively depicted with a modern twist as graphic blue lines.

www.rosenthal.de

PORCEL With its variety of shapes, colours and decors, Portuguese porcelain manufacturer Porcel offers many versatile collections, making for exquisite mix and match tables.

Its most recent collections, such as Camelia, Belle Epoque and Heaven, can be interchanged successfully to dress up or dress down the tablescape for different occasions. Porcel suggests creating a dressed-up platinum and floral setting using a mix of its Magnolia, Afrodite, Life and Ethereal Blue collections (pictured).

www.porcel.pt

VISTA ALEGRE New this year, porcelain collection Olhar o Brasil is an authentic tribute to the local culture of Brazil.

Composed by renowned architect Chico Gouveia, the collection features vibrant colours and motifs.

Brazilian fauna and flora is elevated to the level of art in porcelain, meaning they can serve both as wall art or display pieces, as well as tableware. The collection features plates adorned with feathered birds in a variety of colour combinations, in large scale; while brightly coloured basket weave designs in matching colours coordinate the collection.

www.myvistaalegre.com

VILLEROY & BOCH This year, Villeroy & Boch launched a new premium bone porcelain collection La Classica, which boasts strong lines and architectural undertones and includes traditional setting items, as well as various sized serving pieces. The collection boasts two patterns, specifically designed to be mixed and matched for an elegant yet contemporary table.

La Classica Nuova is the sleek white version with smooth forms (pictured) while La Classica Contura is a subtly decorated version inspired by the domes and rotundas of Europe.

www.villeroy-boch.com

38 TABLEWARE INT INTERNATIONAL

NIKKO In addition to the Bodo Sperlain for Nikko collection in fine bone china, which can be extensively mixed and matched, is Nikko’s fine bone china dinnerware pattern Fortune. The mixed place setting includes a dinner plate with bold platinum decoration, the salad and bread plates are gold decorated – and the cup is two-tone. Fortune can be combined with gold banded, or platinum banded crystal. It can be matched with gold plated flatware, or sterling silver flatware.

Display combinations with mix & match products are almost limitless for creative tableware merchants, explains Tage Strom, Nikko VP at the US subsidiary of the Japanese parent company.

www.nikkoceramics.com

CASA ALEGRE Launched last year, Mix Me is part of the Urban Trendy range from Casa Alegre. Designed with everyday dining in mind and inspired by Mediterranean culture – it reflects colours, flavours and aromas and fits in perfectly with the contemporary fashion for casual and outdoor dining – Mix Me boasts a handcrafted feel in a riotous mix and match pattern, featuring green, yellow, coral and blue stripes, spots and dots. The shapes are chunky and practical, offering a range of different colours, patterns and textures that can be combined in a multitude of ways.

www.casaalegre.pt

LIFETIME BRANDS

RICHARD GINORI From this 270-year-old Italian porcelain manufacturer comes the mix-and-match landscape designs, several collections featuring coordinating colours and boasting one of the brand’s most historic motifs, its ‘landscape’ pattern.

Created with the authentic pounce technique and painted entirely by hand with precious and delicate colours, delivering unique pieces each time, the Paesaggio Collection in the round Impero shape depicts some seven different landscapes in a number of different subtle shades like light blue, green, pink and yellow, while the complementary Toscana Collection on the scalloprimmed Antico Doccia Shape also offers a number of landscapes in similar shades but in a different interpretation, so they mix and match perfectly.

The Mikasa and Pfaltzgraff brands focus on offering various accessories and accent pieces that allow the consumer to mix and match easily. “Many consumers like the concept of mix and match but may not have the confidence to purchase patterns that allow them to achieve this look,” says Hugh Biber, SVP/Global Design Director, Tabletop, Lifetime Brands. Mikasa offers a number of patterns, therefore, such as Cheers, Avery, Kiora, Cadence and Siena, that give that mix and match feel by design and offer the consumer the confidence to set that creative table they design. Mikasa’s franchise patterns, Italian Countryside, Antique White and Cheers (pictured) feature extensive accent and accessory pieces that coordinate with dinnerware. “By adding new and different accessories to our collections, it allows us to keep the patterns fresh and updated and allows the consumer to have flexbility in setting a creative and personalised table,” says Hugh.

www.lifetimebrands.com

www.richardginori1735.com TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 39

Guide Chinaware

NORITAKE Japanese fine china brand Noritake offers a number of collections that embrace the mix and match concept. Its BoB (Black-on-Black) and WoW (White-on-White) collection features organic motifs subtley interpreted as a tone-on-tone surface decoration. The entire collection is available in place place setting components, as well as extensive accessories, so consumers can mix and match their own curated dinnerware collection. Meanwhile, Noritake’s Cher Blanc collection, a light, thin, highly translucent, fine porcelain collection featuring a subtle embossed latticework motif on the rim, is the ultimate choice for dressing up or down your table setting.

www.noritake.com

RUDOLF KAMPF Czech porcelain brand Rudolf Kampf is renowned for its highend manually produced tableware that is unique both in style and décor and that tells a story. Its Byzantine collection (pictured left) which comes in different variations and so can be mixed and matched, is reflective of this, communicating through its unique and ornate design the decor used to decorate Byzantine cathedrals.

Such décor comes in six different versions, including white, colourful, black and gold, and white and platinum, allowing for extensive interchangeability according to the occasion.

www.rudolfkampf.eu

THOMAS The ever-popular tableware series, Sunny Day from Thomas, is among Germany’s most successful porcelain series. Designed for mixing and matching, the series now offers 26 cheerful colours, with two new on-trend tones added this year. Baltic Green (pictured left) is a subtle, fresh green tone that makes for a particularly harmonious combination with red, orange or light pink; while the new vibrant Neon Yellow perfectly freshens up primarily dark tones in the range, including denim or grey. All the designs are dishwasher-safe, impactresistant, scratch-proof and suitable for the microwave.

www.rosenthal.de 48 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

CREATIVE TOPS The Katie Alice Highland Fling Collection offers a complete lifestyle collection with lots of gorgeous functional and decorative accessories that can be changed around to create different looks for any occasion. “Use dinner plates for simpler one-course meals in the day, then accessorise with side plates and bowls for multi-course evening meals,” says Clare Farthing, marketing manager, Creative Tops. The tableware pieces are also gorgeous enough to be used as display pieces on a dresser, making them super-versatile.

www.creative-tops.co.uk

PROUNA Kiyasa Group, the high-end distributer of luxury tabletop and dinnerware, has just introduced more exquisite collections from Prouna fine bone china collections, including Platinum Leaves. A twist on the already successful Golden Leaves, both collections are embedded with Swarovski Crystals, using Prouna’s exclusive technology, which makes all items durable in dishwasher. The subtleness and neutrality of both collections allows them to be mixed and matched to create unique table settings, while the hand painting gold or platinum and the Swarovski elements add sparkle to the table.

www.prounausa.com

ORIGINALLY-DESIGNED TABLEWARE & ACCESSORIES

lsa-international.com

Retail Global Table

Mixing it up at Global Table With its international point of view, mix and match appeal and informal vibe, Global Table in New York has been a go-to spot for tableware since 1996. We discover the secrets of the store’s success

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asual tableware with clean lines and gorgeous glazes that can be mixed and matched and hails from all over the world.

This may well be the name of the tabletop game today, but 15 years ago when Global Table launched, it was pretty unheard of.

Global Table is a New York-based home accessories and tableware store. Set up in the mid-nineties by former fashion editor and stylist, Nathalie Smith, it is no surprise to discover that the store has been a favourite haunt for stylists and editors from magazines like Oprah, Vogue and Elle Décor since 1996.

It is the stunning selection of products and curios – think a cluttered treasure trove of affordable, exotic tabletop handpicked by Nathalie from around the world – that attracts top stylists and editors.

“I think that having been an editor in a previous life helped focus

42 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

my eyes,” says Nathalie, who has worked at Glamour and Elle in New York. That, and the fact that Nathalie has a French mother who was not only a wonderful cook, but loved to set a beautiful table.

So what inspired ex fashion editor Nathalie to turn her back on bags and embrace bowls in the midnineties? “I noticed that all the editors would lug back lots of wonderful, but heavy, dishes and home accessories from their travels on photo shoots,” says Nathalie, who noticed a surge Stateside for European ceramics that weren’t available domestically.

“Ultimately, I discovered I was more interested in plates than bell bottoms and thought it might be useful to open a store in the city to combine lots of different tableware from around the globe so people wouldn’t have to carry it all back from their travels,” says Nathalie, explaining how this was 20 years ago, before the internet shrunk the world and made everything so much more accessible.

So Nathalie set up shop in 1996, with the aim of bringing such worldly wares Stateside, delivering the first tableware-only store in Manhattan.

Nathalie began curating unique tableware from all over the world – tabletop products by imaginative potters like Lai Montesca of New York, Alex Marshall of Santa Barbara and Alison Evans of Maine; as well as from exquisite small companies, such as Middle Kingdom and Studio B. And while products are sourced globally and represent world style and cuisine, the Global Table aesthetic has been, from the start, an Asian one, boasting mainly clean lines, pure organic shapes and minimal adornment. “When buying, I look for the integrity of an item – it should be functional and visually

interesting by dint of its shape and/ or material and glaze,” she says.

Nathalie says she doesn’t go for products that are fussy, gimmicky or over-designed, but isn’t above a bit of whimsy, which for her does well.

“Global Table does very well with Japanese mugs adorned with line drawings of animals.”

Every item Nathalie stocks – from ceramic dishes, glassware and vases to utensils, wooden serveware and accessories like candle holders – is not just a thing of beauty, but is also reasonably priced, with all products focusing on “beautiful materials and shapes that are simple and modern,” says Nathalie, explaining how the feel of the pieces are as important to her as the look of them. “I like clean lines and elegant glazes, interesting

“From the beginning, I wanted an informal store that didn’t focus on sets of dishes, but rather would let the customer be creative”

5 BESTSELLING COLLECTIONS

1

Bei Glassware Collection These coloured glass tumblers are durable, colourful and are made in Italy.

2

Middle England’s Hermit Bowl Collection Available in four sizes, these porcelain bowls nest inside each other, which is great for NYC dwellers, who are starved of space.

The colour range is fantastic and they are perfect for mixing up.

3

Urban Oasis’ Urban Collection The bestselling plates at Global Table, they are off-white with a matte glaze and a slightly off-kilter shape – neutral enough to work with any plates and show off food.

4

Roost’s Mineral Tea Lights Adding sparkle to the table, these low lights (so diners can see over them) are shimmery and metallic, with each one different.

5

Handmade Wooden Salad Bowl With each bowl taking months to make – the wood is hand carved from a single piece and dried naturally – these Peruvian-made solid wooden bowls are in high demand.

Bei Glassware Collection

Middle England Hermit Bowls shapes and surprising finishes,” says Nathalie of her offerings, the heritage of which spans the world.

“We represent a lot of countries and cultures in a revolving list of products from Egypt, Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, South America, Asia, Africa and the USA,” says Nathalie, who travels all over the world visiting both trade shows and individual ceramicists in order to source relevant product.

At Global Table, you can find products from all over: moulded water buffalo horn bowls from India; alabaster plates from Egypt; cast iron tea sets from Japan; teak wood salad servers from Thailand; cherry bark veneer trays from Japan; faux snakeskin vinyl trays from the US; and paper straw placemats from Japan.

With so many people now travelling and indulging in, not to mention recreating, cuisine from all over the world, such a global product offering is spot-on today. But 15 years ago, when she launched her retail concept, Nathalie was way ahead of the tabletop game. “The demand for dishes to address particular cuisines has definitely increased,” says Nathalie, highlighting how recently a customer from Iran visited asking for all shapes and sizes of plates to accommodate all the native dishes

Handmade Wooden Salad Bowl he was cooking for a dinner party.

Nathalie also cites an Indian customer who recently visited, buying lots of bowls in pinks and reds in different sizes for all of the specific dishes she was making for her dinner party. “The current food craze has made people focus more on buying dishes for specific recipes,” says Nathalie, explaining how she’s seen particular demand for sushi plates, sake glasses, Ramen bowls, tagines, pasta bowls and small Indian dishes for spices and condiments.

“Spanish wine glasses are a bestseller, as are my pretty small bowls for salt and other condiments.”

But what defines Global Table even more than its global reach and its international point of view, is its creative and informal mix and match philosophy.

“From the beginning, I wanted an informal store that didn’t focus on sets of dishes, but rather would let the customer be creative and put a look together themselves,” says Nathalie of her concept. And while Nathalie admits that many of her customers need help with this in terms of inspiration (the store delivers this in its mix and match visual merchandising displays) Global Table, with its creative concept, attracts those in the creatives.

“We attract many people in the creative professions, such as architects and artists, who are confident in making choices,” says Nathalie, explaining how many of her customers buy dishes incrementally – bowls one day, salad plates the next, glassware the next day.

This creative mix and match concept is highlighted perfectly in the visual merchandising of the stores. Nathalie has arranged the platters and dishes and bowls on display tables – think stainless steel kitchen surfaces from the Bowery – in tippy stacks, a myriad of sizes and colours and shapes all mixed together, making searching both fun and creative; while rustic wooden shelves hold an overflow of dishes, serving pieces and candles.

“The store in Soho is quite small, which requires us to layer pieces,” explains Nathalie. “We pay close attention to combining colours and pieces that are complementary to one another, and so ‘style’ the store.

We have fun putting together dishes in combinations that might inspire a customer,” says Nathalie, pointing out that many prop stylists and food stylists spend hours at her store uncovering the right plate or bowl for a photo shoot and that customers are constantly ‘playing’ with dishes to

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Retail Global Table

come up with the right combination.

