Tableware International

TableWare www.tablewareinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL

Month: Jan/Feb 2015

Issue: 6

2

134

Volume: 136

Ambiente Preview Issue

www.portmeiriongroup.com UK +44 (0)1782 744721 USA +1 (203) 729 8255 Canada +1 (416) 675 3755 Portmeirion is a registered trademark of Portmeirion Group

SPRING FAIR INTERNATIONAL, HALL 9, STAND E30-F31 AMBIENTE, HALL 4.1, STAND B16

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 Godinger Group Gourmet Settings Guy Degrenne Hampton Forge Hankook Chinaware Herend Hering-Berlin Hermès Home Essentials and Beyond Homer Laughlin China Co. iittala Jay Import John Jenkins Joseph Joseph Julia Watts LLC Kavalier Glass L’OBJET 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 Odiot 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 Ricci Argentieri Richard Ginori 1735 Riedel Crystal of America Robinson Home Products Rosenthal USA Royal Crown Derby Royal Copenhagen 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 WMF Yamazaki Tableware Zak Designs Zwilling J.A. Henckels

THE NEW YORK TABLETOP SHOW ®

APRIL 14 –17, 2015 Where the most important brands and buyers meet.

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

MEET DESIGN

MEET YOUR INSPIRATIONS MEET FRIENDS

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AMBIENTE

FR ANKFURT 13.–17. FEB 2015 HALL 4.1 | C50A

Tableware Team

TableWare

EDITOR KATE BIRCH kate@lemapublishing.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL

ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER PAUL YEOMANS pyeomans@lemapublishing.co.uk

TI editor Kate Birch is introduced to the new Ted Baker Portmeirion collections by founder of Ted Baker, Ray Kelvin.

PUBLISHER MARK NAISH mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

J

MANAGING DIRECTOR MALCOLM NAISH malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR PAUL NAISH paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

To subscibe to the magazine email: ROBERT THOMAS robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

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 Lenox.

For more information see the website www.lenox.com

TableWare www.tablewareinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL

Month: Jan/Feb 2015

Issue: 6

2

134

Volume: 136

Ambiente Preview Issue

“In this bumper issue – our biggest yet – we have included lots of retail news, views and debuts”

ust before Christmas, the team at Tableware International Towers were lucky enough to be given a sneak peek of the brand new yet-to-be-launched Ted Baker Portmeirion collection.

A collaboration between two British power brands – leading tabletop company Portmeirion and top fashion house Ted Baker – the two debut collections communicate the expertise of both brands, delivering an eclectic mis-matched offering of juxtaposed on-trend prints on stunning tabletop shapes.

You can find out more about the collections and the partnership in our interview with both Portmeirion and Ted Baker on page 30.

They aren’t the only fashion-meetstabletop partnership we’re talking about this month, however.

Through the latest collections of Vera Wang for Wedgwood, Christian Lacroix for Vista Alegre and Versace for Rosenthal, to name but a few, we talk to industry insiders about the growth, relevance and benefits of fashion licensing in tabletop.

“Having an association with an haute couture brand has definitely allowed Vista Alegre a much better recognition in the top end markets,” states Vista Alegre’s US president, Daniel Da Silva, of the partnership the brand has with the Christian Lacroix fashion house.

Find out more about tabletop licensing in our in-depth industry feature on page 66.

And, you can also discover exactly what new collections such licensing partnerships are planning to unveil for 2015 – not just in our licensing round-up on page 72, but also in our extensive and invaluable show previews, which are dedicated to the upcoming spring shows.

As always in our Jan/Feb issue, we go big on Ambiente, which takes place in Frankfurt in February, and which hosts the biggest international mix of suppliers you are ever likely to meet under one roof.

Spanning 18 pages and delivering needto-know show facts, as well as previews of the products that tabletop brands will be unveiling, our extensive Ambiente Guide (page 88) is guaranteed to be your buying

blueprint as you stroll the show.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, Spring Fair, Britain’s biggest trade event, gears up for its 2015 showcase… see page 126 for all the news and product previews.

Finally, we look Stateside on page 120 to the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, delivering all the show facts and previewing the products set to show there.

But, that’s not all. In this bumper issue – our biggest issue yet – we have included lots of retail news, views and debuts: tabletop and giftware expert Jorge Pérez offers advice on how specialty stores can capture a larger share of today’s consumers (page 44); we spotlight two brand new tabletop retail stores that have just opened their doors in New York City (page 54); and Alessi’s UK manager explains why independent stores are still really important (page 20).

We also profile two international tabletop stores – the award-winning Galleria Fiaba, one of Italy’s finest retail stores, famed for its gallery-like layout and high-style in-store events (page 48); and the small-in-size but substantial-in-character Article, one of Dublin’s best home stores (page 52).

Finally, find all the latest industry and exhibition news, as well as product debuts for the coming spring season.

Excited about seeing all the innovative new product and cool collections up-close, the Tableware International team will be heading to Spring Fair, Ambiente and Chicago, so see you at the shows!

Kate Birch Get social with See our latest news: www.tablewareinternational.com ‘Like’ us: Facebook.com/tablewareintmag ‘Follow’ us on Twitter: @tablewareintmag ‘Pin’ us: pinterest.com/tablewareintmag

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January/February 2015 • ISSUE 6

News 14

News A round-up of international stories

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Exhibition news News from the shows worldwide

20

Retail news News and views from buyers/retailers

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Licensing news We spotlight some of the industry’s most exciting designers/licenses

24

Product news The latest releases and launches

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TableWare INTERNATIONAL

Features 30

Profile: Ted Baker Portmeirion We interview Ted Baker and Portmeirion Group about their recent partnership and collection launch

34

Product Trend Spotlight on architecture

36

Column: Fingers & forks Tableware specialist Donna Ferrari looks at the latest flatware

38

Profile: Lenox How America’s longest-standing fine china company fuses classic with contempoary

44

Retail: column Tabletop expert Jorges Perez offers advice for specialty stores

48

Retail: Italy We highlight one of Italy’s finest stores

52

Retail: Ireland We interview the owner of the award-winning Article home store in Dublin

80

Show: Advice Five tradeshow experts deliver their top tips for attending shows this season

54

Retail: New York We profile two brand new tabletop stores recently opened in New York City

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Profile: Versace 19.69 How this lifestyle brand has expanded into tabletop

Show: Q&A On the 41st anniversary of 41 Madison, we talk to senior vice-president Laurie Burns about tabletop, trends and plans for this year

88

Show preview: Ambiente Discover our in-depth preview of this Frankfurt show, including the latest show information, trends and pages and pages of product previews

62

Profile: Nambé We interview this US lifestyle brand about their plans for growth in 2015

66

Category focus: Licensing Discover why licensing in tabletop is proving popular

74

Profile: RCR Cristalleria We talk to the brand’s CEO about its product and its plans

78

Profile: Sambonet The lowdown on this 159-year-old Italian brand

86

Profile: Crystalex Discover what will be new for the Czech glassware brand in 2015

30 Shows

120 Show preview: Chicago The International Home + Hosuewares Show is a hub of housewares trends.

Check out what to see and find out who will be there 126 Show preview: Spring Fair The UK’s biggest trade event grears up for increased tabletop. Find out exactly what’s new and who’s showcasing 130 Eye on Design Spotlight on Dutch design director and founder of Jansen+co, Anouk Magis Jansen

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.

W EDGWOOD.COM

general News

News in brief

Denby re-positions brand It is an exciting year ahead for 200-year-old company Denby, with its brand re-positioning taking centre stage in 2015. With a focus on Denby stoneware being built to last, the new brand identity ‘Made of Strong Stuff’ highlights the strength and quality of Denby stoneware with a confident and modern attitude. Renowned for its unmistakable glazes, Denby has captured the unique beauty and close-up detail of the glazes and is using this as the striking backdrop to its new brand statements. With more than 5,000 glaze recipes all developed in-house, Denby is equipped to meet every colour trend. The brand’s new lifestyle photography will be simple and uncluttered to complement and emphasise the natural beauty of its close-up ‘glaze effect’ imagery,

and along with the new logo and positioning, will create a contemporary, premium and fresh feel for Denby in 2015. This year, there will be a PR launch, a trade and consumer ad campaign, with a comprehensive online and NPD programme focusing on Denby’s ‘Made in England’ stoneware. All of this begins with the launch of new collection Peveril at Spring Fair 2015 in January, and then at Ambiente in Frankfurt in Februay. Peveril is a collection both inspired by England and made in England, and that with its stunning glazes and stoneware durability, perfectly captures the re-positioned Denby brand.

Find Denby at Spring Fair (Hall 9 Stand C10-D11) and at Ambiente (Hall 4.1 Stand A-51). www.denby.co.uk

Leander store opens in Prague Rudolf Kampf manufactory has announced the opening of the Leander brand factory in Prague. Located in the historical part of the city, the store showcases the entire range of Leander products, including unique and limited edition pieces.

www.leander.cz

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Pantone names Marsala the Colour of the Year Pantone has announced the naturally robust and earthy wine red Marsala as the Colour of the Year for 2015.

“Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal, while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, yet natural earthiness,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, Pantone Color institute.

Lladro continues its global expansion Spanish porcelain company Lladro continues the international boutique expansion plans it launched in 2012, with the opening of a New York and a Dubai store. New boutique openings this year include in Guatemala, Panama, Miami, Beverly Hills and Tehran.

Amazon launches ethical homewares Amazon has announced that it will launch a whole new world of ethically sourced, Amazon-branded products for the home, tapping into the consumer movement of products that promise to be good both in terms of quality and ethics, consolidating Amazon’s push to be known as a goods producer, rather than simply a retailer.

The percentage of consumers who prefer dinnerware sets without mugs, according to a US-wide survey of more than 1,000 respondents conducted by Gibson Overseas last October. “Mugs are not part of most meals anymore. They are purchased as a gift or as a personal item, as a reflection of personality and style, so offering mugs separately not only generates a new opportunity for retailers, it is what the consumer is asking for.”

Grace Saari, senior marketing director, Gibson Overseas 14 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Our handcrafted stoneware is made from the strongest Derbyshire clay with glazes harder than steel.

We pride ourselves on the strength and exceptional craftsmanship of our pottery, using the time honoured skills of four generations and 200 years of tradition.

We turn it by hand into our tough and beautiful stoneware collections.

Today we continue to go from strength to strength, crafting timeless classics and seeking out current trends.

Visit us to view our stunning new product ranges.

Spring Fair International 2015 NEC • Birmingham • Hall 9 • Stand 9C10 - D11 9am - 6pm Sunday 1st to Wednesday 4th February 9am - 4pm Thursday 5th February

Ambiente 2015 Messe Frankfurt • Hall 4.1 • Stand B21 9am – 6pm Friday 13th to Monday 16th February 9am – 5pm Tuesday 17th February For information and advice call us on +44 (0) 1773 740715

www.denby.co.uk

general

News

Christopher Vine Designs

to make UK debut

Australian award-winning brand Christopher Vine Designs is set to make its UK debut, having recently assigned distribution channels in the country. HAG Australia has acquired distribution rights for Christopher Vine Designs and appoints Valerie Graham Ltd as distributor for the UK and Eire. The UK launch collection will make its debut at Spring Fair 2015 and will include a range of bright and vibrant Mugs, Bowls and Pitchers in fine porcelain. Beautifully crafted and cheerfully designed it represents a new dimension in smart home accessories. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity of distributing Christopher Vine Design, and bringing to the UK the brand’s ethos of adding a touch of creativity to the everyday,” says Michael Stein, managing director of Valerie Graham Ltd. Visit them at Spring Fair, Hall 8 Summerhouse, Stand D14.

Kiyasa Group develops exclusive partnership with Gruppo Greggio Luxury tabletop trading company Kiyasa Group has developed an exclusive partnership with Gruppo Greggio – one of the most important European companies in the field of silver – to distribute its product in the US. This includes its brand Dogale, which combines two ancient arts, the art of glass craftsmanship and of silver, together giving rise to Bagliori and Laguna collections – think hand-decorated glass and silverplate. Bagliori (pictured left) comes in green blue and includes bowls, centrepieces and plates. www.kiyasa.com

“Some generational influences go mainstream and snacking is one of them.

Customers are moving away from full meals and gravitating to sampling a variety of food and beverage pairings. The wood serving flight and its accompanying glassware tasters allow customers to experiment anything from craft beers to savoury desserts, expanding and elevating the tasting experience in a customisable fashion.”

Susan J. Dountas, director of foodservice marketing for Libbey on the launch of its new wood serving flights for sampling drinks and desserts.

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Concerto Collection Visit us at: Ambiente Fair, Frankfurt 13 – 17.2.2015 Hall 4.1 Stand D81 www.vetridellevenezie.com

general News exhibition News M&O Asia to return bigger & better This second edition of Maison & Objet Asia, scheduled to take place in Singapore in March, will feature a bigger and better selection of the best of high-end decoration and home fashion by prestigious brands and designers in the interior design and home sectors.

“In 2014, we had more than 13,700 visitors, with Asian visitors making up 51 per cent.

As for the total number of brands in 2014, we had 272 altogether, with 30 per cent of them from Asia. We are working towards increasing both the number of exhibiting brands, as well as visitors to the show. As at October 2014, more than 180 brands have signed up and we expect more to participate in the coming months leading up to the salon,” says Philippe Brocart, managing director, Maison & Objet. Such tabletop-specific brands include Bernadaud, Costa Nova, Daum – Haviland, Deshoulieres, JL Coquet, Serax and Topchoice, among others. Other

highlights include Designer of the Year and Rising Asian Talents, as well as the Interior Design & Lifestyle Summit featuring keynote addresses by renowned industry personalities and presentations on market trends. Keynote speakers include M&O Paris 2015 Designer of the Year - Oki Sato for Nendo Studio, M&O Asia 2015 Designer of the Year - Neri & Hu, and Singapore’s own President’s Design Awards winner of Designer of the Year 2013, Patrick Chia. March 10-13, 2015, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore. www.maison-objet.com/en/asia

A big year ahead for… Exclusively The coming year will mark a big step for London homewares show, Exclusively Housewares, as it opens for the first time alongside sister show Exclusively Electrical. “Our14th show for Exclusively Housewares will include plenty of new suppliers and brands as well as our long term supporters,” confirms Simon Boyd, show director. “This is because the majority of our regular Small Domestic Appliance (SDA) suppliers have moved across into Exclusively Electrical, or taken a second stand there. This has given us the first real opportunity in Exclusively Housewares’ history to significantly add to our exhibitor line-up.” The shows run on 9-10 June 2015 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. Visit www. exclusivelyhousewares.co.uk or www.exclusivelyelectrical.co.uk

40

The percentage by which the 2015 edition of Heimtextil India will be up in terms of sq ft of exhibiting space this year. It will encompass some 43,000 sq ft, with more than 50 per cent of it booked by major Indian textile brands. The show, co-located with Ambiente India, is scheduled for June 19-21, 2015 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

18 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Success at debut show of Zuchex Indonesia Housewares & Gift Fair The launch event Zuchex Indonesia International Housewares & Gift Fair 2014, which was held November 13-15, 2014 at Jakarta Convention Center, made history as the first event of its kind in Indonesia, providing a platform for Housewares buyers to network and do business over the course of three days. More than 150 exhibitors from Indonesia joined foreign players from Turkey, Tiongkok, Malaysia, Korea and China. The show attracted an audience of 3,129 buyers from major retailers, including Alunalun Indonesia, Kumala Home, Ace Hardware, Debenhams, Lotte Mart, The Hard Rock Cafe, The Four Seasons, Carrefour, and many more. The Tablescapes feature showcased creatively designed table arrangements highlighting up-and-coming dining trends, with designers competing to produce the most imaginative settings which were then voted for by the industry at the show. On the last day of the exhibition, the committee announced the winner of the Tablescaping programme. First place was awarded to Sally Joseph and her table setting ‘Chinoiserie Addict’. Zuchex Indonesia will again be held again in November 2015. www.zuchexindonesia. com

retail News Cool collaboration

WHY INDEPENDENT RETAILERS

ARE SO IMPORTANT Alessi UK manager Simone Rossi talks to Tableware International about the importance of independents and their role in the retail landscape today.

Customers are returning to independents “We are noticing that customers are going back to small and local independent retailers in order to find top quality brands. Such retailers tend to have a good selection and, most important, have competent staff.

Independents are a window on local areas “Independent retailers are Alessi’s window on local areas, especially when there are no big department stores in that location.

Thanks to independents, Alessi has windows across the entire country, from the top of Scotland down to Cornwall.

They are our partners in business and we select them very carefully.”

Independents offer outstanding customer service At an independent retailer, customers will find staff who are knowledgeable on the products and brands they sell and are therefore able to help and support customers with their purchases. Independents are able to offer their customers the best

shopping experience possible.

Alessi offers promotional activities specifically for independents Alessi has specific promotional activities dedicated solely to bricks and mortar independent retailers.

Our decicated team of area managers train independents on new products, give them advice on what to have in stock and help with the display and merchanise material. As the Alessi catalogue has more than 3,000 items, it is not possible for independents to stock everything.

Alessi offers extras to independent stores Using a specially designed Alessi app, customers are able to search for products that are not in stock, place an immediate order, and have it delivered to their local store.

The idea is to bring customers back to the stores – independents don’t have enough footfall these days and we would very much like to help reverse this trend.