“We display our dishes in a way that encourages experimentation and playfulness and are constantly shifting things around.”

With such creative customers, tableware demand falls firmly on creating a more informal home.

“While I still believe there is a place for formal fine bone china sets and that there are many people in New York who like a formal table, my customers in both locations – Soho and Upper West Side – set a more informal table,” says Nathalie, highlighting how she hasn’t sold a charger for years.

Nathalie goes on to explain how Global Table’s point of view is very personal. “I buy in a way that reflects how I live – my decisions about what to stock are purely subjective and trend towards the modern; I prefer simple timeless pieces. Everything I choose I would gladly have in my own home,” says Nathalie, explaining how she grew up with dinnerware from Luneville, France, and Silverware from her great grandmother… silver coffee pots and fish forks and crystal glassware. “Today, the formality of all that seems daunting and doesn’t work with my life,” says Nathalie. “I can’t be enthusiastic with customers about something I can’t relate to.”

Nathalie’s Global Table concept, with its very clear point of view and ethnic and eclectic mix, has been so successful that not only does Global Table attract some of the world’s best editors and stylists, but it was selected by New York magazine as the Best of Mix and Match Tableware in 2003 and is a regular stop for merchandisers researching trends for 44 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

houseware chains like Crate & Barrel.

Such Soho store success prompted Nathalie to open a second store in 2011 at the other end of Manhattan on the Upper West Side.

“A lot of designers were coming in and purchasing for apartments up there,” explains Nathalie, pointing to the fact that now she finds there are many downtown transplants on the Upper West Side who used to shop at the Soho store and are now her customers again uptown. This second store, which is situated on Amsterdam Avenue, carries much the same stock as the first, though more quantity purely because it is 300sq-ft bigger (the first store is 500 sqft, the second, 800 sqft). It is also primarily a residential and familyfocused neighbourhood, so Nathalie caters to the Uptown customer by adding more child-friendly items. “The two stores are not that dissimilar but there are items which sell better in both. Soho has more tourists, designers, stylists and people working in the creative fields, while Uptown is more family-focused. I calibrate my buying to meet the needs of both stores by adjusting quantities ordered.”

And while Nathalie’s core store ethos remains – tableware that is mix and match, global and informal – and is crucial to her stores’ successes, she has like all retailers, big and small, made adaptations to her offerings.

“Over the years, I’ve noticed that New Yorkers are very keen on functionality,” says Nathalie, explaining how she stopped stocking earthenware ceramics and now sticks to high-fire clays that can withstand a lot of handling. “We also work with

“We display our dishes in a way that encourages experimentation and playfulness and are constantly shifting things around” hotels/restaurants sourcing plates, so they have to be durable,” she says.

Nathalie has also discovered that New Yorkers want everything to be dishwasher- and microwavesafe; due to lack of space, prefer nesting bowls; and as aspiring home chefs, tend towards white, though she’s seen demand for pattern on supplementary dishes increase, a result of minimalism fatigue.

“Now that everyone seems to be a home cook, plain white dinner plates are the most popular as they don’t interfere with the food, though people are more adventurous with the dessert/salad plate and anything goes with bowls,” says Nathalie, emphasising how she now includes more pattern. “The natural world seems to be a theme with staying power – I am seeing lots of botanical and sea life patterns on plates and people still gravitate towards these.”

The natural world is also of focus in terms of Nathalie’s material mix and she pays close attention, she says, to stocking environmentally friendly products; recycled pieces, as well as wooden items from sustainable growth forests. There is renewable acacia wood used in the Filipino-made serving bowls; recycled glass in the serving bowls from Spain and in the glass bedside carafes from Vietnam; while napkin sets are made from 100 per cent burlap.

Nesting bowls, coloured

glassware and candlesticks are some of Global Table’s bestsellers, though more recently, there has been big demand, says Nathalie, for big, allpurpose bowls and smaller dishes.

“There is a trend toward smaller dishes – the traditional meat/starch/ veg meal has been usurped by smaller multiple dishes or just one big single everything meal,” says Nathalie, pointing to the big bowl as the ‘dish of the day’. “Bigger bowls have become very popular, for onebowl dinners of Ramen, big salads, stir frys and generous bowls of pasta,” says Nathalie, adding that she is also seeing demand for cocktail glasses and Matcha tea sets.

So, what next for this unique and eclectic New York store? Nathalie says that a focus on the website and on utilising social media is the next step. “We have two bricks and mortar stores, but the Internet seems to be where more and more customers are shopping. New Yorkers are working harder than ever and people have less time to actually go to stores,” she says. “I have Facebook and Instagram but I just haven’t had the time to use it to its full potential.”

Luckily for Nathalie, her stores are so popular they still gets loads of attention. “Ultimately, I think Global Table has been such a success because the pricing is reasonable and there is a clear point of view.” www.globaltable.com

Profile Zieher

Taking food to greater heights Renowned for delivering innovative and elevated tabletop and buffet products to the hospitality industry’s crème de la crème, German brand Zieher continues to raise the presentation bar

B

avarian brand Zieher is well-known for its innovative design, both in tabletop and buffet, with 95 per cent of the company’s annual turnover generated in the hospitality industry.

The company supplies its many presentation products to mainly five-star hotels and upscale restaurants, everyone from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok, Intercontinental Times Square NYC and Burj Al Arab Dubai, to The Four Seasons Toronto, Claridges London and The Ritz Carlton Moscow. In fact, Zieher has worldwide co-operate contracts with most international five-star chains.

“Our target clients are those who want to set themselves apart from the competition by extraordinary presentation of their menus,”

explains executive director of sales, Dominik Zieher, pointing to innovative gastronomy, a major sector in which Zieher is involved, where dedicated professional chefs continuously raise the bar with new gourmet trends.

Dominik explains how Zieher’s co-operation with the professionals – top chefs/patissiers – provides the company with the perfect chance to pick up on ideas and size suggestions in order to develop perfectly matching products.

In order to meet the challenging demands of hospitality, Zieher’s products are created from a combination of materials – porcelain, glass and

stainless steel are the main ones, while solid wood, real carbon fibre, slate and natural stone are also used.

Zieher’s Solid Series, for example, offers an extensive array of items made of solid walnut, including bowls, trays, cutting boards and breakfast buffet items. New to the Solid Series this season are the Bread and Fruit Baskets. Designed

by Milanese designer Itamar Harari, the handcrafted bowls of solid maple and walnut come with

Skyline Buffet Series One of Zieher’s most successful buffet lines, Skyline is now available in three versions – polished and the new matt black and matt white. The stainless steel columns come in different heights and can be combined with the Squareline Series, offering great flexibility. LED lights in combination with light-diffusing tubes provide the illumination of the system to achieve amazing results, while a huge choice of buffet platters made of different materials allow a set-up for every ambience.

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an exceptional design – think recesses at both ends – and manual workmanship of the highest level (think long-lasting).

It is Zieher’s use of the very best materials and workmanship that make them the highest quality, durability and strength. For example, the company uses borosilicate glass, a raw material mainly found in laboratory dishes, and which delivers a great resistance against heat and changes in temperature, as well as a high breakage resistance.

But it’s not just quality of materials that’s important these days.

“Besides durability and practicality, dishwasher safety and stackability, what matters today is variety of materials, uniqueness and extraordinary food presentations,”

PLATTERS Unique Shades Using special hardened safety glass, these dishwasher-safe buffet platters boast manually applied colour pigments fused into the glass, providing an irregular colouring that makes each piece unique.

SOLID Wooden Bread Baskets Manual workmanship combines with a foodsafe sealing in this new addition to the Solid Series. These stylish bread baskets are made of solid maple and walnut. says executive director of marketing and design, Oliver Zieher.

Oliver explains how today, an eight-course menu will be presented on completely different items using different materials and colours, the opposite to such presentation a decade ago when an eight-course menu was typically presented on items in a single series.

This is why Zieher’s tabletop and buffet products – of which there are currently 1,300 – not only mix the best of materials but offer multifunctional and innovative platforms upon which the latest gourmet trends sit. Take its Squareline buffet system – stainless steel displays, which take food presentation to new heights, quite literally. The Squareline towers, which come in

two heights, can be stacked using connector pieces that come in three versions – highly polished black acrylic, light-diffusing acrylic and handmade walnut wood, providing countless creative possibilities for the creation of a buffet display.

New this season is the black and white version of Skyline, a buffet system made of polished stainless steel that also boasts maximum flexibility, as well as a stunning visual appearance. The different heights of the columns allow the placing of one side of the buffet platters on top of a stand, while placing the other side between the ribs of a second stand. Made of stainless steel (18/10), it can be combined with Squareline, as well as with new light-diffusing tubes, which provide illumination of the system in different colours via rechargeable Zieher LED lights to achieve amazing effects.

A wide array of laminated plastic, natural slate and glass in different versions further allow a Skyline setup for every situation or ambience.

New from Zieher this season is its buffet platters made of structured glass with irregular colouring.

Created by colour pigments that are manually applied and fused into the glass, the platters with their structured undersides and rounded edges offer unique patterns in

STABLO Cool Lighting Effects This series now has an integrated ring, allowing the presentation of plates/ platters and the insertion of a glass wine cooler, shaped so condensing water drains to the bottom tip. LED lights put food in the spotlight.

individual and interesting shades of grey, making each piece unique.

Such individuality, whether in its handmade creation or in its versatility, is key for Zieher. Its Glass Cloches, which come in nine sizes, are handblown and manufactured by hand, meaning each one is different; while its Amuse collection – a series of thin-walled filigree jars, cups, bowls, cloches – come in organic forms, each piece unique due to its handblown creation.

Zieher also manages to perfectly combine function with fabulous presentation. Its Dots collection delivers geometric porcelain plates with nubs that are not only decorative, but also functional, meaning you can safely place glass/ porcelain miniatures upon them, separating liquid and solid food.

Continually looking for new ways to not only create a ‘wow’ presentation

but also to provide operators with increased versatility and benefits, like space saving, Zieher continually adds extensions to its existing collections.

Take the new addition to stainless steel buffet stand system Stablo – an integrated ring that allows the presentation of plates and platters, as well as the insertion of a wine cooler made of borosilicate glass.

Using optional extensions, the new raiser can be elongated to reach three different heights and so can be used on the buffet table or on the floor, while the integration of the optionally available rechargeable LED lights can help put champagne or iced food in the limelight.

Proving that flexibility, functionality and fabulous presentation can co-exist, Zieher is undoubtedly at the top of today’s HoReCa tabletop game. www.zieher.com

Did You Know…? Zieher presents its new products twice a year, revealing its edited main catalogue with 300 pages each Spring in time for Ambiente in Frankfurt, as well as a further leaflet presenting novelties and supplementary products in the Fall.

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A place for everything With the rise of global cuisine, eco-friendly practices and a trend towards casual dining, there is increasing demand for more natural materials, while spice grinders are trending upwards. We discover the functional yet fabulous looking tabletop accessories every kitchen and tabletop retailer needs

W SPOTLIGHT ON… Creative Tops UK tableware company Creative Tops offers customers a sales package – an entire table setting arrangement, including candlesticks and decorative accessories. The Katie Alice Highland Fling Collection – think vintage-inspired rose and purple coloured table runners, cotton napkins, tea lights, candlesticks and other accessories – allows consumers to use as little or as much of the range as they desire. “The range has been created so people can buy into the complete table setting over time,” says Creative Tops marketing manager, Clare Farthing.

www.creative-tops.com

hen it comes to tabletop accessories, consumers are increasingly looking for pieces that fuse high function and high design, yet also lend casual appeal to the table, as well as being considerate of the environment. From placemats, coasters and napkins, to salt/pepper mills and spice grinders, we discover what consumers want from their tabletop accessories today.

Serving both decorative and functional purposes, placemats and coasters, napkins and tablecloths, continue to be a large part of the dining experience despite the demise of formal dining. One of the leaders in the placemat category, Chilewich, says its tablemat business continues to grow in all of its distribution channels, including retail, proving there’s still a place for ‘setting the table.’.

British tableware accessories brand Tradestock, meanwhile, says that while demand for placemats remains buoyant, there has been a definite change in the pattern of sales with a move away from the more traditional towards the more contemporary.

“Accessories are still very important.

They provide the finishing touches to the table and can really change the aesthetic, dressing the table up or down to achieve the desired look,” says marketing manager for Portmeirion Group, Rachel Daniels.

“The way accessories are used has changed in recent years, however,” she says, explaining how less formal dining room settings and more open plan kitchen/diners has inspired casual table styling. “Vintage fashion has also contributed to relaxed dining styles, with accessories evolving to reflect this,” she says.

Donna Downing, CEO, Jason Products, a leading international manufacturer/distributor of hardback placemats and coasters, agrees: “As lifestyle trends are changing in the homewares industry towards a more casual table, businesses have had to reinvent their offering to reflect this,”

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she says, highlighting how Jason Products has, in response, increased its tabletop offering to include an extensive range of woven PVC and bamboo placemats that are very ontrend, casual and that, “cater for some shifts in consumer demand.”

Bamboo and other more natural, casual materials like wood, slate and copper, or a mix thereof, are what consumers are now looking for in the make-up of the tableware they buy.

“For Denby, the use of mixed materials is particularly prevalent in placemats, with wood, slate and woven vinyl available,” says Denby’s designer director, Richard Eaton, pointing to Denby’s wood and bamboo tablemats/coasters, some etched with patterns, and designed to bring an organic style to the table.

Richard continues: “Monsoon’s Kitchen Collection by Denby brings mixed materials together to create a collection that works equally in the kitchen and dining room,” he says, explaining how the formal rules and etiquette on dressing a table are long gone, with ‘personalisation and a warm welcome’ the new table etiquette for consumers.