“One of our favourite people we have worked with over the years has been Molly [Hatch]. She is very artistic and knows how to get something done. We love her hand and her style – she references a lot of classic detail and is comfortable and familiar with things from the past. She is clever about incorporating a new idea into something that is very old…”

Buying department,Anthropologie, on working with US artist and ceramist Molly Hatch

20 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

NICK HOLLAND FOR CRATE & BARREL In the past year, successful international product designer Nick Holland, who is specialised in cutlery and dining, has been collaborating with leading design-led US retailer Crate & Barrel, which has more than 170 housewares stores worldwide. The result is a an exclusive range of stoneware tableware called OLSON (pictured) designed

by Nick Holland for Crate & Barrel. In addition, Nick Holland, who was design director for prestigious Portuguese group Vista Alegre Atlantis for 13 years before setting up his own consultancy Nick Holland Design in 1997, has recently been invited by the retailer to join the Crate & Barrel external Designer Programme. “I have always been a big fan of Crate & Barrel stores, their product assortment and their design philosophy, so this is great news for me,” says Nick. The programme focuses on employing independent designers to work directly with Crate & Barrel buyers to design and develop exclusive new ranges for them. “The Programme designers are from many different countries and with many different areas of design expertise,” says Nick. Nick Holland Design is based in the UK and in Portugal and Nick is one of the most experienced and successful international product designers in tableware and housewares. His current clients include manufacturers in England, Portugal, USA, Italy, Germany, France, Korea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. www.nickhollanddesign.com

Tabletop Talk

WE ASK… How do you set about curating the right tableware products for your store?

Natasha Arnott Owner of New York City-based cookshop/tableware store Whisk NYC. “Due to the fact that we are a small independent, with such an expanse of product – from cookware and bakeware, to barware, dinnerware and cutlery – we have to keep our selections small, which means doing our research and expertly curating. We encourage feedback through social media, and many of the items we stock have come about simply by listening to our customers and keeping upto-date with the latest neighbourhood trends.

Being involved in the New York City restaurant scene and cultivating close relationships with chefs, bars and restaurants, helps us see firsthand what trends are emerging. Furthermore, maintaining an active presence on social media keeps us keyed in to what is happening in the food world.”

Tania McNab Founder of La Maison Couture, a luxury home and lifestyle e-sourcing site, offering a carefully edited selection of product in a unique online environment.

“At Maison Couture, we have a unique point of view and carefully edit a handpicked selection of beautiful, luxurious, yet contemporary, items for the home, including crystal barware from Bomma, silver-plated

cutlery from the Aston Martin Collection and fine bone china from Richard Brendon.

When curating product, we look for quality, design excellence, exclusiveness, style and luxury appeal.

Florence Bulte General manager of Gift Own Concept, Chalhoub Group, which owns multi-brand home and gift concept store Tanagra. With 10 outlets across the Middle East, it offers an array of luxury lifestyle gifts and tabletop.

“The brands we choose are a carefully curated and exclusive selection of luxury and quality product that are based on three key values.

They have to be extremely qualitative as craftsmanship in this industry is the way we define luxury. Secondly, they must have legitimacy – most of our brands have been in the market for a long time and boast an exceptional heritage and rich history, like Christofle, which is 250 years old. Finally they should have a ‘timeless appeal’.”

23 - 27 January 13 - 17 February

Hall 4.2 - Stand G81 Hall 3 - Stand E48/F47

Royal Crown Derby has a distinguished history of creating exquisite tableware and luxury giftware, offering a personal service to retailers, hotels and interior designers.

Two and a half Centuries of creativity in every tea cup Manufacturers of fine bone china since 1750

Tel: +44 (0)1332 712 846 www.royalcrownderby.co.uk

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 21

licensing News DESIGN DUO THE BRAND Nude THE DESIGNER Ron Arad

Spotlight on…

Waterford Mad Men Edition Barware AMC’s acclaimed hit series Mad Men returns in spring 2015 for the final seven episodes, bringing an end to a historic TV event. To coincide with the conclusion of Mad Men, and hot on the heels of the last collection of Mad Men-inspired barware, Waterford Crystal is introducing new pieces to its Mad Men Edition Barware range.

The first phase launched earlier this year.

Employing Mixology shapes, pieces are hefty and are edged with traditional deep cutting and bands of rich gold and precious platinum – think a pitcher and platinum rimmed glasses.

The collection honours the episodic drama

and tumultuous era of the late 1960s where the story concludes. Offically licensed through series producer Lionsgate, the barware is a mind-blowing collection that would be right at home in the hands of Don, Peggy, Joan or Roger.

Extensions include the additions of hiballs and dofs to the Draper and Olson patterned collections, and a new gold décor glassware pattern. Holloway Gold features a geometric gold design on dofs and hiballs. Finally, a heavy Olson Cigar Ashtray completes the line – think a retro thick gold band around the rim of the ashtray. www.wwrd.com

Licensing Q&A: TERVIS We speak to vice president of Licensing for Tervis, producers of high-quality Americanmade drinkware that is double-wall insulated, dishwasher-safe and can be branded with almost any license.

Is licensing big for Tervis?

Licensed products make up a significant portion of Tervis’ designs. We have agreements with more than 75 partners now.

Which categories of licensing does Tervis work with most?

We have a portfolio of licences across most major categories, though our biggest areas are in College, Sports and Character licensed products. While we have created custom-designed products for artists’ tours, the recent addition of the Grateful Dead to our retail offering is our first official foray with musicians. We are optimistic about building this category.

So, what other licences do you have?

Our licences include Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), Disney, Marvel, LucasFilms, MLB, NFL, Peanuts, Harley-Davidson, Warner Brothers, RealTree, Margaritaville, Salt Life and Military. New for 2014 was Nickelodeon, which includes characters such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob, Dora and Friends, Bubble Guppies, and coming this month (January 2015), Paw Patrol. We partnered 22 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

with the Warner Home Video group late last year for Big Bang Theory and holiday classics like Elf. AMC is new and includes The Walking Dead, exclusive to Bed Bath & Beyond.

What has been your most successful licences to date?

Our biggest single launch was in 2014 with Disney’s Frozen. As the frenzy built around Frozen, we were among some of the earliest to market because we manufacture here in the US and so could react immediately with our initial designs, and a new fresh assortment in time for holiday.

Why does the Tervis product translate so well to licensing? Consumers love all of the great benefits of Tervis drinkware: guaranteed for life, keeps hot drinks hotter and cold drinks colder for longer and reduces condensation. Marry that with the appeal of someone’s college colours, the logo of a person’s favourite pro sports team or the face of a beloved character, and there instantly becomes an emotional connection. It’s a fun, functional way to say ‘this is who I am’ or ‘that is what I love’.

WHO? New glassware brand Nude, which creates functional yet design-led glassware products across the home, has teamed up with iconic architect and industrial designer Ron Arad to launch a line of glass barware within its Signature Collections.

WHAT? There are three iconic glass barware pieces in the collection, all designed by Arad and handcrafted in lead-free crystal glass by Nude. Wine Party is a line of drinkware. Red or White? delivers a creative and functional solution to wine drinking, with a double-ended wine glass. This comes with a similarly shaped wine decanter, water carafe and water glasses.

The DecanteRing is a circular one-piece handmade glass decanter produced used a special technique. As it takes a day for each decanter to take shape in the hands of the craftsmen, each is numbered from 1 to 365 – only 365 pieces are manufactured each year – as a reminder of each day of the year.

RON ARAD SAYS… “For me, design is to do something that did not exist before.

Ideas should serve us; we shouldn’t serve the ideas. Like this glass collection we have created.

People always ask, Form or function: They are not at war with each other; they work together.”

Licensing Q&A: Kim Parker

We catch up with American artist and author Kim Parker, who has made a global name for herself with her contemporary floral designs and has recently collaborated with Lifetime Brands on six dinnerware collections What is your design aesthetic? My designer collections, whether tabletop, bedding or stationery, all feature my handpainted floral designs.

I love to work with rich colour and the gardens I paint are celebrations of life. I believe that having had an earlier career as a classical flautist has influenced my signature style as combining rich colours and creating an overall lyrical pattern is like composing a symphony.

Where do you get your inspiration? My love for the garden comes from my love of storytelling. I see the garden as a metaphor for a community and flowers are the players. It’s a place where all kinds of relationships take place. Through the bending and positioning of flowers, there is a visual narrative, one that I hope communicates harmony.

Tell us about your new dinnerware collections. I have designed dinnerware collections in the past and always felt this was a product category natural to work on. I am now working with Lifetime Brands and have produced six visually exciting collections on porcelain. These new collections celebrate my long of painting flowers and feature different looks, some feminine watercolour patterns, and others, more dramatic layered florals.