Isabelle von Boch, family member and brand ambassador of Villeroy & Boch, agrees: “Nowadays, we see that casual and modern elegance is preferred to uptight formality.

Different materials, shapes and colours make accessories more diverse and a table décor less uniform,” says Isabelle, pointing to Villeroy & Boch’s Artesano collection, which boasts an array of table accessories characterised by their mix of ceramics with natural materials like wood, slate and cork.

Portmeirion Group similarly offers a range of materials in the make-up of its tableware, including accessories.

“Mixed materials are definitely a huge trend for 2014, hence our recent launch of Ambiance, an eclectic blend of pure porcelain, acacia wood and glass,” says Rachel, Portmeirion Group.

Jason Products offers a range of bamboo placemats; while Kitchen

Souda

Zieher ASA Selection Craft (Lifetime Brands) delivers placemats in cork, rattan and slate.

Slate and copper are materials that are, in fact, trending. “There is a growing trend for artisan and deli style foods and our natural slate tabletop accessories are very in keeping with this,” says Keith Nye, managing director, Tradestock. The Just Slate Company, the UK’s leading supplier of slate tableware, offers handcrafted slate accessories, from coasters and table runners to napkin name tags and oil and vinegar sets. This Autumn, the brand has turned to on-trend substrate copper in the creation of accessories, including sets of four hand-beaten round copper coated coasters.

Demand for more natural materials is also driven by the consumer’s desire to be more eco-friendly, a consumer buying trend that continues to rise. And tabletop companies are responding, not just with materials like wood, bamboo or slate, but with advanced technological materials that are kinder to the planet.

Take Chilewich. This leading placemat business recently substituted its petroleum-based plasticisers in its yarns for phthalate-free, renewable vegetable compounds. “TerraStrand contains 25 per cent renewable vegetable content and every square yard of TerraStrange saves 0.02 gallons of petroleum and 0.41 pounds of Co2 compared to conventional wovens,” says Chilewich’s vice president hospitality, Pat McNellis, explaining how Chilewich will use this in 90 per cent of its woven product by 2015.

They aren’t the only ones: US brand Dmemoir offers placemats, all of which are crafted from eco-friendly materials,

such as 100 per cent polyurethanes, ink/stain-resistant textiles and phthalate-free green vinyl; while US brand Core Accessories features all eco-friendly products, such as placemats made from rattan. They’re not just eco-friendly – made from 100 per cent organically grown bamboo – they are also highly functional (strong and durable) and look fabulous (they come in four bold saturated colours).

Placemats made to look like more natural materials are also trending to meet the demand consumers have for a more natural, warm and casual feel.

Earlier this year, Portmeirion Group’s placemat brand Pimpernel launched a new range with designs inspired by nature. The Organics Collection features designs of darkened wood, concentric wood, earth slate and midnight slate. German brand ASA launched its new PVC tablemats at last month’s Tendence – think a natural wood look and relief structure in oak cognac and pine whitewashed.

Despite this trend for a more casual set-up, an increase in entertaining at home still means there is a place for formal dining, especially for special and festive occasions. “Dressing the table is still an important ritual when hosting a dinner party, strongly influenced by TV shows, such as British show Come Dine With Me,” says marketing manager Creative Tops, Clare Farthing. “Seasonal occasions like Christmas and Easter allow people to be more creative when setting out a dining table,” says Clare, highlighting the Katie Alice Highland Fling Collection that allows consumers to use as little or as much of the range to decorate the table as they desire. Clare further highlights

how rich berry colours and metallics are trending with accessories.

Rachel, Portmeirion Group, agrees, pointing to the brand’s key theme this year as that of ‘hints of indulgence’.

“Our Damask Gold and Damask Silver large round placemats and coasters feature a mix of both matt and shiny finishes, and being a larger size means they can be used as a charger to create an elegant table setting all year round, or a very special festive setting at Christmas.”

Metallics are proving particularly popular, especially with placemats, coasters and napkins. From Brooklynbased design-focused manufacturer Souda comes its new Fin Series – durable and multi-functional industrial chic mats and coasters in gold and silver. Gold and silver are also reigning tabletop supreme at Juliska with its Sparkling Soiree festive accessories – think supple cotton linen blend napkins block printed with metallic patina and garden part terre patterns handcut and stitched into gold and silver round placemats.

“A table swathed in fine linens welcomes your guest like a wrapped present,” say Juliska.

On a more contemporary level, metallic gold was added to the new collection by textiles and accessories brand Jessie Steele.

Perfect for the holiday season, its Retro Polka Cocktail Napkins, made with 100 per cent cotton and sold in a set of four, feature metallic gold polka dots on hot pink.

Exotic textures and

Kitchen Craft

MERCHANDISING MATS Kitchen Craft’s cork back range offers 20+ different surface designs from fun, funky, floral and farmhouse to beach, café and retro. And with such a comprehensive collection to show off, a simple and compact revolving merchandiser (pictured above) displays all items, whilst optimising retail space.

Tradestock

Juliska Portmeirion

Pimpernel

Jessie Steele

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Finum faux finishes like leather are also proving popular. At NY NOW, luxury tabletop dinnerware distributor Kiyasa introduced its Kiyasa Signature placemat collection, boasting five patterns including faux exotic animal skin textures like python and pony.

Made of synthetic leather and embellished with Swarovski Crystals, these mats come in eight colours, including gold. Harman also unveiled its new line of faux finishes, including exotic skin textures in metallics, as well as its vinyl leaf-inspired tablemats in gold and silver; while Juliska presented new accessories with texture, including quilted placemats (Burlap Quilted Placemats), part of the Acanthus range; and faux woven leather placemats in autumnal tones (Country Estate Autumnal Traditions Collection).

“Faux leather is proving particularly popular,” says managing director of British table accessories brand, Tradestock, Keith Nye, explaining how the construction of this material lends itself to the brand’s FreeForm concept.

Bringing a touch of opulence to its FreeForm family, the new Mock Crock Textured FreeForm trays/placemats are not just decorative, but functional – offering a non-slip surface.

Patterns, pictures and photography on accessories like placemats, coasters and napkins continue to do well with consumers… used as accents on a table setting, they provide decorative appeal. “There has been a shift towards more pattern recently, with consumers adding little accents of pattern to warm up their table setting, so we sell lots of patterned napkins,” says Nathalie Smith, Global Table, a New York-based independent tableware retailer.

Portmeirion Group’s placemat brand Pimpernel offers a range of traditional and contemporary designs on its cork back range, as does Kitchen Craft – the

latter offering twenty different surface designs from fun and funky to café and retro. This means that licenses are good business for placemats as brands like Tradestock and Jason Products, both focused on the placemat business, have discovered. Tradestock boasts four licenses with artists, including Ann Edwards and Howard Shooter, as well as its latest license with British institution Royal Mail, which has resulted in a range of colourful placemats, coasters and trays splashed with the iconic postage stamp design.

Jason Products also delivers licensed placemats. Meanwhile, new US-based kitchen textile company, KHS Imports, has introduced a range of licensed artwork – licensed artists include Kris Ruff and Andrea Strongwater – on placemats, tablecloths, napkins, runners, coasters and aprons.

Spice it up The popularity of home cooking from scratch, driven by so many culinary TV shows, and the trend for eating more healthily and so adding more flavour, has led to consumers increasingly mixing their own spice blends. This has led to increased demand for functional flavouring products, such as salt/ pepper mills, spice grinders, dressing and condiment vessels.

And with style more important than ever, the aesthetics of such products is increasingly important, especially as they are not just being used in the kitchen, but also taking pride of place on the table. Considerations such as style, colour and design are increasingly key, along with good design, function and good quality.

This means that it is more important than ever for retailers to stock stylish, functional mills in a range of designs.

Kitchen retailer Lakeland says that its customers want products to

T&G Woodware look great, work well and last, and the retailer offers a wide range of different mills – those that are fun like the Sergeant Pepper Mill, those that are brightly coloured, those that are more traditional like Lakeland’s No-Spill range, and those with innovative functionality like Cole & Mason’s precision grind mechanism or Oxo Good Grips mills that “are easy to use and have the mechanism on the top of the mill to prevent salt or pepper ending up on your table,” says a spokesperson for Lakeland.

The biggest innovation for mills in recent years has been the introduction of ceramic grinders, which have proven to be harder and longer-lasting than traditional steel mechanisms. A ceramic mechanism not only means great performance for many years, but also ease of use and ease of cleaning, as well as being non-corrosive and

non-porous, and unlike metal, it will not oxidise food but enhance its flavour. TV chef Mal Harradine says ceramic mills are “fabulous not only for grinding salt and pepper, but also for grinding herbs and dried spices, extracting the natural oils and flavours.”

The trend for good health, as well as trying food from around the world, has also inspired consumers to be more adventurous and use more flavour, increasing demand for spice grinders.

“Flavour has become evermore important today, with consumers demanding new tastes and an exploration of the senses,” says Kristiana Psimiti, corporate communications manager for Finum, a company that develops fabulous and functional products all focused on flavour.

Finum’s award-winning debut Look, Touch, Taste, is a patented spice grinder with a ceramic grinder

What the retailer says… “At Lakeland, our customers have a firm focus on quality and functionality they want products to look great, work well and last. In the ranges we stock, we look for trusted brands that offer great quality and innovative functions. Take the Cole & Mason precision grind mechanism, for example… we love it for its absolute accuracy when it comes to how coarse your salt or pepper is ground. Ultimately, whether they are fun, such as our Sergeant Pepper Mill, brightly coloured, or more traditional like our No-Spill range, salt/pepper and spice mills need to fit with existing tableware and home décor.” Lakeland spokesperson 50 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Villeroy & Boch

What the retailer says… “We stock a wide variety of quality mills

mechanism that has been designed in such a way to prevent cooking vapours from entering the main body of the grinder, so spices are always kept dry and fresh. It also has a fitted coaster to cover the bottom of the grinder to protect it from kitchen odours and an adjustable coarseness of grinding and can be used to blend dried herbs and spices to create personal blends.

T&G Woodware’s CrushGrind offers similar versatility and functionality.

Containing the superior and patented CrushGrind ceramic mechanism, it grinds not just salt and pepper but whole dried herbs and spices.

“Ceramic mechanisms are popular and T&G’s CrushGrind particularly so because it’s easy to adjust the coarseness and they’re easy to fill as they have no central spindle,” says David Lee, manager of retail store,

from about 10 brands. Mills are one of our top categories and occupy a prime spot near the door so are one of the first things customers see when they enter.

Mills are bought as self-purchases and as gifts; we find the number of both gift purchases and self-purchases increase in the run-up to Christmas as people like to trade up to better mills when they have guests. The UK used to be a nation of pots of pre-ground pepper and salt on the table but people are increasingly moving to the freshly ground varieties.We stock a good selection of herbs and spices, as well as salt and peppercorns – they are a useful add-on sale.”

David Lee, manager, Kitchens, Bath, UK Kitchens in Bath, UK. It is also fully adjustable, with 12 settings, from coarse to fine, and doesn’t have a spindle, making it easy to fill. It also comes with a lifetime guarantee, a value-add proposition that most consumers look for today.

Villeroy & Boch also offers a spice grinder with a high-quality ceramic grinding mechanism in its Cooking Elements range, which grinds not just salt and pepper, but also dried spices and herbs. Completely rust-proof and guaranteeing an unadulterated fresh taste, the ergonomically formed top and transparent container ensure easy handling, while the practical lid allows the hygienic closing of the grinder.

I Grunverg

T&G Woodware

Lakeland

Functionality in mills continues to evolve. I. Grunwerg’s new GMILL Gravity Mill has taken grinding technology to the next level with its revolutionary GMILL Gravity Mill, which when you tip it, grinds for you.

Another trend in this product category, as with placemats and tablecloths, is that of using more natural materials like wood, and/ or those with eco-friendliness.

Stelton’s latest addition to its gourmet tableware is Forest Salt & Pepper Mills made from light oak in a contemporary Nordic design and a ceramic grinder.

T&G Woodware, meanwhile, offers mills made from wood certified by the FSC; while the salt and pepper mills

from in the Core Bamboo range from Core Accessories are made from 100 per cent organically grown bamboo.

Other consumers prefer stainless steel mills due to their slick high design, functionality and quality. Both American design brand Nambe and British design brand Robert Welch Designs are known for this, creating high design tabletop accessories – including salt/pepper mills in slick, contemporary designs. As part of its new-for-Autumn 2014 Signature Kitchen Collection, Robert Welch Designs has delivered slick stainless steel Salt & Pepper mills; while Nambe offers a wide array of high design pieces made from a combination of chrome and other materials and designed by acclaimed designers.

Ultimately, whatever the style, material or type of product chosen, consumers’ demand for high functionality along side high design is one that continues to be key.

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Merchandising mill tips Mills should be creatively merchandised to attract impulse purchasers who are so important in this category (mills are not generally a planned purchase). It’s surprising how many mill displays are uninspiring and cluttered.

Many stores selling mills also miss the valuable opportunity to cross-sell other items that arise by displaying mills close to other related products. The best displays recognise that consumers are interested in mills because they’re interested in food and cooking in the broader sense; so clever retailers build on this interest and make it easy for the consumer to try, buy and navigate their way to other product categories.

For example, stocking a range of spice racks alongside mills encourages shoppers to take an interest in the whole ‘seasoning’ area, especially with so much interest in international cuisine.

Giving the consumer the chance to ‘test’ the mills is important, as they are all about ease-of-use, functionality and ergonomics.

Asia’s biggest kitchen/dining store, ToTT in Singapore, which is expert at engaging the consumer with experiential services, boasts a standalone ‘Use Me’ salt/pepper mill stand encouraging consumers to engage with the mills.

Independent store Whisk NYC, meanwhile, has expert staff who test all products it stocks, including its mills, and then uploads comparative reviews on its website, alongside videos. “We increasingly sample all new products before bringing them in and weed out items we discover are problematic,” says Whisk NYC owner, Natasha Armott.

Ideas for retailing mills...

• When carrying out cookery demos, ask customers to try the mills and play with them, creating interaction.

CORE ACCESSORIES Core Accessories is an eco-friendly American brand offering green kitchen/tabletop accessories. “Core Home stands behind being an eco-friendly company – we want to create beautiful products and protect the environment at the same,” says marketing manager, Juliet Morrison. Included in its product portfolio are rattan and bamboo placemats, in four bold colours, which you can mix and match. Rattan is naturally fast-growing and naturally durable. Woven and finished by hand, they come in sets of four. “The colours are rich and vibrant and are achieved using food-safe, water-based adhesives and natural oils.

Just wipe clean with cool soapy water,” says Juliet.

www.corehome.com

LINEN ME Chicago-based company Linen Me specialises in 100 per cent European linen, offering tablecloths, runners and napkins. Launched this summer is the new Stone Washed Table Linen Collection – think six colours, including oatmeal, white, blue, rosa, aloe green, silver and taupe, of tablecloths, runners and nakins. All items are soft, as they are pre-washed twice during production, and easy to care for.

www.linenme.com

• Have trial/display models – alongside boxed product – so customers can try out the product. This creates a lovely aroma in the store and makes the purchase more interactive.

• Make sure you locate the category alongside cooking utensils and gifting items.

• Introduce food products, cookery books and recipe cards to the fixture – an element that Asian store ToTT does brilliantly.

• Use different types of salt and pepper and herbs in the display mills to add colour, aroma and texture to a display.

• Use point of sale material to explain the features of the mill.

• Choose a brand with attractive packaging that gives the mills appeal as gift items. The ‘giftability’ of mills can also be communicated by showing them in displays as part of a seasonal theme.

• Place directly related items, such as salt and pepper refills, dried herbs, spcie racks, spice jars, spice mills, pestles and mortars and mill rests, near the mills to create a story.

• Ask customers interested in buying mills proactive questions, such as: What materials and colours do you like best?; Do you prefer a contemporary of more traditional style?; Can I show you the difference between steel and ceramic mechanisms?; Did you know you could adjust the mechanism to make grounds coarse or fine for different dishes?

TRADESTOCK This 30-year-old British brand is famed for its FreeForm family of functional and stylish trays and placemats: the revolutionary design allows the tray to sit flat, acting as a placemat, but cleverly transforms into a highly functional tray with handles. Tradestock offers Original FreeForm Trays in 16 reversible colour combinations; patterned FreeForm; as well as the new Mock Crock Textured FreeForm trays (think opulent and non-slip) and a new FreeForm Gallery collection, with designs of iconic scenes, landmarks and abstract designs. Also new from Tradestock is a licensing agreement with the Royal Mail, resulting in The Definitive Collection, a colourful range of FreeForm trays, lap trays, placemats/coasters splashed with the iconic postage stamp designs.

www.tradestockltd.co.uk 52 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

KIYASA Kiyasa Group, high-end distributor of luxury tabletop and dinnerware, has introduced its exquisite Kiyasa Signature placemat collection. It comes in five textured – think faux exotic animal skins – patterns, including python and pony, and eight different colours, including ivory, black, brown, cream, gold, grey, navy and silver. Made of synthetic leather and embellished with Swarovski crystals, they are easy to care for with a simple damp cloth. Versions without crystals are also available.

www.kiyasa.com

T&G WOODWARE One of Europe’s leading suppliers of everyday kitchen essentials, T&G Woodware offers thoughtfully designed, responsibly produced, exceptional quality products and has become the market leader with its awardwinning patented CrushGrind mills and wide choice of mills within the Traditional range. Recently launched are the new CrushGrind Optic mills in soft touch putty and stone colours. Offering the patented CrushGrind ceramic mechanism, they grind salt, pepper, herbs and spices in 12 different levels of coarseness and come with a lifetime guarantee.

www.tg-woodware.com

LINUM Linum is a 48-year-old Swedish textile company using only natural materials of the highest quality. This season, Linum launches its Abstract Landscape range– think bright limes, warm corals and deep ocean blues mixed with neutrals and greys. Imaginative prints such as Hilma, a jacquard design for a more formal or special dining occasion, can be made as tablecloths, runners and napkins. This collection easily pairs with the brand’s West Collection, which is its 100 per cent stonewashed linen range.

www.linum.se

DENBY

BLACK & BLUM Inspired by the Fibonacci curve seen throughout nature, the simple yet beautiful Loop Maison range consists of a number of functional and decorative handcrafted table accessories made from chromed steel. In addition to candle holders, a vase and a lamp, are nine new additions, including a salt and pepper shaker set in the loop design, made of chromed steel, glass and cork. Available November 2014.

Denby offers a wide range of accessories, such as placemats and coasters that have been designed to complement all tableware ranges, such as its Monsoon Collection of matching tablemats and coasters.

In addition, it offers placemats and coasters in other materials, including slate, wood and faux leather. Its contemporary and highly functional faux leather tablemats and coasters offer a durable yet design conscious alternative; while its Slate and Granite accessories, some with etched designs, offer a sophisticated touch.

It also offers etched designs on wooden placemats – think designs like birds and cow parsley – as well as bamboo ones.

www.denby.co.uk

www.black-blum.com TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 53

THE JUST SLATE COMPANY

PORTMEIRION GROUP

Renowned for its handcrafted and contemporary slate tabletop accessories, from coasters and servers to table runners and condiment trays, The Just Slate Company has this season moved into copper, unveiling its Copper Luxe Collection. Offering handbeaten copper pieces in seven designs, including a set of two handbeaten copper coated condiment pops with copper spoons, a set of three handbeaten copper coated votives and a copper and slate serving platter.

www.justslate.co.uk

New collections from Portmeirion Group’s Pimpernel, one of the premier brands for placemats, coasters and kitchen accessories, include a variety of colourful designs, including metallic paisley patterned ones, Damask Gold and Damask Silver and an autumnal themed design called Dancing Branches. Sister brand Spode, meanwhile, has launched additions in the way of placemats and coasters to its popular Delamere Rural collection. Portmeirion’s classic Botanic Garden is also refreshed, with the Hydrangea motif replacing the African Lily motif in the sets of four Round Placemats, and the brand’s latest tableware range Coast is interpreted in a range of round blue and yellow themed placemats and coasters. For something more retro, there is the 1950s-inspired pieces from Portmeirion’s Vintage

VILLEROY & BOCH

Kellogg’s Collection.

www.portmeirion.co.uk

CHILEWICH One of the leaders in the placemat category, Chilewich provides its woven tabletop collection of placemats, coasters, napkins and table runners to hospitality and retail. Made with extruded vinyl yarns, they offer great design versatility – 12 weaves and 107 colours – and high functionality. “They are durable and strain-resistant and contain Microban antimicrobial protection, which works for the lifetime of the product to inhibit the growth of stain and odour-causing bacteria, mould and mildew,” says Pat McNellis, VP Wholesale + Hospitality, Chilewich.

www.chilewich.com

STELTON The latest addition by Stelton is its salt and pepper mills Forest. Boasting a simple, Nordic design, the pair of mills are made from light oak – think warmth and strength – crafted like the shape of fungi on the forst floor. “Nature is very much a part of contemporary design, so that was the starting point in selecting material and shape. I was fascinated by wooden knobs which wear down over time to become even more attractive,” says designer, Klaus Rath. The mills have a little round, stainless steel plate at the top and both boast ceramic grinders, which are easily adjustable to regular how coarse or fine you want the seasoning to be.

www.stelton.com

Villeroy & Boch’s Artesano range, which boasts an exciting mix of materials – think premium porcelain with acacia wood, glass, cork and slate – and includes both the white Artesano Original and floral patterned Artesano Provencal collections, received accessory line extensions this year. These included pepper and salt shakers, oil and vinegar carafes and pitchers. In the Artesano Original collection, there is a porcelain oil/vinegar pitcher with cork stopper and porcelain spice shaker with cork stopper; while in the Artesano Tavola Accessories Collection, there are separate glass salt and pepper shakers and oil and vinegar carafes with cork stoppers on acacia wood trays.

www.villeroy-boch.com

52 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

JULISKA This high-end luxury tabletop brand known for its stunningly beautiful and decorative tableware has launched its A/W 2014 introductions, including an array of tabletop accessories. Additions to the Collectible Country Estate Winter Frolic range include Plaid placemats in red and white, Plaid pique napkins and cute tuxedo napkin rings in black and ruby red. Meanwhile, accessory extensions to the Country Estate Autumnal Traditions collection include faux woven leather placemats in brown, along with Pumpkin Josephine Napkins in a cotton linen blend. Juliska has also expanded its Acanthus collection to include napkins and placemats – think Burlap Quilted Placemats and Espresso Crochet Placemats.

www.juliska.com

2015 2.100 exhibitors from over 40 countries 60.000 professional attendees from over 125 countries

ROSENTHAL Rosenthal has used Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup pop art motif to decorate both glass and porcelain nd the Andy Warhol line is now extensive. Earlier this year, it extended this highly giftable line to unveil Limited-edition salt and pepper shakers (pictured), available until the end of the year, which come in five coloured designs, including blue, orange, yellow, pink, and red and white.

www.rosenthal.de

Source from leading housewares manufacturers and suppliers worldwide – innovative new products not yet available at European or Asian shows.

Profit from inspiring ideas and qualified partnerships – first-class learning and networking opportunities for both independent specialty retailers and corporate buyers.

7 – 10 March Chicago, USA

ANNA NEW YORK BY RABLABS New homeware brand from designer Anna Rabinowicz, Anna New York by RabLabs, uses nature as its inspiration and luxurious semi-precious gems like agate and crystal as its core material, delivering everything from coasters and placemats, to trays and candlesticks. Pairing solid acacia wood with brass and natural stone, the new Bosque Trays (pictured below) are part of the new accessories introduced for the holiday season. A perfect complement to any table, the natural edges of the stone contrast with the clean geometry of the wood making a visual impact. Available in polished Agate and Druze.

Show information and free online pre-registration for visitors: www.housewares.org/attend for exhibitors: www.housewares.org/exhibit

For travel arrangements contact: onPeak, Housewares Official Housing Partner, Tel: +1 312 5277300, Email: housewares@onpeak.co

HOSPITALITY INTERVIEW

ABOUT GOODFELLOWS

TABLE TALK

Goodfellows In our regular column, we talk tabletop with a hospitality expert. This month, we discuss luxury tableware and personalised service with tableware and kitchen equipment distributors, Goodfellows & Goodfellows What does Goodfellows offer the hospitality industry that’s unique?

Many of our tableware brands are exclusive, so you’re not going to be able to access these products in any other way. Equally important in terms of our offerings, however, is our ability to design exclusive products and have them made, providing a bespoke service for our clients. It is this fusion of creating and combining that really makes a difference to our customers.

Which brands and why?

Everyone from Serax, Narumi, Pordamsa and Guy Degrenne, to Costa Nova, Hering Berlin, Glass Studio, Pott and Robert Welch. We work really hard to find brands we feel chefs and restauranteurs will love, which means we have brands from all over the world, with every brand offering something different. We have exclusive brands, such as Hering Berlin, aimed at the highest level, but we also have good value brands, like Arc, offering great styling and functionality. It’s about covering all the potential requirements that different dining styles need, so for example, we have Narumi bone china that offers the best value bone china on the market and is amazing at décor, alongside small craft producers in stoneware that provide unique, natural shapes and colours that play to a different market.

56 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

How important is tabletop in the success of a restaurant?

Very important – it’s all about the concept. Tableware should be as important as the décor, the menu, the service. Every aspect of the experience needs to support the overall values of the concept and restauranteurs should plan what message they want to convey through their presentation.

That’s where we come in... we help clients understand and then treat, with sensitivity, the menu and vision of the restauranteur. First, we understand the menu and then suggest a functional, yet interesting twist on how to present that menu to the best advantage. I believe that’s why we offer a different perspective to other distributors because our first priority is the food.

When it comes to tableware, the concept should never be gimmicky or overwhelm the food. When done well, a concept is like a well-constructed menu, it should tell a story throughout the evening and the diner should come away thinking that everything has been well thought through, rather than conspicuously staged.

What does tabletop say about an establishment?

It needs to support and be in perfect harmony with the food, so if the food is high quality, tabletop needs to be similarly presented. Some operators

Launched in 2012 by husband and wife team Paul and Valda Goodfellow (Paul was a chef ), Goodfellows is a luxury tableware and kitchen equipment business offering a highly personalised service to top restaurants, hotels and sporting venues, including the The Ritz, The Dorchester, Claridges and Jason Atherton’s restaurants in the UK, as well as contract caterers and customers in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and exporting to Hong Kong, Sweden, Australia and Russia. They supply tableware – everything from dinnerware and glassware to cutlery and accessories – in everything from slate to silver to stoneware from a collection of niche tableware brands, from Costa Nova stoneware and Deshoulieres porcelain, to Robert Welch flatware and Arc stemware.

They also boast ‘Atelier de Table’ and ‘Concepts’ services, which offer bespoke-produced products and solutions and they have a luxury showroom in London, where clients can view some of the fantastic products and ideas they have.

think that if they buy the most durable tableware, they will get years of service from it, but the speed the market is moving, it is unlikely that it should still be on the table in little more than a year’s time. The restaurant market is highly competitive and diners are well travelled, knowledgeable and discerning. They want to be satisfied by the food, delighted by the service and admiring of the presentation.