Why Lifetime Brands? Lifetime Brands is a leader in the tabletop industry. After a few meetings with design director, Hugh

NY NOW WINTER SHOW STAND 3534 – HOME AMBIENTE 2015 HALL 1.2 STAND A07 CHICAGO HOUSEWARES SHOW S3674 – DISCOVER DESIGN

Biber and his team, it felt like Lifetime Brands was the perfect fit. Excitement and a generosity of spirit between the designer and design team, and the ability as a designer to freely express your creative vision – these are essential factors in choosing licensing partners.

Do you enjoy designing dinnerware? Designing dinnerware has always felt very natural to me. I am comfortable working within the confines of a certain form or shape. Round shapes are very pleasing to work with. I like how dinner plates can be stacked upon each other, creating a visually rich layered look upon the table. I just enjoy the feeling of abundance with layered pattern and the six collections give consumers the option to mix and match.

How do you see the collection expanding? I envision accessories, such as glassware, stemware, table linens and napkins – in fact, Lifetime Brands is currently in the process of developing glassware for the existing collections.

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Kim Parker’s new designs for Lifetime Brands are now available.

There are six collections featuring six different hanpainted floral designs which work alone or can be mixed and matched. These include India Garden, Spring Eternal, Woodland Floral, Red Tulips, Provence Garden and Tatiana. www.kimparker.tv

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products News

Michael Aram Robert Haviland

India as inspiration The exotic land of India has been inspirational for a number of high-end tabletop manufacturers of late. For luxury home furnishings brand Michael Aram, India has been life-altering, having been the place where in 1989 he discovered rich metalworking traditions.

For Michael Aram’s latest collection Palace, it is India’s architecture – and the complexity of Moghul design, in

particular – that takes centrestage. Celebrating the arches, finials, carved panels and ornamentation prevalent in palaces throughout India, Aram has translated these motifs into a beautifully detailed collection that includes Limoges dinnerware, stainless steel flatware, hand-cut crystal stemware and serving pieces like etageres and cake stands.

French high-end porcelain brand Robert Haviland

& C. Parlon has also looked to India – and Indian art – as inspiration for its new range. It was inspired by the Hindu epic Ramayana by the poet Valmiki, illustrated with Indian miniatures from the 16th to 19th century, published in France by Editions Diane de Selliers.

The collection shows the diversity of Indian art through landscapes, animals and geometric and architectural patterns.

La Rochere revives archived design The new Artois collection from French glassworks La Rochere, which was founded in 1475, is inspired by a form that has been in the glassworks’ archives since 1890. The combination of cut bubble shapes and rustic bourgeois character evoke a certain early 19th century provincial charm.

www.larochere.com

Bijou bites The popular vintage-inspired pattern French Perle from Lenox has been updated for spring 2015, not only with a bright burst of 10 spring colours in its Everyday Mugs and Bowls, but also with the addition of a small heartshaped dish. Ideal as a vessel for small bites or appetizers, the Lenox French

Perle Heart Dish is decorated with a beaded motif and is finished in a choice of bright colours. Crafted of stoneware with microwave and dishwasher safe convenience, these were launched at the show in Atlanta in January.

www.lenox.com

Did you know…? Villeroy & Boch has revealed a new addition to the Artesano Original and Artesano Provencal collections.

The new pattern Artesano Provencal Lavendel communicates French lavender fields – think delicate blossoms in rich and warm purples with comforting cranberry-coloured buds and a violet border. Ideal for the winter season and a perfect pairing with the greens and oranges of Artesano Provencal.

24 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

INTRODUCING… Lou Rota London Lou Rota London is a leading brand of authentic English fine bone china artfully crafted in Stoke-on-Trent utilising traditional methods and modern techniques true to renowned British provenance and quality.

The art of dining comes to life with treasured tableware that pleasures the senses as stylishly at home as it would a gallery. With utmost consideration for the smallest detail on each piece and in every collection, Lou Rata communicates the passion for the craftsmanship of yesteryear, for the enjoyment of generations to come.

www.lourota.com

Hospitality Spotlight Janda by Villeroy & Boch Launched at The Hospitality Show last month was Villeroy & Boch’s latest collection, Janda. Featuring an attractive leaf and geometric motifs in a delicate pistachio hue, a special production process elevates the pattern from the glaze to create a light, stunning design, perfect for professional cuisine. Multi-functional and extremely robust, the collection comprises 30 pieces of premium porcelain, many of which are stackable, from plates to bowls to cups.

www.villeroy-boch.co.uk

FOR THE LOVE OF… Cats Australian-owned homewares company Ashdene has launched a ceramic collection fashioned with felines. It’s All About Meow is an inspirational collection designed by Bob Bowdige where cats and kittens have been lovingly illustrated to capture their curious and playful nature – think pastel palettes with four different poems on each of the mugs. Pieces include coupe fine bone china mugs in green, yellow, blue and pink; melamine snack trays in pink and green; an extra large melamine tray in pink; and kitchen textiles, including a tea towel, apron, pot holder and oven glove in pink. www.ashdene.com.au

Spotlight on…

Capdeco Crystal Cutlery Renowned for its high-end luxury cutlery, French flatware manufacturer Capdeco offers a variety of shapes and colours, making for an exquisite mixand-match tablescape. The crystal collections like the Venus and Olympe patterns (pictured) are specifically designed, in fact, to be interchanged and to dress up the table for different occasions.

www.capdeco-france.com TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 25

products News

Maxwell & Williams collaborates with Historic Royal Palaces To celebrate a unique collaboration with Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that looks after the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace, tabletop company Maxwell & Williams will be launching The Historic Royal Palaces Collection at Spring Fair 2015. This collection introduces two ranges, both designed by acclaimed British designer William Edwards, inspired by the iconic Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace. Both ranges are crafted from fine bone china, offering a 5-pce place setting of side plate, dinner plate, rim soup and cup

Abbiamo Tutto

LSA launches S/S ‘15 collection

and saucer. There are also individually hat-boxed items, including teapots, mugs, cups and saucers, and each range comes in three colourways. The Hampton Court Palace, Tijou Gates design recalls the intricate gilded foliage of the Tijou screen (a wroughtiron masterpiece crafted in 1702) and comes in navy, red and white. The Kensington Palace Rose design is inspired by the lavish beauty and fine embroidery of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, and the beauty of Kensington Palace Gardens, and comes in pink, mint and white. Maxwell & Williams is distributed in the UK by Valerie Graham Ltd.

Artel

LSA International has created some 100 inspiring new pieces for S/S 2015. A variety of artisan techniques have been engaged to produce this season’s new shapes and decorations. The collection includes innovative serveware elevated on wooden stilts, stackable vases, new fabricinspired designs and recycled glass combined with oak and cork. Some of its bestselling ranges have also been extended.

Visit them at Ambiente. www.lsa-international.com

Love for lobsters Celebrating a passion for coastal living, under-thesea creatur creatures are popular as motifs on tabletop. From crabs to lo lobsters to octopuses, crustaceans feature on a number of recently-launched collections. The 100 per cent Made in Italty brand Abbiamo Tutto has recently added the llobster motif to its handpainted successful ceramic ra range, Shore Collection (think serving platters, bowls and pitchers); while luxury crystal company Artel pays homa homage to the sea with the release of its Crab and glassware ranges. These detailed motifs depict Lobster gla the iconic crustaceans in all their exoskeletal glory, and in a vibran vibrant new colour of burnt orange.

45

The number of colours that have been introduced tto the Fiesta dinnerware line (The Homer Laughlin Company) since 1936, though some have been limited edition and are no longer in production. With Black and Peacock recently dropped to make way for new colours this year, current colours number 13 and include Shamrock, Turquoise, Paprika, Plum and Sunflower. The brand is prepping for an exciting wave of colour and product additions this year (to be announced at Chicago). Watch this space…

26 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Spring Fair International, Hall 9, Stand E30-F31 Ambiente, Hall 4.1, Stand B16

UK +44 (0)1782 744721

www.portmeiriongroup.com USA +1 (203) 729 8255 Canada +1 (416) 675 3755

Portmeirion is a registered trademark of Portmeirion Group

PASSION HAS NEW SHAPES Let yourself be seduced by the always contemporary Art Deco and timeless elegance of the new porcelain, crystal and glass collection from Vista Alegre.

Art, luxury and sophistication, skilfully crafted to provide moments of true uniqueness.

Visit us at: MAISON & OBJET PARIS, 23-27 January Hall 7 / Scènes d’Intérieur – Stand I138 AMBIENTE FRANKFURT, 13-17 February Hall 4.1 – F05A

myvistaalegre.com

Profile Ted Baker Portmeirion

Best

of British British eccentricity.

Check. Cutting-edge design. Check. Startling eye for detail. Check.

With such similarities between leading tabletop company Portmeirion and top fashion house Ted Baker, it is little wonder they have joined forces. Tableware International talks to both British brands about the Ted Baker Portmeirion partnership and the two ceramic collections soon to debut

I

conic British brands Portmeirion and Ted Baker – leading tableware manufacturer and fashion house respectively – recently announced that they had joined forces and would be serving up stunning new gift and dinnerware ranges in 2015. Enter Ted Baker Portmeirion, an exciting partnership that marks Ted Baker’s first foray into ceramics as it goes big on the Home category in 2015, as well as marking Portmeirion Group’s first foray into fashion licensing.