Can the right pieces alter enjoyment of a meal?

Yes. Products selected can intrigue, amuse and add interest to dishes. We firstly eat with our eyes before we taste, so presentation should create a sense of anticipation.

www.goodfshop.net

Pieter Stockmans

Les Guimards

What are the current trends?

Trends move quickly and, much like fashion, start at haute couture (cuisine) and end up on the high street.

We have seen the ‘Noma’ effect – handmade plates by rural craftsmen – start at the top end of the market and it’s now feeding through to the middle and lower end with less subtlety. Once that starts to happen, you will then see

the top end start to change again.

Does all-white tableware continue to be popular?

White is enduring because it looks good with any food and offers versatility of use, an advantage to chefs. Now, it’s more usual for chefs to add elements of colour and texture in their presentation. Concepts today are about mixing materials and styles to convey the values of the restaurant, the personality of the chef and the requirements of the menu.

www.crystalex.cz

...serving professionals

Profile Vidivi

“We deliver affordable luxury glassware” Tableware International talks to sales director Antonio Mandruzzato about transparency, trends and why Vidivi glass products are top of the glassware game

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stablished in 1905, with its first plant in Turin, Italy, Italian hi-tech glassware manufacturer Vetrerie Riunite S.p.A is known for making products in high definition pressed glass for the home and table, and for the perfumery and automobile industries.

In the seventies, it opened a second plant in Colognola ai Colli, Verona, and in the late nineties, set up its Houseware division Vetri delle Venezie, dedicated to table and giftware, introducing its brand Vidivi - Vetri delle Venezie (Vidivi), which is aimed at delivering “affordable luxury glass products to enhance your home and improve your everyday way of life.” In 2011, the brand’s online store was launched.

Today, 20 per cent of glass produced by the glassware manufacturer is in tableware, with 70 per cent of that focused on its own brand, Vidivi, and 30 per cent produced for other brands. Vidivi now offers a wide range of glassware products for the home – with its core business represented by tumblers, bowls, plates, chargers, vases, centrepieces and serveware – all of which have been made at the Verona manufacturing plant.

For the glassware company and the Vidivi brand, in particular, ‘transparency’, ‘Made in Italy’ and ‘high quality’ are key in distinguishing the products from others.

We talk to sales director, Antonio Mandruzzato, about transparency, trends and why Vidivi glass 58 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

products are top of the tableware game.

Vidivi products are all ‘Made in Italy’. How important is this today?

All pressed glass articles marked with the Vidivi sticker are made at our manufacturing plant in Colognola ai Colli in Verona, Italy. For our brand, ‘Made in Italy’ is synonymous with true quality and careful attention to every single detail, not solely at an aesthetic level.

What sort of ‘attention to detail’ does the brand undertake?

Everything from the purity of materials we use, to the diligent manufacturing process. We use only raw materials (silicon) sourced exclusively from Europe, which are carefully checked upon arrival to ensure a high standard of quality and purity. Then, only the best materials are selected after accurate quality control tests, which are performed daily. Ranked as ‘extra white’, our glass boasts the complete absence of impurities.

And what type of glass does this produce?

We produce High Definition (HD) Glass. We use only the purest raw materials and our HD Glass has very low metal content, with the iron content almost non-existent. Our HD Glass is top in its classification – Category A for Foodstuffs – meaning it is certified and suitable for all contact

with foodstuffs, including sterilisation, as certified by the Murano Glass Testing Center. Thanks to the purity of the raw materials used and the manufacturing process, HD Glass is also considered particularly resistant to impacts and mechanical stress. The Safety Test* guarantees that HD Glass does not fracture or explode into small fragments that might pose a risk; and that the base of the glass tends to come off, limiting the chances of the glass shattering. The latter is considered a plus, especially for restaurants and hotels. Also, as pressed and annealed glass, it has proven to be extremely safe, above average compared to other products on the market.

HD Glass also offers increased transparency and brilliance, right?

Yes, our HD Glass was originally created for the production of washing machine windows, car lights and the luxury perfume sector, where high levels of brilliance and transparency are essential.

Our HD Glass is certified as highly chemically stable, certainly over the average, meaning it doesn’t deteriorate after prolonged dishwasher use – it doesn’t become cloudy and is extremely resistant to hydrolytic. This is a very important feature for the market. The low metal content we use – iron content is almost non-existent – means our glass has an extremely high brilliance and transparency, with a refractive index of 1.51 and a

NEW FROM VIDIVI light transmission at 92 per cent**.

The effect can be compared to the brilliance of crystal but, unlike crystal, our glass contains no lead and is 100 per cent recyclable.

in a variety of original and brilliant optic designs. The smooth silhouette is enhanced by luminous surfaces, making each of the pieces unique.

So, you offer customisation?

So, the perfect glassware for HoReCa, in particular?

Yes, our collection is very well addressed for the HoReCa market and we are focused on that. About 45 per cent of our total sales are in the HoReCa segment, with our big customers in Europe and the US – companies such as Chomette in France, Fortessa in the US and Zhier in Germany. Customers, for example, would find our products in the Armani Hotel, Dubai and Milan; and in the Hippopotamus restaurant chain in France.

So, Vidivi is well and truly an international brand now?

Yes, we are certainly in growth, especially in emerging markets, such as Brazil, China and the Middle East region. Our Vidivi products are very popular in the Middle East and Russia, in particular, because they are appreciated for the ‘Made in Italy’ quality and design.

* Quality control tests performed by Murano Glass Testing Center ** Research carried out by the Laboratio Analisi Vetrerie Riunite

How would you describe the Italian design style of Vidivi products?

Our designers are original, playing with different patterns, sometimes more fluid, sometimes more geometric. They draw inspiration mainly from nature and the surrounding world, always creating new and original shapes and optics. A distinctive element of the Vidivi collection, in particular, is the possibility to customise the glass

We focus on the production of our own products, but we do offer some customisation – the possibility to modify the internal design of the products with a very low investment and a very big differentiation.

Any trends you are seeing?

The trend towards increased entertaining at home, especially in the UK and US, has led to increased demand for serveware pieces. Last year, we introduced a dome in four different sizes, to match our footed plates, and this year, due to market requests, we expanded our collection with four brand-new jugs, plus we introduced new shot and espresso glasses.

This season, Vidivi has introduced new shot and espresso glasses, as well as four new jugs, in order to complete its range.

CUORE COLLECTION The iconic shape of the heart has been revisited, delivering contemporary pieces with thick contours and flowing asymmetrical edges. The collection of pressed glass pieces includes a plate, food bowl and decorative bowl.

SHOT & ESPRESSO GLASSES New shot and espresso glasses are added to the Rialto, Concerto and Honey Collections. They are solid, heat-resistant and made with 100 per cent lead-free glass.

Why is glass a superior material for food and drink?

It is a common and well-known idea that the taste of food and drink stored within the appropriate glass vessels is better than that of foodstuffs contained in other materials. The olfactory and taste experience changes completely, allowing room for more distinct and enjoyable aromas and characteristics.

What are Vidivi’s bestsellers?

Concerto, Honey and Diva are three of Vidivi’s bestselling collections.

These are appreciated for the wideness of their range, allowing consumers or operators to have a perfectly coordinated table. www.vetridellevenezie.co.uk

JUGS COLLECTION Three new Vidivi jugs in pressed glass complete the popular Honey, Concerto and Diva lines. Each is characterised by a distinctive design, creating unexpected sparkles in the glass, allowing for originality at each setting. The Concerto jug features a rhomboidal pattern; the Diva jug boasts a weave of folds that drop out one after the other; and the Honey jug features a pattern that recalls the natural shapes of a beehive.

70%

The percentage of glass tableware produced by Vetrerie Riunite S.p.A that is branded Vidivi. The remaining 30 per cent of glass tableware produced is for other brands, which include Leonardo, Luigi Bormioli, Schott Zwiesel, Zhier and BHS Schonwald. Tableware, however, is only 20 per cent of the overall production for the glassware manufacturer.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 59

SHOW REVIEW BLE

Brand Licensing Europe 2014

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND This year’s Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) is gearing up to be the largest to date in its 16-year history when it returns to London’s Olympia on October 7-9. We discover why licensing can be lucrative and why you shouldn’t miss this year’s show

T

his year’s Brand Licensing Europe show is hotting up for its spectacular showcase at London’s Olympia from October 7-9, 2014.

The annual show, which is divided into three zones – Art, Design & Image; Brands & Lifestyle; and Character & Entertainment – will feature around 2,500 brands, characters and images on display from more than 250 exhibitors; of which more than 70 are brand new.

New exhibitors in the Art, Design & Image zone include: 366 Hearts, Ann Edwards, Yvette Jordan and Borders Design. Elsewhere, in the Brands & Lifestyle zone, the show welcomes Chelsea Football Club, HUSTLER and The International New

York Times; and The Dreamchaser Company, The Jim Henson Group and Mr Trafalgar in the Character & Entertainment zone, among others.

Education in focus Running alongside the show will be the renowned Licensing Academy, featuring a packed programme of sessions offering industry insights.

Sessions already confirmed include an introduction to the show, and the licensing industry, from LIMA; alongside licensing facts, figures and trends from Knowledge Partners GfK, NPD Group and Planet Retail.

On the first two days, the Academy also plays host to keynote sessions from industry trailblazers.

On day one, Leah Davis, head

of marketing at Team GB, British Olympic Association Team, will tell the story of the inspirational Team GB brand; while on day two, there will be a presentation by Vu Bui, chief operating officer of Mojang AB, the maker of Minecraft, which will explore the rise and rise of one of today’s biggest brands.

For those considering attending for the first time, Kelvyn Gardner, managing director of industry body LIMA UK, explains the event’s appeal: “Brand Licensing Europe is an incredibly welcoming trade show. If you’re thinking about licensing, you should definitely attend.

“Don’t be put off because you think that you don’t know enough about how it works. Every morning

I present a 30-minute basic introduction to licensing and to the show – just come along to that and you will know enough to get far more out of your first contact with the licensing community. If you like what you see, consider networking with all the industry heavyweights at our Global Networking Party on the Wednesday night in Mayfair. It’s a fun evening of conversation, canapés and contact creation!”

New features New for 2014, the Brands & Lifestyle Theatre will offer free sessions tailored specifically to the business of licensing brands. Visitors will hear expert guidance on licensing within the world of sport, lifestyle,

Why Licensing Is Good For Retailers… “What does licensing deliver to retailers? Products with a built-in marketing budget. Consumers love their favourite characters, TV shows, movies and sports with the same passion usually associated with big brands.

Properties like Peppa Pig and Moshi Monsters deliver huge audiences eager to enhance their experience of the core entertainment through quality merchandise. Indeed, licensing based on the digital world – like Moshi, Angry Birds or Minecraft – gives retailers a way to earn profits from platforms which otherwise divert consumer spending away from the High Street.”

Kelvyn Gardner, managing director, LIMA UK 60 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Why attend BLE… WHAT THE LICENSOR SAYS… “BLE enables us to showcase some of our licensed products under one roof and to demonstrate the possibilities of working with the historical and prestigious V&A brand. The international visitor profile should allow us to capture the imagination of retailers and manufacturers in diverse categories from all parts of the world. “ Lauren Sizeland, director of brand licensing and business development, V&A

Tradestock & Royal Mail

WHAT THE LICENSEES SAY…

Portmeirion & Peppa

UK tableware suppliers Tradestock was introduced to its most recent license, the Royal Mail license, at last year’s Brand Licensing Europe. Tradestock launched its collection of tablemats, trays and coasters featuring the iconic Royal Mail postage stamp imagery at Exclusively Housewares in June. Keith Nye, managing director, Tradestock, says:

British tableware brand Portmeirion Group launched its new Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank Engine licensed tableware – think ceramic plate, bowl, mug, egg cup – this summer.

Rachel Daniels, marketing manager, Portmeirion Group, says:

“We only launched our initial designs under our Royal Mail license in June this year. It’s early days yet, but we are already seeing huge interest from the UK, as well as Japan and America. It is such a recognised and respected brand and hopefully the link between Royal Mail and ourselves will help to strengthen our market position and brand identity.”

“Both Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank Engine are instantly recognisable characters to consumers of all ages and we have great expectations for these collections, both of of which are causing quite a stir with our younger customers. They’re such popular and iconic characters and the collection pieces make great gifts.”

“BLE is a valuable event for finding licenses and having the opportunity to meet the people behind them. When so many licensees are under one roof, it offers a great opportunity to see exactly what is available and to develop new ideas.”

Keith Nye, managing director, Tradestock

“We visited BLE last year and will be doing so again this year. We’re looking to see what’s new in the world of licensing and catch up with some of our existing licensing partners. At BLE, we get to see lots of different licensing opportunities, from big and small companies alike, all under one roof. We are always looking for new licensing opportunities to add to our portfolio.”

Rachel Daniels, marketing manager, Portmeirion Group

WHAT THE LICENSING AGENT SAYS… fashion and heritage brands. Run in partnership with Brand Jam, the sessions will present powerful case studies alongside Brand Jam’s interpretation of how and why they are so successful. Beanstalk, IMG and Extreme are already confirmed to speak.

License This!

Now in its fifth year, the License This! Competition offers those with brand-new creative concepts the opportunity to break into the global licensing industry. The final will take place on Thursday October 9, with finalists vying for the chance to win a stand at Brand Licensing Europe 2015 and an opportunity to bring the product to market.