And while the industry wasn’t necessarily expecting such news, or such a partnership; when it came two months back, it was of little surprise, with many industry insiders predicting it to be a ‘match made in tabletop heaven’.

After all, both brands are leaders in their respective industries – tabletop and fashion; both are quintessentially British brands; and

30 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

both are growing rapidly, in the UK and internationally. While fashion house Ted Baker is one of the UK’s fastest-growing lifestyle brands and a successful gift brand in leading UK department store John Lewis, Portmeirion continues to be at the forefront of contemporary design and is renowned for its tableware, cookware and gifts.

But the parallels between Ted Baker and Portmeirion don’t end there; Phil Atherton, group sales and marketing director for Portmeirion Group, cites a number of complementary parallels between the British brands: a diverse and eclectic offering, wonderful British eccentricity, a startling eye for detail, cutting-edge design and quality that is unrivalled anywhere in the world.

“This partnership is fantastic news – seeing two British powerbrands unite,” said Phil of the union.

“We are two quintessentially British

brands and extremely proud of our heritage. We share similar values. Ted Baker, like Portmeirion, offers high-quality design at mid-range prices, with a focus on casual sectors.”

Ted Baker shares the mutuallybeneficial sentiment, believing the partnership to be a merging of similar philosophies. “Not only is the heritage and ideology of the brand reminiscent of Ted’s but so are the design and creative aesthetics,” says Craig Smith, global brand communications director, Ted Baker.

And the result of this recent and exclusive collaboration is the delivery of two distinctly-styled debut capsule ranges – a 41-piece vintage floral fine bone china dinnerware range called Rosie Lee and a 22-piece porcelain giftware range titled the Casual Collection – both of which are set to debut at Spring Fair and Ambiente in February, before launching in

retailers during March.

As one would anticipate, both collections are expected to attract a new younger generation of collectors, from mid 20s onwards.

While Portmeirion has brought its ceramic expertise, including its exquisite forms and shapes to the table, Ted Baker has brought its quirky and distinctive use of pattern and colour from its prints.

The tall beverage pot in the 41-piece Rosie Lee fine bone china collection, for example, is a piece that Portmeirion is particularly proud of, mirroring as it does the brand’s iconic Totem design first created in 1965… a piece which first caught Ted Baker’s eye.

And while many of the shapes tap into Portmeirion’s past, they have also been expertly designed to reflect the fashion association, emulating dress silhouettes.

The patterns in both collections bring Ted Baker’s signature colours

RAY KELVIN ON TED BAKER PORTMEIRION

ROSIE LEE COLLECTION Rosie Lee is an elegant and contemporary 41-piece collection crafted from beautiful bone china and finished with touches of 22k hand-gilded gold. It includes everything you would expect from a tableware range, from dinner plates to mugs, teapot to tea cups, with extra pieces like a tea strainer, covered butter pat and centrepiece bowl. The delicate floral rose print has been taken from the Ted Baker women’s spring/summer 2015 fashion range and is set on a mis-matching pastel palette in vintage-inspired shades of mint green, lemon, pink and black and white. and distinctive on-trend prints to the table. The prints used are from Ted Baker’s spring/summer 2015 fashion collection, with the 41-piece Rosie Lee collection boasting the brand’s core seasonal print – Distinguished Rose.

“Ted Baker has a plethora of prints for every season, but there is always one or two that we major on… and Distinguished Rose is the print we have focused on for spring/summer 2015,” explains Paul Burden, head of product licensing for Ted Baker. “It so happened that the rose print sat really well on the crockery and the resulting collection is beautiful,” says Paul.

Portmeirion’s Phil Atherton agrees: “The Ted Baker designs and prints are incredibly eye-catching, and so they have translated very well on to the ceramics.”

The rose print has been

THE CASUAL COLLECTION The Casual Collection comprises 22 pieces of on-trend fashionable porcelain gift items, from coffee mugs and egg cups, to plates and bowls. Boasting a masculine vibe both in terms of shape and print – the geo and animal prints on this collection have been taken from the Ted Baker men’s spring/summer 2015 shirt collection – the pieces embrace inky shades of indigo and black, with patterns juxtaposing, such as contrasting prints on the handle and foot of the mugs.

beautifully designed in varying iterations on to the 41 pieces of fine bone china and many of the base colours used are core colours from the Ted Baker women’s fashion collections, such as mint green, lemon, pink and black.

“Colourways for the Rosie Lee collection include mint, black, lemon and lilac, while the Casual Collection embraces inky shades of indigo and black, all capturing the Ted Baker and Portmeirion brands perfectly,” says Phil.

Whilst the Rosie Lee collection is feminine in form and fashion, the Casual Collection delivers a more masculine vibe, boasting as it does the exciting and on-trend prints translated from the Ted Baker men’s spring/summer 2015 fashion collection. “As a brand, we have a 50/50 split – men and women – so whenever we approach a new

product, we have an eye on both genders ensuring we do something very feminine, as well as something that borrows from our masculine side,” explains Paul from Ted Baker.

The 22-piece Casual Collection, a porcelain giftware range does just this. Prints have been taken from Ted Baker’s latest shirt collection and translated on to the range, the juxtaposition of patterns on the ceramic pieces mirroring the mixing up of prints that Ted Baker delivers on its shirts, with different designs incorporated on the handle and foot of the mug.

“As a fashion brand, we mix our prints together, so we translated this directly on to the crockery. We usually have three or four things happening on one piece and we’ve translated this on to the ware, too,” explains Paul.

In fact, this mixing and matching

The 41-piece Rosie Lee Collection

We visited the Ted Baker offices to take a sneak peek at the collection and touch base with Ted Baker’s founder and CEO Ray Kelvin. Here’s what Ray had to tell us…

We choose our partners carefully We have a number of licences with different companies. We chose Portmeirion Group because they are experts in the tabletop industry. We are both British brands and we know that with them, we can expand into other tabletop categories and take the brand overseas. A lot of licence partnerships we have are as much about the people as the product and likewise with Portmeirion – they are a lovely bunch of people.

We are very involved in the creative process No matter the project or partnership that we embark upon, we ensure that our Ted Baker handwriting is on it and that the product is original.

This includes our collaboration with Portmeirion; we managed the creative process, decided on the ceramic shapes along with Portmeirion, and chose the prints.

Both campaigns are shot in Portmeirion Village It was a coincidence but back in September we shot our spring/ summer 2015 Ted Baker fashion look book in Portmeirion Village, and realised it would make a fantastic story, having recently partnered with Portmeirion on tabletop. So, we sent Portmeirion our fashion campaign creatives as a base from which to work, and they visited Portmeirion Village and did a shoot for the Ted Baker Portmeirion ceramic collections.

They used the same backdrops but were specific to crockery.

We started with a tea range The 41-piece fine bone china Rosie Lee collection started out as just a tea range, synonymous with the concept of Afternoon Tea. But everything looked so beautiful and worked so well that we kept expanding it, so it is now 41 pieces. And we are thankful – it is such an authoritative launch.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 31

Profile Ted Baker Portmeirion

The 22-piece Casual Collection

of prints is a concept that has been fully embraced in these debut collections. The Rosie Lee dinnerware range is an eclectic collection, providing a plethora of pieces – from dinner plates to tea cups, to a covered butter pat and centrepiece bowl - and offers lots of opportunities for mixing and matching… a concept that, say Portmeirion, really resonates with consumers right now.

Not only does this concept fit in with today’s lifestyle trends, but it represents the creative philosophy behind both brands: legendary ceramic designer and founder of Portmeirion Susan WilliamEllis, renowned for pushing the boundaries in the tabletop category, launched her groundbreaking Botanic Garden design, featuring mis-matched dinnerware in the 1970s, long before any other manufacturer. Meanwhile, Ted Baker is renowned for the mixing and matching of multiple prints in its fashions. “Ever since it was founded, Portmeirion has pushed

the boundaries in the tabletop category, while Ted Baker has done the same and shaken up the fashion world, with its adventurous use of pattern and colour,” explains Phil, Portmeirion.

And while the prints chosen for the collections are season-specific prints, in line with Ted Baker’s new-season fashion collection, making them perfectly on-trend, they have also been chosen for their commercial appeal and timelessness.

“The prints chosen have longevity, created so they last beyond just a season, with the plan being to add more colours and prints, which can then extend the range and offer even further possibilities for interchangeability,” says Paul.

The reaction from the buyers that have already been given a sneak peek of the collections has been positive. “We can’t name any retailers yet, but we have had a fantastic reaction so far, with everyone very excited, especially as the patterns have a global appeal,” says Phil, Portmeirion.

TABLETOP MEETS FASHION

“

While we are a fashion business, we have a passion for home, with Homewares our next target, though we are being very strategic about what categories we do and when.

Homewares is a natural extension to fashion - both are ultimately about design and follow trends. As a brand, we love to do things that create a halo effect for the brand, to make lovely things.

Ray Kelvin, founder and CEO, Ted Baker 32 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

”

And while the two collections will be ready for retail launch during March, Ted Baker Portmeirion is already thinking about new collections and categories, planning its autumn/ winter prints and extensions into the other areas of tabletop and even kitchen. “One reason why Portmeirion was so appealing to Ted Baker as a partner was because they cover the entire tabletop, as well as kitchenware,” says Paul.

“We don’t want lots of partners and would rather partner with just one who really understood their category, so that we can extend categories naturally,” says Paul, explaining how kitchen textiles are already on the brand’s radar.

And being giftable is key for Ted Baker (Ted Baker is one of the biggest brands for gifting in John Lewis in the UK) with packaging a very important part in the concept and design of both Ted Baker Portmeirion collections. “We have worked closely with Ted Baker to ensure that the packaging is onbrand for both parties, particularly

with all of the added extras and finishing touches,” says Phil from Portmeirion, pointing to extra details like the metallic lids, hidden ‘Tedisms’ on the inside of the lidded gift boxes, tissue paper and the debossed branding on the lids.

The partnership is already proving highly complementary, with each brand bringing its respective areas of expertise to play, and the proof of this is in the pudding… the product. “We both wanted to create a collection that was quirky, yet commercial; special, yet usable… and we are delighted with the finished products,” says Phil, Portmeirion. “The collections are both beautiful and affordable, nostalgic but contemporary, pleasing to the eye, and above all, individual, exquisite and timeless.”

Discover the world of Ted Baker Portmeirion, which will boast its very own space on the Portmeirion Group stands, both at Spring Fair, NEC Birmingham, February 1-5; and at Ambiente Frankfurt, Feb 13-17. www.portmeiriongroup.com

“

Fashion and Homewares go very much hand-in-hand and tend to follow the same trends. Today’s consumer not only buys the product, but also buys into the brand, so it’s a natural extension for fashion to filter through into homewares. Increasingly, the fashion industry has started to recognise this and are looking for established partners with whom to move into the homewares arena.

”

Phil Atherton, group sales and marketing director for Portmeirion Group

Take a look in the mirror of the world market.

Explore every facet of the international consumer goods industry and a unique product spectrum for core and supplementary assortments. In the Dining area you’ll find countless ideas for the table, kitchen, household and Horeca sectors.

This is the fair that identifies your key success factors.

Information and tickets at advance sale prices at ambiente.messefrankfurt.com Tel. +44 (0) 14 83 48 39 83 info@uk.messefrankfurt.com

13 – 17. 2. 2015

try

Partner coun

trends products MANHATTEN Rudolf Kampf

LA CLASSICA CONTURA Villeroy & Boch Inspired by Villeroy & Boch’s historical roots, the premium bone porcelain collection, offered both in white and a pattern, boasts strong lines with architectural undertones. The patterned version, La Classica Contura is inspired by the domes and rotundas of Europe and includes a dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter plate, bowls and serving pieces. Mix and match with La Classica Contura white pieces for an elegant and contemporary table.

The unique and stunning architecture of the New York Chrysler Building was the inspiration for Rudolf Kampf’s Manhatten Collection. Created as a coffee set, the collection speaks of the Art Deco influences of the 1930s and the famed building, in particular. It comes in two versions, one is white glazed; the other manually painted in bright colours with black and gold finishing, the artwork inspired by the interiors of Art Deco designer Dorothy Draper. www.rudolfkampf.eu

www.villeroy-boch.com

TREND: Architectural From Indian palaces to European domes, we round up the latest collections that have taken inspiration from architecture DUOMO

PALACE

Haviland

Michael Aram

Haviland presents two new porcelain collections – Belle Epoque and Duomo – both inspired by architectural elements.

The Belle Epoque collection is inspired by the architecture of the Paris Metro entrances designed by Hector Guimard at the beginning of the 20th century – think elegant arabesque patterns in matte platinum. The geometric Duomo design (pictured) is inspired by the dome of the Pantheon in Rome – the architecture of the 140 stucco box columns that make up the dome of this church built nearly two millennia ago.

Having been a part-time resident of India since 1989, Indian palace architecture has been a steady source of inspiration for Michael Aram. His new Palace Collection pays tribute to the geometry and complexity of Moghul design, with the elegant shapes and materials reflecting the arches, finials, carved panels and ornamentation that is prevalent in palaces throughout the East. The Palace tabletop collection includes Limoges dinnerware (pictured), stainless steel flatware, hand-cut crystal stemware and serveware pieces.

www.haviland.fr

34 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

www.michaelaram.com

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

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

Show information and free online pre-registration Visitors: www.housewares.org/attend Exhibitors: www.housewares.org/exhibit

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

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.

Creative and metallics

Nambé

Fingers & forks Tableware specialist Donna Ferrari focuses on trends in flatware design

B

ack in the day when people consulted etiquette books on how to set a table the advice regarding dinnerware, glassware and flatware was the two-to-one rule, meaning two of the elements should be either simple or ornate in style and the third element the opposite. For example, elaborate dinnerware and glassware with simply designed flatware. Regardless of rules, it is interesting to see how highly decorative flatware has become the focus in a tableware market dominated by simply decorated dinnerware and glassware. We take a look at the inspirations, finishes, shapes, materials, and tastes (literally) whetting an appetite for flatware – aka cutlery – that are designed to make an eye-catching statement.

Decorative inspirations

Seletti

Marchesa

by Lenox

Lorena Gaxiola

36 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

More than a handful of flatware patterns are making their mark with richly textured, artful and imaginative surface decorations. Michael Aram began with hand-sculpted casts when designing Gotham, a pattern inspired by rugged masonry; Forest Leaf with its impression of leaves on a forest floor; and the Molten pattern which is thickset with forged hammer strikes purfled by welded beads of metal. The handle of Michael Wainwright’s Truro pattern, also worked from a hand-sculpted cast, looks like impressions in a sand dune; on his Giotto pattern, the 24k gold accents reference Renaissance artwork.

Reed & Barton’s Reed pattern interprets the ribbing and graceful arc of a stalk of grass on to flatware. At Pfaltzgraff the etched finish on the Malabar pattern looks and feels like wood grain. Oneida offers a global scope of decorative motifs on its patterns as follows: incised lines on Anya are in the style of Ikat textiles, Ganado bears resemblance to carving

on a totem pole, Kato echoes the overlapping waves of a Japanese Seigaiha design,Taza’s stippled finish is tribal in spirit and the debossed texture on Lattice is a take on a type of fretwork. The look of lace describes the design on Argent Orfèvres’s Embroidery pattern but the way its decoration and contour are stylised make a contemporary statement, while maintaining a traditional and romantic tone.

Finishes and forms Flatware with finishes that combine satin with polished, that have innovative forms, and those with textured elements, continue strong.

These trendsetting styles give patterns personality well-suited to the type of table settings favoured in our modern lives. At Puiforcat, satin and polished finishes used in tandem on Zermatt Satin Matte act to soften the pattern’s modernist shape. Towle Everyday’s Bianca Frost’s dual finish underscores its geometric quatrefoil decoration, while Towle Living’s Calypso pattern is realised by an undulating forged form. With a graphic design and a sensual feeling, the Bijou pattern from Skandia looks like jewellery for the table. Taking a cue from the mix & match dinnerware idea, the Argent Orfèvres Montage pattern mixes textures within the flatware place setting: the dinner knife’s handle has the texture of slate but the forks’ and spoons’ is smooth and sleek. The subtle sophistication of totally matte finishes are re-emerging and sometimes being used to revamp existing patterns like the Antico version of Sambonet’s Gio Ponti flatware. Antiqued looks, rusticated metals and oxidised treatments are generally on the uptick in flatware. Futagami’s Ihada pattern is sand cast entirely in brass, a metal prized for the patina it develops; tines, bowls and blade are then silver-plated with a matte finish to balance with

Variopinte Pandora Design Argent Orfèvres

Skandia

Materialss the gradual antiquing on the brass.

Industrial-looking finishes like those seen on Crate & Barrel’s Urban pattern offer another design mode that complements contemporary lifestyles. The vogue for dressing in black and white is paralleled by the popularity of black flatware with white dinnerware. With this in mind, Ricci Silversmiths offers a black oxidised version of its classic Art Deco pattern.

Creative and metallics Among design-savvy customers there is an enthusiastic clientele for creative and unusual tableware. One design that certainly opens the way to dinner conversation is Seletti’s Keytlery pattern; this key-shaped flatware comes in a black or gold PVD finish.