The property owners of last year’s winner, Mr Trafalgar, a whimsical rodent drawn in distinctive black and white silhouette, have been busy developing the characters in the portfolio to bring back to this year’s show. The competition has provided a springboard for many past winners and finalists, including last year’s finalist ‘Railway of Life’, which secured a deal with The Coaster Company within weeks of the show.

Charity focus This year BLE is supporting a number of charitable

causes, including that of hosting a themed ‘Table Dennis’ charity table tennis tournament raising awareness of the sport as an effective therapy for those suffering from Dementia in partnership with DC Thomson Consumer Products, Bounce Alzheimer’s Therapy (BAT) Foundation and Table Tennis England.

Championship players from Table Tennis England, together with sports personalities and celebrities, will be invited to take part in demo matches throughout the show. This year’s event also boasts its very own mascot in the shape of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home rescue dog, ‘Squirt’ (the Staffie), who will be available for photo calls on the Battersea stand. BLE also supports the industry run charity, Light Fund, sponsoring its Treasure Hunt earlier this summer.

Darren Brechin, BLE event director, summarises: “Whether you are a retailer, buyer or manufacturer in the tableware industry, BLE 2014 is the perfect place for you to find partnerships and strike the deals that could transform your business forever.”

To register for free entry or to find further information, visit www.brandlicensing.eu or follow BLE on Twitter using @bleurope for the latest news and updates.

“At BLE, you will meet licensing experts who can advise you on brands that will suit your skills and range. You will also meet competitors already in the business. There is no brand that could not be adapted to tableware given the right approach and target demographic. BLE isn’t just about character licensing – there are significant brand and art and design sections, too.”

Janet Woodward, joint managing director, JELC

WHAT LIMA UK SAY… “At BLE, retailers will get a chance to assess the entire international licensing scene, make first assessments of what will be big in 2015 and beyond, and what licensed products will be available to suit their range plans.

Really, it’s not to be missed!”

Kelvyn Gardner, managing director, LIMA UK

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 61

SHOW PREVIEW BLE

8 reasons why retail buyers should attend BLE 2014 As licensing becomes an increasingly important strand, these are the reasons why Brand Licensing Europe 2014 is a mustattend event:

V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum) Licensing

1

Licensing offers a wealth of opportunities for retailers, including access to unique products that can be brought to market quickly and without competition.

2

With more than 2,500 brands, characters and images under one roof, and with 70 new exhibitors showcasing this year, you could secure a deal with the ‘next big thing’.

3

Discover what the big agents are promoting as hot properties for the year ahead and sign deals ahead of the competition.

4

Enjoy a free retailers’ VIP pass including fast track entry, complimentary refreshments and private meeting areas in the Retail Buyers’ Lounge.

5

Learn about the forthcoming 2015 Retail Mentoring Programme, which offers buyers guidance on all aspects of licensing through formal tutoring, informal coaching and shadowing.

6

Visit the Screening Suite to learn which blockbuster films will be hitting screens before anyone else and discuss the multitude of licensing and merchandising programmes available from the likes of CPLG (UK), Nickelodeon, Hasbro, Twentieth Century Fox, Dreamworks, Sony Pictures Consumer Products, and Warner Bros (screenings are by invite only).

7

Enjoy free seminars on all aspects of licensing in the show’s Licensing Academy and Brands & Lifestyle Theatre, including insights from industry analysts GfK, Planet Retail and NPD Group, as well as keynotes from major brands.

8

Network with peers: last year’s show attracted around 700 buyers from all the major retailers.

Stand M40 As the world’s leading museum of art and design, the V&A’s extraordinarily diverse collections continue to inspire excellence in design. The V&A continues to work with new and established partners. Graham and Brown launched its first V&A capsule wallpaper collection in spring 2014 composed of eight designs developed from original 19th and 20th Century designs. Shearer Candles recently extended the home fragrance range inspired by C.F.A. Voysey. In 2015, Wild & Wolf will present a new range of products featuring original textile designs of the 1950s. Many are fine examples of the mid-century ‘contemporary’ textile design trend and the products range from tea light holders to vases. Creative Tops will debut tabletop and mug ranges featuring botanical florals, colourful tiles, and Iznik designs.

All profits from licensed products are returned to the museum, helping to maintain its position as the world’s leading collection of art and design, funding exhibitions, research, and collecting for the future.

National Gallery JELC Stand D065

Clare Jordan Ltd

Independent licensing agency JELC has been appointed by the National Gallery Company to develop a comprehensive, international licensing programme featuring the National Gallery’s collection of some of the best paintings in the world. The licensing programme will develop a portfolio of quality licensed products across a broad spectrum of categories, from homewares, to accessories. As part of the programme JELC will also collaborate with the National Gallery on expanding its highly popular food and drink range, Delicious Art™ range..

Stand J28a Licensing successfully with Card Mix, Portico and Clairefontaine, to name a few, Clare Jordan designs are proving popular on a range of products from cards to jewellery. Portico is launching three new collections for 2015 in the Calendar and Diary range. The Delightful Divas return with lots of colour, attitude and giggles.

Le Cirque features quirky circus themed artwork, with vintage styling. The new Bazaar range features bold patterns and mix and match prints. Clare has many new collections to unveil at BLE: beautiful, bold new patterns that have her signature colours, a new text based collections and more. Clare’s designs are relatable, whimsical, colourful and happy.

62 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

SHOW PEVIEW 41 Madison

41 Madison celebrating 40 years of tabletop With plans to honour long-term 41 Madison companies, the return of a big European brand, and exciting new products on offer, The New York Tabletop Show promises to be a must-visit for buyers

F

orty years ago, Japanese tableware brand Noritake signed a lease for a showroom at Forty One Madison. With that single move, Forty One Madison soon became the Number One address for tabletop, as other manufacturers rapidly decided to follow suit.

Today, some 115 leading international tabletop brands have located their wholesale showrooms within this prestigious building where every Spring and Autumn, it fills with all the major retail buyers from across North and Central America for The New York Tabletop Market.

The upcoming edition of the Market, which is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21 through Friday, October 24, will not just mark, but also celebrate, the 40year milestone of this Market.

While Noritake does enjoy the distinction of being the first tableware company to plant its roots at Forty One Madison in 1974, a variety of prestigious companies soon followed, and they, too, remain in the building to this day, contributing to the vitality of the industry.

According to Laurie Burns, senior vice president and director of Forty One Madison, the Rudin

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family, owners of Forty One, will be honouring these stalwarts with a special presentation.

In addition to honouring Noritake, Mr. Christmas, Nikko Ceramics, Oneida, Reed & Barton, Rosenthal, Royal Doulton, Villeroy & Boch and Wedgwood will also be recognised.

“It’s very important for us to recognise the companies that have been at 41 Madison for the past 40 years because it speaks to how important such partnerships are to the vitality of an industry,” says Burns. “But while we’re calling out that core group of global leaders who have been with us for 40 years, we cannot forget the rest of our community of brands. Every showroom here and every brand that locates here is testimony to the importance of the industry and how they recognise the need to make it convenient to their customers – the buyers,” says Laurie Burns.

But as well as celebrating the past, 41 Madison, which has its fashionable feet firmly planted in the present, will be celebrating the return of a big brand to its Tableware Towers.

“While we stay true to our mission of excellence by providing the best market experience to our visitors, change is the one

“

It’s very important for us to recognise the companies that have been at 41 Madison for the past 40 years because it speaks to how important such partnerships are to the vitality of an industry,

constant here,” said Laurie. “This show, we are pleased to welcome back Orrefors Kosta Boda.”

In its return to Forty One Madison after a 10-year absence, the premier Swedish brand of crystal and glass designs for more than a century has moved into a 2,000-square-foot showroom on the 9th floor.

“Forty One Madison has been home to the tabletop and giftware industries for years, and everyone at Orrefors Kosta Boda is excited about coming back to the building,” said Matthew Jones, the company’s US president. “In planning the new showroom, our goal has been to create an environment where buyers can experience the rich design heritage of both Orrefors and Kosta Boda and see how the Swedish/Nordic lifestyle and traditions are relevant to today’s US consumer.”

Synonymous with classic, timeless clear crystal both for use at the table as well as art quality for interior décor, Orrefors also is distinguished by the calibre of its craftsmanship, with each piece produced by the hands of many skilled artisans. Kosta Boda products enjoy global recognition with a signature look that includes a colorful palette and a very playful decoration.

“It’s wonderful to welcome back Orrefors Kosta Boda because it’s really so in lockstep with the calibre of other global brands that are based here and it’s a company that the buyers who shop here have expected to find,” says Laurie Burns, further commenting on how the timing was perfectly right for their return.

The show promises not just celebrations and returning brands, however. As always, it promises the delivery of new and exciting product and introductions.

“You can expect to see the continuation of opulent looks

”

but at a range of price points, innovative uses of metallics, and while celebrity involvements will remain hot, I think we’re going to see some shifts in brand alignments,” says Laurie of the upcoming show.

In addition to the usual product offerings and the 40th anniversary celebrations, there will be both education and networking. For Interior Designer Day on Thursday, October 23, senior style editor for Traditional Home magazine, Krissa Rossbund, will moderate a panel discussion headlined by three of America’s A-list designers: Jamie Drake, Alexa Hampton and Matthew Patrick Smyth.

The presentation, ‘Building Business: Know Your Role’ will explore how interior designers can leverage new business opportunities by guiding their clients in choices for dinnerware barware, accessories and the kinds of products available from Forty One Madison showrooms.

According to Rossbund, “The more designers learn about Forty One Madison and its value as a resource, the greater the opportunity for turning client expectations into dollars earned.

We want to impart to interior designers who attend how they can maximise this niche business.”

Refreshments will, as always, be available at The Café on Level A. Hosted by Bridal Guide, it will be open for business, dispensing complimentary bites and beverages with a ‘Southern Comfort’ menu planned. Adjacent to the Buyers Lounge, it’s a popular spot in the building for meetups with colleagues in between appointments and showroom visits. The Café hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am-4pm and Thursday,10am-2pm.

For the showrooms listing, app information, and to register, visit www.41madison.com

Twig New York (Hankook) 19th floor Twig New York, the trendy boutique brand of Hankook, will deliver a wide range of on-trend contemporary collections, mainly collaborations with designers. These will include the contemporary floral dinnerware collection Language of Flowers, a collaboration with Brittany Jepsen and the awardwinning Cutlery Series collection, a collaboration with Korean ceramicist Hayoon Kim. Also being presented is a collaboration collection, Heritage, with American designer Molly Hatch (see page 22). Inspired by the look of the historic teacups of 18th century European factories, Heritage offers four hand-drawn patterns on fine bone china – Daisy Chain, Bachelor Button, Rosa Rugosa and Blue Bird. The latter (pictured) is inspired and re-translated from traditional blue-and-white bone china.

www.twigny.com

Moser crystal 10th floor Fusing the quality and beauty of Moser crystal with the forward-thinking talent of prominent artists, Moser will a deliver a joint artistic collection – Design Moser 2014 – that merges bold creativity with respect for tradition.

The collection comprises contemporary design and works inspired by the historical patterns of Moser Glassworks, such as a set of vases and glasses with masterful engravings of horses created for the occasion of the Chinese year of the horse.

www.moser-glass.com

Auratic 14th floor Chinese brand Auratic, which is known for producing the finest bone china of impeccable translucency, will be showcasing some 20 new pattern designs in its stunning showroom. Alongside this, it will be presenting its international designer collaborations, including the Diamondine Collection, a collaboration with Antonella Filippini; and the Brandie Home Collection, a mix and match tableware concept with American designer Brandie Gehan.

In addition, Auratic will be unveiling its brand-new collaboration with British designer Nick Munroe – a tea set inspired by the Genie lamp from Aladdin, with smooth curves and four different gradient shades (pictured below).

www.auratic.com

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SHOW PEVIEW 41 Madison

Nikko 22nd floor Nikko is extending its luxury fine bone china collections for the upcoming show.

The Japanese company is introducing new espresso cups, highlighting mugs and presenting cups/saucers in a complete coffee story. The contemporary Silk fine bone china collection is available in two versions – as Silk Platinum and as Silk Champagne with gold decoration – and both will have new espresso cups. Fine bone china pattern Fortune – a pattern with gold and platinum decorated items – has also been extended to now include two-tone espresso cups and elegant coffee cups, decorated in gold and platinum, with Japanese attention to detail.

“With the recent introductions of very expensive espresso machines and the increasing sales of high quality coffee pods for one-cup coffee makers, there is a need and opportunity for more beautiful espresso cups, elegant mugs and more pleasing coffee cups/saucers,” says Tage Strom, VP at the US subsidiary of Nikko.

Rosenthal 1st floor In addition to showcasing the brand’s fabulous design object Falda, designed by Germany’s currently most successful designer Sebastian Herkner, Rosenthal will be unveiling the new addition to its famous TAC series, the pattern TAC Skin Gold (pictured above). The new graphic décor in gold picks up on the structure theme in an interplay and contrast between matt and shining surfaces. Small overlapping leaves result in a platinum coloured mosaic pattern that extends over the entire surface of the plates, as well as emphasising the form as a contour on the edges.