At Lorena Gaxiola the hand-shaped ornament on the La Mano pattern brings new meaning to the expression hand-to-mouth; this pattern is available with, or without, a 24k gold finish. Gold tones continue as a leading trend in tableware. Vietri by Bugatti’s Aladdin Gold Fleck flatware has 18k gold-plated leaf pieces embedded into the clear acrylic handles. At Nambé the scattering of debossed dots in the Dazzle Gold pattern further enhance the radiance of the gold-plating. Rose gold and copper – now coveted trends in jewellery – inspire the coloured metallics trend in flatware. Marchesa

by Lenox added an 18k rose gold electroplate finish to the Imperial Caviar flatware line — the colour is particularly flattering to many patterns in the brand’s dinnerware collection.

The colour of copper is achieved on Lenox’s Western Ember pattern with an ion-plating process. All-over designs, produced by laser etching, engraving or stamping, may be more of a marvel than a full-blown trend but notable in this style is the engraved Jardin d’Eden pattern, designed

by Marcel Wanders for Christofle, available in sterling, silver plate

and a newly added gold accented version. Also notable is Herdmar’s Cairo pattern, with its pebble texture stamped into the length of the pieces.

Material mix-up Fingers, and eating utensils fashioned from shells, carved wood, all manner of metals, and other assorted materials help us partake of food. Owning silver or gold utensils implied status in former times (i.e., for thousands of years) and using them served an advantage to ones’ health as these metals naturally inhibit the growth of bacteria. Stainless steel is largely the metal of choice today but a trending topic is the effect flatware has on the taste of food. The Tastemaker collection of porcelain flatware, created by Renée Boute and Liane van Zanten, proposes that porcelain’s fragility makes one more aware of every bite and emphasises a food’s sweet or salty flavour depending on the flatware’s shape and size. Twig New York’s white porcelain Cutlery utensils are meant for sweets and savoury snacks.

Clean white, simple styles are a trend across home fashions, including all types of tableware. Variopinte offers full-size white flatware in its enamel on steel Enamelled Cutlery line. Argent Orfèvres’s Hylton Olive Wood pattern is made with olive wood and speaks to the growing interest in farmhouse style and for products with workbench characteristics. Acrylic and other resin

materials lend many creative options to flatware designers; the acrylic portion of Kim Seybert’s Zebrawood pattern looks like its namesake exotic wood but without causing harm to this endangered species of tree; the clear acrylic handle on her Faceted pattern sparkles like a crystal prism but won’t chip if it slips. Villeroy & Boch has fun with flatware by adding coloured silicon accents on the handles of the Caffè Club collection, and at Pandora Design, the DeVine pattern uses plastic, not metal, to bring colour to a traditional flatware design.

Forms

Towle Living

Luxe-level products Luxe-level products that combine expert techniques in lacquer coating, engraving and silver-plating are an attractive alternative for customers seeking high-end, but not necessarily sterling silver, flatware. Among products at this echelon are Alain Saint-Joanis’s new Maya pattern which takes inspiration from the monumental stepped pyramids in preColumbian architecture and Ercuis’s Arts Décoratifs collection of eight designs that recall historic periods in French decorative arts. The collection is offered in a range of thirty colours and available in bespoke ones as well.

Oneida

Patterns mentioned are made of stainless steel; those with specific finishes or made with other materials are indicated.

Luxury

Decorative

Alain Saint-Joanis

Michael Aram

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 37

Profile Lenox Tuxedo Platinum

LENOX

Westchester

The home of contemporary classics For more than 125 years, America’s longest-standing fine china company Lenox has delivered collections that are classic yet contemporary, resulting in dinnerware that can literally last a lifetime

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he heritage of America’s longest-standing fine bone china company is all about its incredible design expertise, an expertise that for 126 years has allowed the Lenox brand to create amazing pattern longevity – to continually create designs that are classic, yet simultaneously relevant to today’s consumer.

Founded in 1889 in New Jersey

by Walter Scott Lenox, the brand is dedicated to the highest standards of quality, artistry and beauty. Walter understood the importance of putting artistic designs at the forefront of his ceramic sets. He cemented the relationship between art and tableware, which became fashionable in the early 20th century, by commissioning acclaimed American artists, such as William Morley to decorate his plates.

And the brand’s continued commitment to such design excellence and craftsmanship has

seen Lenox become one of the most respected and long-standing names in fine tableware and giftware, favoured by presidents, honoured with awards, displayed at museums, and enjoyed in homes across America and around the entire world.

It is the brand’s continued design expertise and innovation, its commitment to quality materials and craftsmanship, along with its stateof-the-art design facilities, that has allowed Lenox to continue to bring beautiful products to market today – some 126 years later; products that have longevity, both in design and in quality, but that are also relevant to consumers’ changing personalities and needs. “We have fantastic American design capabilities and really understand the pulse of today’s consumer,” explains Lenox president Lester Gribetz.

With its continued finger on the design pulse, Lenox broke the mould in the ‘60s and ‘70s, for example, with

Did You Know…?

its daring designs – Firesong (1970) and Fantasies (1971) – which carry the bold colours and abstract designs of the Pop Art era; and in recent years Lenox has continued to be a leader in on-trend and transitional china and contemporary mix-and-match place settings.

In line with tableware becoming more led by fashion, Lenox has been very much on the pulse, securing very influential designers, such as Donna Karan, Kate Spade and Marchesa, to bring their contemporary and relevant style to the brand’s high-quality tableware. Such collections have proven highly successful, providing the perfect collaboration of Lenox’s renowned craftsmanship and quality in dinnerware with the contemporary and fashionable styling of leading designers. “We partnered with Lenox Corporation to source incredible materials – bone china, crystal, blown glass and sculpted wood, crafted with artisan techniques sourced from all

over the world,” says Donna Karan of her collaboration with Lenox.

Standing the test of time The real beauty of the Lenox brand, though, is not simply its ability to create contemporary on-trend designs that speak to the consumer of the time, but to ensure such contemporary designs have the ability to become classics… to withstand the test of time, to last a lifetime.

Such contemporary yet classic design, for which Lenox is now widely known, was in large part due to Frank Graham Holmes, chief designer of Lenox from 1905 to 1954. Holmes possessed a remarkable ability to blend contemporary style with timeless good taste: Holmes’ Fountain (1926) pattern, for example, bears the geometric lines and bright colours of the Art Deco era paired with a traditional floral ornament.

Many Lenox patterns from the earlier part of the century continue

Not only has Lenox recently been voted the Number One most recommended brand in the US among women for fine dining and giftware, but a recent third party survey revealed that Lenox boasts an incredible 84 per cent brand awareness in the US, significantly higher than any other tabletop brand.

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Autumn

Eternal White

50-year-old Eternal pattern revived The classic fine dining Eternal pattern is recognised by its signature ivory and gold combination – think ivory body and thick 24k gold rim banding. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eternal this year, Lenox has for spring 2015 released a new version on a crisp white bone china body, offering a fresher look for a younger audience. to be popular today, proving the longevity of Lenox design. Take the Westchester pattern (pictured); created in 1915 this elegant pattern, and Lenox’s most elaborate design, was inspired by beautiful engraved jewellery. The rim design is etched into the glazed body using a sandblasting technique, which is then coated with 24k liquid gold and fired at a very high temperature, before being handburnished to restore the lustre to the gold. Also still popular today is the Tuxedo pattern (pictured), which was launched in 1912; and the Autumn design (pictured), a pattern featuring a floral motif and the jewelled colours of autumn flowers that was launched in 1918 and is still ranked in Lenox’s top 10 patterns today.

This combination of contemporary yet classic has continued to be representative of the Lenox brand, delivering longevity of design in its dinnerware. Designs like Winter Greetings (1995) by the noted nature artist Catherine McClung have been hailed as contemporary classics; patterns like Solitaire (1965) and Holiday (1974) are still bestsellers today; and many of the brand’s classic china patterns that were designed decades ago and in line with that era’s fashions have maintained their popularity and therefore longevity due to smart updates and on-trend extensions.

“Lenox continues to invigorate its classic patterns season after season with extensions and variations in order to appeal to different markets and current trends,” says vice president of

the Lenox brand Sherri Crisenbery, highlighting Opal Innocence, one of Lenox’s bestselling patterns. Since its launch in 2002, the Opal Innocence family has been expanded to include Stripe, Scroll, Silver and, on the casual side, Carved, as well as two new shades for this spring 2015.

“In an effort to build upon our successes with Opal Innocence, we are introducing two new colours to create a cool contemporary collection, providing brides with an expanded choice in our beloved vine and bead pattern,” explains Sherri.

Lenox’s Butterfly Meadow pattern is another example of a pattern continually being reinvigorated.

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Butterfly Meadow maintains its position as America’s most popular casual dinnerware pattern. In line with contemporary trends and modern entertaining needs, the pattern has evolved, now delivering various colour and style interpretations for modern mixing and matching.