Along with the new introductions, Rosenthal’s approximate 484-sqm showroom will showcase all other important and new products such as Collana, TAC BIG Cities and Maria Pink Rose.

ww.rosenthal.de

Porcel 9th floor Fine porcelain brand Porcel will be presenting a number of decors. In addition to its Blossoom porcelain set (think an elegant floral motif ) and its Camellia set (think a black and white with turquoise and a white camellia flower), Porcel will reveal new decors by a variety of designers. Designed

by Luciano Fidalgo, Euphoria is a dining, tea and coffee set inspired by the Mediterranean, featuring graphic elements commonly seen in tile designs, and using coppery tones with black. Inspired by the Greek goddess of love and beauty and designed by Helena Boia, the Afrodite Collection features light and elegant silver lines reminiscent of her hair. Finally, designed by Helen Webb, the elegant and exclusive Belle Epoque set uses gold as décor in a refined yet contemporary way.

www.porcel.com 66 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

ww.nikkoceramics.com

Villeroy & Boch 18th floor Villeroy & Boch will serve the trend of a classical table setting with the presentation of high quality Premium Bone Porcelain and precious glassware. By applying the globally popular décor Amazonia to the round and classic Anmut form, Villeroy & Boch delivers a new and attractive Amazonia design – think a timeless and classic shape that gives the expressive decoration room to deploy its colours and radiance. The new premium drinking glasses Grand Royal combine a moderate vintage attitude with a modern simple shape to satisfy even the most demanding connoisseur. In addition, Villeroy & Boch will present line extensions to its existing country and coffee collections.

Kavalierglass 19th floor For more than 175 years, Kavalierglass, maker of SIMAX, has been the leading European producer of borosilicate glass, the type used in laboratories that can withstand demanding conditions such as extreme temperatures without breaking. This means it is able to excel in high heat and chemical resistance. The SIMAX glassware comes in more than 200 shapes and sizes, which include everything from bakeware, casserole dishes, teapots and jugs to bowls, storage containers and baby bottles.

SIMAX borosilicate glass can guarantee the temperature resistance of up to 572°F/300°C, and can resist thermal shock of 410°F/210°C, which is twice as much compared to the regular (soda-lime or potash) glass used widely in today’s market. The composition of borosilicate glass also does not allow the glassware to absorb chemical solutions it may be used to contain. SIMAX is made in the Czech Republic and distributed out of Elk Grove Village, Il.

www.villeroy-boch.com

www.simax.com

Noritake 7th floor

Prouna 17th floor Kiyasa Group – the highend US distributor of luxury tabletop and dinnerware, including Prouna – will be presenting new additions to the fun, yet elegant fine bone china collection, My Color from Prouna. The new additions are gift items and accessories that bring the versatility of mixing and matching to the fore, emphasising the uniqueness of Prouna’s designs which allows consumers to adapt the collection to their own style.

It will also present its new Platinum Leaves collection, a twist on – and therefore complementary to – the already successful Golden Leaves collection.

www.prounausa.com

Noritake will be re-showing some of its formal ranges, including its Odessa extensions, Cobalt Platinum and Cobalt Gold. Made from bone china, these collections feature a wide etched platinum or gold band, coupled with a wide inner band of delicate soft blue floral scrolls over a deep, cobalt blue. They will also be unveiling the new colour, ‘Ice’ (ice blue) in its contemporary and casual stoneware Colorwave Dinnerware. Crafted from the highest quality stoneware, making it almost as fine as porcelain, Colorwave is durable, looks great, and with numerous items/colours in the range, allows consumers to create endless possibilities.

www.noritake.de

Lenox 24th floor Celebrating the 15th anniversary of its top selling pattern, Butterly Meadow, Lenox will be introducing its brand new Butterfly Meadow Outdoor Dining, a new collection of porcelain serving pieces with rattan basket style carriers to make outdoor entertaining easy and stylish. Serving bowls, divided servers and chip and dip sets are great complements to the Butterfly Meadow family. In addition, Lenox will present a new range of bright colours for French Perle Everything Bowls and Mugs – think sturdy stoneware with a carved beaded motif finished in vibrant hues of greens, purples and blues.

www.lenox.com TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 67

SHOW REVIEW NY NOW

The Just Slate Company

Top product & trends at NY NOW After three days trawling the Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares section of the Summer Market, we discover the most innovative and creative products, as well as the most prolific tabletop trends

W

Brass / bronze / copper

Georg Jensen

Canvas Home

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Carol Boyes 68 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

ith 2,800+ exhibitors, including 600 newcomers, showcasing product in four Collections, it was little surprise to discover that the Summer edition of NY NOW offered such a wide range of innovative product. In the Home Collection alone, there were some 1,100+ suppliers in two sections (Home Furnishings + Textiles, and Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares) and it was in Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares that we discovered a number of notable tabletop newcomers, including Twig New York, Oscar de la Renta, Lorena Gaxiola, Typhoon Homes and Auratic, as well as returning tabletop brands like Arte Italica, Michael Aram, Julia Knight, Prouna and Rosanna, many of them delivering innovative, creative and on-trend product.

Five companies were named in the annual Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares Best New Product Awards, which this year was broadened. “We made two key changes to these awards this summer,” said Marc Delman, Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares national sales manager. “First, we broadened the overall award to encompass Tabletop as well as Gourmet Housewares, which is more reflective of the offerings at NY NOW. We also broadened the categories under the Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares umbrella to include Gourmet Accessories as a new

fourth category.”

In the Dining Category, winners included Lorena Gaxiola for its Soft Rocks Glasses collection and Red Pomegranate Gilded Tableware for its Rabat covered dish. In the cookware category, Vietri took an award for its Buon Gusto Medium Yellow Casserole earthenware baking dishes; while in the Gourmet Accessories Category, Rosanna came up tableware trumps with its Stockholm Collection of bowls and mugs, which were inspired by 1960s Scandinavia with strong geometrics and contrasts. The ultimate winner, securing the Best of Market award, however, was one of our favourites: Hankook Chinaware New York Inc. for its Cutlery Series. A collaboration of Twig New York and Korean ceramicist Hayoon Kim, the fine bone china collection (made with 50 per cent of bone ash and hand-painted in 24k gold) began from old cutlery found in a small flea market in London.

Superlative product design was also recognised with the Accent on Design Awards, with fferone design winning Best Collection for its Glassware range, a set of four handcrafted collections.

In addition to such awardwinning innovations, we spotted a number of trends prolific in product presentation, from serveware products evoking feelings of nostalgia and natural and rustic elements like wood, cork and stone; to the warming shades of copper and bronze and shapes and forms that are organic and imperfect.

What the retailer says…

“We count on NY NOW to meet our business needs on many fronts. The Home Collection, in particular, offers some of the best the industry has to offer across Tabletop – Home Furnishings and Home Textiles. With 30 years of buying trips under our belt, Home at NY NOW always inspires us with the latest trends across home categories. Merchandise is flowing in from our buying trip just in time for the holiday season. NY NOW is a must-attend event.”

Jane Marquard, Paysage Home, Ohio, US Brass, bronze, copper It was the warming metals of bronze, brass and copper, both in terms of material and shade, that really made their mark at the market. Set to be one of the emerging trends in home and lifestyle in the next year, the Summer Market identified and featured Brass Tactics as one of its four key trends during its open house display. An alternative to gold and silver, brass offers a warm colour palette, as well as weight and polish, providing a modern yet classic allure.

Georg Jensen brought brass to the table, with its stunning ILSE Brass Bowl; Eastern Accents displayed brass nesting bowls and brass cutlery with an antique feel; while Innovative designer Tom Dixon delivered big on brass, with a spun brass tea set and a stone and brass cake stand.

Brass finishes were prolific, too: fferone offered Pin Candle Sticks in tarnished brass; and Stelton used a brass finish on many of its products, including its new Reflection candlesticks and on one of its bestselling designs – the stylish Nordic-inspired EM77 vacumn jug.

Copper, both as a material and as a finish, was also spotted. Scottish brand The Just Slate Company, which

offers a diverse range of more than 100, high-quality products, revealed its A/W 2014 range, Copper Luxe, delivering copper-coated handbeaten designs, from copper nesting bowls to a copper condiment set, that offer a luxurious elegance.

Copper was also seen at Carrol Boyes (tapered copper vases in its Wound Up collection); Shiraleah Chicago (a glass bowl, Babylon, finished in a warm antique copper tone); Canvas Home (a new coppercoloured cutlery collection) and fferrone (a centre piece fruit stands with a rustic copper finish). Finally, Hampton Forge unveiled its new 20pce Refined Copper flatware set in warm hues of copper – durable and lustrous titanium-coated stainless steel; and Stelton delivered its Circle Mug in new hammered shades of copper, from a sparkling metallic red colour to a warm copper brown.

Perfect imperfection The hammered, dented, uneven effect with its lack of symmetry and sporadic imperfections was in fact seen on both ceramic and metal tableware, providing a luxury artisan, rustic feel that is very on-trend.

In terms of hammered metals,

Michael Aram

Perfect imperfection

Montes Doggett

Leeber presented its new hammered metal collection of barware; Shiraleah Chicago showcased hammered stainless steel ice buckets with rope handles; and Michael Aram unveiled a new hand-hammered metal serveware collection inspired

by Indian artisanship. Made of stainless steel that’s been handhammered so each piece is unique, Rivet offers functional pieces, including a pitcher and salad bowl.

“I know the comparison is imperfect, but the folds, bends, and joining of these pieces are reminiscent of the art of Origami, where the paper, or in this case the metal, alone forms a beautiful object,” says Michael Aram.

Asian aesthetics

Ceramic pieces with a rustic hammered or handpinched feel and with organic shapes and misshapen edges were also spotted: Imiso Ceramics showed its Handpinched Collection – plates and bowls with handpinched scalloped edges; Canvas Home presented its organicshaped tableware in soft shades of grey and blue; and brands Montes Doggett and Alex Marshall Studios both delivered their handmade ceramics with organic shapes and subtle hammered effects.

Serax also revealed two new organically-shaped ranges, including the aptly named Perfect Imperfection, a porcelain range by designer Roos Van de Velde in which defectiveness plays a part in the production – think uneven and unsymmetrical shapes and edges on bowls and square plates.

Asian aesthetic

Typhoon

In addition to organic shapes, collections with clean lines, gorgeous glazes and enhanced functionality – reminiscent of an

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SHOW REVIEW NY NOW

Rolf Glass

Twig New York

Nature inspired Abigails

Asian aesthetic – reigned tabletop supreme. Known for its traditional modern design and functionality, Hasami Porcelain showcased its allstackable mugs, plates, bowls and tea sets in neutral shades of greys and beiges. Typhoon Homewares, meanwhile, presented Silk, a new fine porcelain collection with an Eastern vibe (sleek modern lines) and practical features tailored to Eastern cuisine; while Stelton turned to Asian aesthetics with its new Theo tea Collection. Merging Asian tea culture and Danish design – Theo delivers a rustic Scandanavian stoneware with an Asian cast-iron finish and a lid of handmade Asian bamboo.

Spotlight on stone Natural stone and precious stones are materials increasingly being used in luxurious tableware products, especially as serveware. Anna New

Annieglass

Vietri

York by RABLABS, which creates tablewares fusing ancient, precious materials with cutting-edge design, revealed its new Amostra collection: trays, bowls and coasters made from hand-polished Lucite in three colours (amethyst, malachite and sand) and inspired after viewing gemstones through a looking glass. Mary Jurek Design revealed its new Santa Fe Round Bowl, handmade of stainless steel and decorated with a blue onyx stone. More rustic, but still luxurious, stoneware was generally big: American Stonecraft delivered slabs of stone as serveware: handsawn, carved, polished and finished stones from New York and New England; while Sea Stones unveiled The Pirouette, a cherry wood and granite wine stand holding unique StoneStemmed Wine Glasses.

Inspired by nature Autumn 2014 sees nature playing an influential role, with glamorous interpretations of leaves and peacocks taking centre stage. Known for its innovative textiles, Harman revealed its multi-functional vinyl leaf-inspired tablemats (they can also be used as chargers) in gold and silver. Leaves were also the inspiration for a new serveware collection from Annieglass – the textured glass plates and platters boast detailed and textured veins of Birch and Maple leaves. Palm leaves, meanwhile, were the inspiration for

25,000 The number of attendees at the NY NOW Summer Market, hailing from 50 states in the US and from nearly 80 countries, with Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Australia and the UK as the top source.

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The Just Slate Company

Kilner

Retro Serveware

Abigails new Palmetto Collection – think thick platters and bowls with contemporary green palm leaf prints.

Finally, Twig New York’s Foliage collection delivers textured serveware pieces and platters shaped like leaves.

Peacocks seem to be the bird du jour: there were mouthblown Cool Palette Vases by Dynasty Gallery – vases that are refired, colour by colour, for a brushstoke effect in peacock shades; a glam peacockinspired bar set, including martini glasses, at Kim Seybert; and a Peacock glassware range, the pieces etched with a delicate peacock feather, at Rolf Glass. A Peacock Collection was launched at Vietri – a range of glass tableware in a mesmerising peacockinspired design that comes in four shades for mixing and matching, including green, gold, red and purple.

Old-world serveware From paddleboards and cloches to masons jars and beverage dispensers, tableware pieces that reflect the trend for retro rustic entertaining seem to be all the rage.

There were wooden paddleboards with leather straps at Roost, paddleboards with different sized coloured glasses at Creative Gifts International and Acacia wood paddleboards (both stained and

raw) at Core Home. Retro-styled cloches combining mixed materials were also prolific: Europe 4 You showcased glass cloches with wooden toppers; Pomeroy delivered oversized cloches on birch wooden trays with ornate metal handles; and Barrevald International presented contemporary cloches with rustic rope handles. Similarly retro, Masons Jars in all their incarnations were seen: there were colourful ceramic Masons Jars at Aesthetic Movement; glass mug ones with sturdy handles and bendy striped retro straws at Artland; and Mason Jar shot glasses courtesy of the father of Mason Jars, Kilner – on the Typhoon stand.

American Stonecraft

The winter 2015 edition of NY NOW, the Market for Home + Lifestyle, will run Saturday, January 31, through Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Passenger Ship Terminal Pier 94. www.nynow.com

Stone

Rustic accents Natural rustic materials like cork, leather and rope were plentiful, mainly as accents to glass and porcelain serveware products.

Innovative designer Tina Frey Designs showcased its new resin barware (champagne buckets, ice buckets and drinks trays) with knotted leather handles; Menu (Creative Danes stand) offered its new Norm Stone Jar, a sand-coloured stone jar with a cork lid; while Black + Blum presented its handblown glass water carafe (Eau Carafe) with a natural cork top.

What the retailer says…

“It’s been a long time since I last attended NY NOW, the show has really changed from what I remember, and I’d say for the better. The Home Collections were outstanding. I found great new lines and spent more than I expected.” Jason Lenox, Anteks Home Furnishings, Dallas, Texas, US TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 71

Anna New York

Menu

Rustic Accents

Tina Frey

Show Reviews

TENDENCE 2014 delivers high levels of satisfaction

T

he international Tendence consumer-goods fair in Frankfurt closed its doors on September 2 with an even higher level of visitor satisfaction, rising by four percentage points to 90 per cent. Some 35,000 trade visitors from 88 countries, up from 86 countries last year, attended the four days of the fair, with the top 10 visiting nations including France, Italy, China and Poland. On the visitor side, double-digit rates of growth were recorded from Poland, Spain and Greece, while the number of visitors from major Asian consumer-goods markets – China, India and Japan – was also up on last year.

“Despite the challenging market, we succeeded in maintaining the level of internationality, which is particularly important for exportoriented companies,” said Detlef Braun, member of the executive board of Messe Frankfurt GmbH. “Tendence has confirmed its position as Germany’s most international and biggest order platform in the second half of the year.

Both exhibitors and visitors were able to achieve or even exceed their goals for the fair,” said Detlef.

On the exhibitor side, there

were some 1,211 exhibitors from 51 countries, presenting their latest products for the coming Spring, as well as giving retailers the chance to place follow-up orders for the Christmas business. The overall rating given by exhibitors for the fair was positive, a rating reiterated by the trade associations.

Thomas Grothkopp, director general of the German Association for Tableware, Housewares and Home Décor commented: “There is no doubt that the German retail trade profits from the international consumergoods fairs in Frankfurt, which save retailers from having to travel to fairs abroad. Tendence is very important, especially when it comes to placing last-minute orders for the Christmas business, as well as early orders for the coming year. This was confirmed once again by this year’s event in Frankfurt.”

Other results of the exhibitor poll also show that the orders placed by buyers during the fair and the number of new contacts made – from both Germany and abroad – were rated more highly than in 2013.

Arts & Crafts has always been one of the main themes at Tendence and, this year, the work of artistic craftspeople

What the exhibitors said…

“Tendence is still the most important show for us. People all talk about about Paris, but for us, Tendence is very important and the quality of exhibitors is really good.”

Alex Fuentes, export manager, Philippi 72 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

was to be seen in four of the six exhibition halls with whole areas devoted to arts & crafts. Highlights included the popular ‘FORM 2014 – Design from Crafts and Industry’ exhibition, with 185 award-winning made by 66 Tendence exhibitors.

“Both the arts & crafts exhibitors and our association have been very pleasantly surprised that renowned museum shops and galleries were not only among the visitors here at Tendence but that they also placed orders before departing,” said Christina Beyer, director of the German Arts & Crafts Association.

Value adds for retailers at the fair included a live window-dressing

presentation under the motto ‘Before Christmas’ from expert Karin Wahl – three times a day throughout the fair, she demonstrated how concepts for the shop window can be transferred to the interior of the shop. There was also a lecture programme, which attracted some 2,200 participants, a 10 per cent increase over last year.

For Tendence 2015, it has been announced that there will be two additional events held within the annual fair’s framework: the Hair and Beauty trade fair and the new Eat & Lifestyle consumer fair.

Tendence 2015 will take place from August 29 to September 1, 2014. www.tendence.messefrankfurt.

“Tendence is important for us because it is the biggest show in Germany in the second season and we’re not presenting in Paris, so that’s why we’re here. It’s really important for us as we get the Christmas products out.”

Tanya Demmerath, press officer, Rosendahl Design Group

Increased international attendance at Maison

Strong edition of UK’s

AUTUMN FAIR

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utumn Fair International, the UK’s largest and most important seasonal trade show, which took place from September 7-10 at The NEC, Birmingham, UK, attracted more than 29,000 visitors and showcased a rise in footfall compared with last year’s show as more visitors opted to attend on multiple days.

Retailers from 84 countries turned out to see 60,000 new product launches from 1,400 suppliers across 12 different market sectors.

Buyers from some of the most prestigious stores in the world attended, including Fortnum & Mason, Liberty’s, The National Trust, John Lewis, Selfridges, Harrods, Laura Ashley, Heal’s, Tesco and Fenwick. “If you are a retailer, you cannot afford to not be here,” said Kevin Bellwood, Roobarb Retail.

The importance of Autumn Fair and its sister show Spring Fair International, the UK’s largest retail trade show, to the wider retail industry and UK economy has been marked by a number of new or enhanced collaborations and partnerships with government agencies and trade associations, including UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). The Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy, UKTI chose to launch its new e-Exporting Programme at Autumn Fair. The aim of it is to encourage UK exporters to reach out to the generation of digitally capable consumers who are increasingly influenced through online

channels.

Other industry associations and trade bodies reinforced their presence at Autumn Fair, with the Cookshop & Housewares Association (CHA), holding its industry awards during the show. A panel of independent retailers, who are members of the CHA, picked out their favourite products at the fair. They voted Pinny Pockets’ apron and oven glove set as Best Product; while Wild & Wolf won Best New Product for its striking style and strong brand of Mr Men mugs. Runners up included Churchill China’s nursery sets for best packaging. Paul Woolley, executive secretary of the CHA, said: “As managing director of the buying arm of the British Independent Retailers Association, bira direct, it is very important to stay focused on what products sell well and excite independent retailers, and awards chosen by our members helps us to do this.”

Speaking at the close of Autumn Fair, portfolio director Nick Davison said: “I am proud to have led a strong edition of Autumn Fair International, which has never been more relevant to the evolving retail industry. I’d like to thank all the fantastic suppliers and visiting retailers for supporting the show, which has an unrivalled reputation as the seasonal exhibition of choice for the UK market.”

The Autumn edition of Maison & Objet Paris, which closed its design-friendly doors on September 9, 2014, after five days, saw an increase in its numbers all round, with a significant increase in internationality.

The show experienced 66,962 visitors, an increase of 1.1 per cent, with a significant increase – 7.4 per cent – of international visitor numbers.

Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, and Asian countries, such as China and India, saw the biggest visitor rise.

But numbers didn’t just increase on the visitor side: exhibitor numbers increased by 5 per cent (3,445), with a 7 per cent increase in international exhibitors, so that international exhibitors now represent 53 per cent of total exhibitors.

Paralleling the show was the fourth annual Paris Design Week – think eight days of evening festivities, cocktail gatherings, presentations and events, which united more than 120 locations and 250 participants. This parallel show showed an even more pronounced increase in visitor numbers – some 55 per cent – totaling an incredible 17,156.

The show’s international climb goes hand in hand with the globalisation of the home décor market, which provides exhibitors with new business prospects on more distant horizons, and specifically in the Asia-Pacific and Pan-American regions, where Maison & Objet is developing its Maison & Objet Asia and Maison & Objet Americas shows.

The first Maison & Objet Americas will take place May 12-15, 2015. Meanwhile, the next edition of Maison & Objet Paris will take place January 23-27, 2015; and the second edition of Maison & Objet Asia will take place on the fringes of Singapore Design Week will take place March 10-13, 2015. www.maison-objet.com

Autumn Fair International 2015 will take place from September 6-9 at The NEC, Birmingham. www.autumnfair.com

What the retailer said…

“Because it’s the last big push before Christmas, you are able to get those key items that are on trend at any particular moment that can draw people into our stores.”

Mark Jones, Occasions Retail, UK

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 73

Name: Guy White Job: Freelance Produ

Last Word

EYE ON DESIGN

Guy White

Each issue, we cast a spotlight on a designer in tableware. This month, we chat to product designer, Guy White

What exactly do you do?

My main role is all about developing new designs and concepts for companies, as well as outsourcing products for clients. I also offer graphic and corporate design.

Describe a typical day in your design life…

Every week is different but a typical day would include checking emails, writing offers and coming up with concepts for new products.

What have been the highlights of your career to date?

There has been several: the first, receiving a grant from the Princes’ Trust to start my own business, I exhibited at a Fair organised by the Prince Charles Foundation and the man himself came on to me stand and asked me questions; the second, designing for Jamie Oliver; and the third, creating concepts for an In-Flight Service for Cathay

ct Designer Website: www.guyw hite.de Email: guywhitedesig n@yahoo.de About me: I studied Art & Design at North Oxon Colleg e, UK, before attending the world -famous Harrow College and comple ting the Studio Pottery course in 199 0. I took a teaching/technician position at North Oxon college for two years, before taking a two-ye ar course in Cer eraam mic ic Design at Loughborou gh College of Art & De sign. being selected to exh n After ibit in London at the New Designers, I won a course in Marke ting and CAD at the Hothouse Design Centre in Stoke-on-Tre nt, where I decided to then produce my own work, as we ll as working for variou s companies as a freelancer. I receiv ed a grant from the Princes Trust to start my own business and exhibited at the New designers in Business in Londo n, before moving to Germany, where I worked freelance for a variety of German clients, as well as clients from the Far Eas t.

Clients: Jamie Oliver , Lambert, Das Depo t, Move, ASA Selection, Royal Fernw ood Porcelain, Kennex (Europe), Monno Porcelain, Leo pold (Vienna), Wenko , B&C Industries, Gerber Far East

Pacific. One of the biggest buzzes for me is to go into a shop and buy a product I have designed. I love the idea that people around the world have bought and used my products.

What tableware products are you most proud of?

I’m particularly proud of the POP range for Jamie Oliver (pictured above) that I designed in 2008. I designed both the form and the pattern and it’s still being sold.

Describe your design aesthetic?

Simple, useful, timeless.

From a creative perspective, what are your views on the industry?

People are more design-savvy than ever before, but while they are prepared to pay a lot of money for an iPhone, they aren’t prepared to pay more than a €1 for a mug at Ikea! The advantage, however, of being in an industry that is thousands of years old is that people will always need plates.

Also, as tableware designers, we don’t have to worry about having the memory, size, speed, apps etc., so there is less pressure on tableware for ‘performance’, but more pressure on it for price.

Calling all designers – would you like to be featured in a future

How are you seeing the future of tabletop?

‘Eye on Design’? If so, email our Editor, kate@lempublishing.co.uk

The rise of computers, Rapid-

74 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Prototyping and the Internet is having a huge influence on the industry. In Germany, there is an emphasis on having a ‘green’ product, which uses less energy and resources in its production.

What are the main elements of ‘good design’ and how can they apply to tableware?

I believe Good Design to be simple and practical with a ‘twist’ – either a clever function or a practical quality that no-one has thought of before. The Talents Show at Ambiente always amazes me as it is somewhere you can see very innovative and fresh ideas from young, dynamic designers.

Which designs, designers or collections are personal favourites?

In terms of ceramics, I have always admired the work of Queensberry Hunt, as well as Robin Levien.

However, I have a keen interest in product design, too, so designers such as Jonathon Tye, Matteo Thun and Philippe Starck are favourites.

Which brand or company would you most love to design for?

So many – everyone from Ikea to Rosenthal. I would love to undertake projects in designing an in-flight service, cutlery and even a bathroom suite.

THE NEW YORK TABLETOP SHOW ®

OCTOBER 21–24, 2014 Where the most important brands and buyers meet.

41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010 • 212.686.1203 • 41madison.com • A Rudin Building

41madison.com

American Silk Anchor Hocking Arc International Arthur Court Designs Artland Auratic USA B.I.A. Cordon Bleu Bormioli Rocco Glass Cambridge Silversmiths Certified International Christofle Circle Glass Crystal House International Dansk Denby USA DeVine Corp.

Euro Ceramica, Inc. Fitz & Floyd Fürstenberg Gibson Overseas Gourmet Settings Guy Degrenne Hampton Forge Hankook Chinaware Herend Hermès Homer Laughlin China Co. iittala Jay Import John Jenkins Joseph Joseph Julia Watts LLC Kavalier Glass Konitz “The Mug Makers” L’OBJET Laurie Gates Designs Lee’s Group International Lenox Corporation Libbey Glass Lifetime Brands Lladró Luigi Bormioli Maxwell & Williams Meyer Corporation Michael Aram Michael Wainwright Moser Mottahedeh Mr. Christmas Nambe Nikko Ceramics Noritake Oneida Ltd. Orrefors Kosta Boda Over & Back Pasabahce USA Pickard China Portmeirion Philippe Deshoulières Prima Design Prouna Puiforcat Q Squared Design LLC Ralph Lauren Home Reed & Barton Richard Ginori 1735 Riedel Crystal of America Robinson Home Products Rogaska Crystal Rosenthal USA Royal Crown Derby Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Royal Doulton Royal Limoges Royal Worcester Saint Louis Sambonet Sango America Scafati & Company Seguso USA Shinepukur Ceramics Signature Housewares Inc. Spode Steve Dolce Marketing 10 Strawberry Street TarHong Direct Tervis Tzeng Shyng Vietri Villeroy & Boch Vista Alegre Waterford Wedgwood Waechtersbach William Yeoward Crystal Yamazaki Tableware Zak Designs Zwilling J.A. Henckels