But these aren’t the only Lenox patterns that have stood the test of tableware time. The Eternal pattern (pictured), created in 1965, and Federal Platinum pattern, created in 1975, both part of the Lenox fine dining portfolio, consistently rank among the most popular patterns worldwide.

So popular is the now 50-year-old Eternal pattern, which is known for its signature elegant ivory body with thick 24k gold banding, that in celebration of its 50th anniversary this spring,

Lenox has extended Eternal to include a new version that comes on a crisp white bone body, offering an Eternal interpretation with a younger, fresher look for a more modern audience.

However, it is not just in the update and adaptation of its designs that Lenox has proven it has its finger on the modern lifestyle pulse. In line with increasing consumer demands and lifestyle changes, Lenox has continued to expand its original focus on dishwasher-safe fine dinnerware to include casual dinnerware that can be put in the microwave and freezer.

Lenox was committed from its earliest days to listening to consumers. When customers wanted a coordinated look, Lenox complemented its china with handblown lead crystal in 1966, followed by silver flatware in 1991.

Lenox for a lifetime Lenox’s long-standing popularity of pattern is not the only way in which longevity reigns supreme. The quality of the porcelain and the décor – the materials used and the craftsmanship employed – is such that a Lenox dinnerware service has longevity in terms of durability, too.

All of Lenox’s fine bone china is produced at the Lenox Kinston Plant in North Carolina, the only fine bone china factory in the US, and the quality of china produced here is so fine yet so durable that it has received numerous awards from the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators for Artistic

Design; and in1928 the Lenox ceramic body was certified by the Bureau of Standards as one of the most durable yet made. Its bone china dinnerware is also highly chip-resistant. In fact, Lenox is so confident of the strength and durability of its bone china that all its dinnerware is supported by a Lifetime Breakage Replacement Programme. “In the highly unlikely event that a piece is dropped and broken, then Lenox will replace it at 50 per cent off,” says Sherri.

Even the brand’s finest patterns, which boast some of the finest materials like 24kt gold or precious platinum banding, are durable and sturdy enough to be put in the dishwasher and to be used daily, created as they have been by artisans expert in hand-applying detailed decals, hand-banding rims in precious gold or platinum and hand-applying small enamel dots.

It is this expertise in manufacturing and craftsmanship, delivering durable product that can be used daily, along with the brand’s expertise in design and finger on the pulse, that has recently led to Lenox being voted the Number One most recommended brand among women for fine dining and giftware in the US. “Our state-of-the-art design facilities help us to continue to bring beautiful products to market that are relevant to our consumers’ changing personalities and needs,” concludes Lester Gribetz.

Find Lenox at Ambiente 2015 – Hall 4.1 Stand C30 – in February. www.lenox.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 39

Profile Lenox

CELEBRATING

15 YEARS OF BUTTERFLY MEADOW

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his coming Spring 2015, Lenox will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of its top-selling pattern, Butterfly Meadow, a pattern featuring the stunning garden motifs of butterflies, bumblebees, dragonflies and flowers based on the artistry of Louise de Luyer. British artist Louise was inspired by the environment in which she grew up in on the island of Jersey in the UK, where she was surrounded by lush meadows and winding lanes filled with pretty flowers and beautiful butterflies.

Since 2000, this popular springtime pattern on creamy white porcelain, with its signature scalloped rims and large eating surface, has graced the tables of newlyweds and families across the world, filling homes with cheery colour and warmth and bringing the beauty of springtime to homes all year round. To this day, it remains the most popular casual dinnerware pattern in America, as well as a bestseller in Korea, and now spans the entire tabletop, including dinnerware, flatware, serveware and other tabletop accessories, such as salt and pepper shaker sets, a cake stand, tablecloths and napkins. In fact, the range has grown to feature more than 150 pieces, with the collection expanding to not just include products

that address the specific interests of consumers, but also to include variations on the pattern.

There are now six different designs available; as well as the original, there are variations in blue and pink, as well Butterfly Meadow Trellis, Hydrangea and Cloud, the latter featuring the signature pattern’s motifs embossed in white glaze for a contemporary take.

“Butterfly Meadow is a collection we are extremely proud of and one that consumers have loved and entertained with for many years,” says Lenox president Lester Gribetz. “The new pieces we debut to each market will continue to delight and inspire for years to come.”

And The New York Tabletop Market in October 2014 at 41 Madison, where Lenox has the entire 24th floor, was no exception, delivering a new range in celebration of Butterfly Meadow’s highly successful 15 years.

Lenox has launched for spring 2015 a modern outdoor dining extension of the pattern to chime with today’s entertaining trends. The new Butterfly Meadow Outdoor Dining collection (pictured top) consists of melamine pieces to make outdoor entertaining easy and stylish. Serving bowls, divided servers, cake stands, trays and chip and dip sets are great complements to the family of Butterfly Meadow products.

300

The approximate percentage of fine bone china dinnerware purchased since the 1950s in the US that bears the Lenox backstamp.

The number in millions of pieces of fine bone china produced annually at the Kinston plant of Lenox.

LENOX BY NUMBERS

1700

The number of pieces in the official state service that President and Mrs Wilson commissioned Lenox to create in 1918, making Lenox the first American china to grace a president’s table.

The cost of the service was $16,000.

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The approximate number of Lenox pieces chosen for display in 1928 by the elite National Museum of Ceramics in Sevres, France – this makes Lenox the first and only American porcelain company to ever be extended this particular honour.

The number of US embassies in which Lenox’s fine china tableware resides – this is in addition to being present at the White House, the vice president’s official residence and more than half of the governors’ mansions.

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Profile Lenox

Step into spring with

LENOX Fresh bursts of new and unexpected colour spring into action on Lenox’s new-season tableware

Two new colours Opal Innocence Introduced in 2002, Opal Innocence is Lenox’s Number One fine dining pattern and is especially loved by brides. A blend of Lenox artistry with exquisite feminine design, the pattern features a white-on-white pattern banded in precious platinum and accented with hand-applied enamel dots.

Dishwasher-safe, this pattern is so popular that Lenox developed stemware and flatware to match, creating the complete Opal Innocence table. Lenox has also expanded the Opal Innocence pattern family to include Opal Innocence Stripe, Opal Innocence Scroll, Opal Innocence Silver, and on the casual side, Opal Innocence Carved. For spring 2015, Lenox is expanding the bestselling pattern further, with the introduction of two new colours, Opal Innocence Dune and Opal Innocence Blue.

Opal Innocence Dune is a shimmery taupe shade, giving the pattern an interesting and updated new style in a neutral timeless shade; while Opal Innocence Blue comes with a soft, powder blue band showcasing the motif in a sophisticated style.

Chirp gets facelift Tin Can Alley Launched in 2007, Lenox’s casual Chirp goes Navy Dinnerware collection features bold splashes of watercolour birds and botanicals in delicate brushstrokes on a fine china body, offering an Asian feel, with colours including teal and scarlet. For spring 2015, the top performing Chirp has been given an update with the addition of tailored light blue bands to the watercolour design. Chirp Stripe features a blue stripe design on the inside of the bowl, the outside of the mug, and on the band of the dinner plate, while the accent salad plate remains the same with the signature bird design. A fresh new option, this soft blue colour with the popular stripe motif mixes and matches beautifully with Chirp.

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Crafted of durable bone china and with a pure white glaze, Tin Can Alley dinnerware features concentric grooves – either four or seven degrees – which distinguish the edge or exterior of each piece for a look of understated elegance. It comes with coordinating flatware and glassware.

New for spring 2015 is Tin Can Alley Navy porcelain – think a thin navy ribbon border – offering a dash of sophisticated colour to this great white collection. The detail has been added to each piece in the place setting, while maintaining the distinctive carved concentric circles. This is a great way to brighten up the collection.

New colours in French Perle Inspired by the beautiful beading and intricate scroll detail found on the finest embroidered fabrics and in intricate jewellery, French Perle features a beaded motif on hardwearing stoneware that delivers an old-fashioned sensibility, lending a retro country charm to the table. Feminine in feel and with gently scalloped edges, the French Perle collection already comes in soft shades of white, pistachio, ice blue and violet; as well as French Perle Charm, which highlights the knots in a medallion style pattern; and French Perle Bead, a simplified version of the original, highlighting the raised beading. New for spring 2015 are 10 bright new colours on French Perle’s Everything Bowls and Mugs. Vibrant hues such as greens, purples and blues dress these sturdy stoneware pieces with the signature beaded motif.

Perfect for mixing and matching, collecting and gifting, the mugs and bowls are sold open stock so you can showcase all the colour options.

Retail COMMENT

Keeping the ‘special’ in specialty stores From display techniques and super service, to ethnic trends and social media strategy, there are innovative and important ways stores can capture the consumer of today. We speak to tabletop and giftware industry expert Jorge Pérez to discover just how specialty stores can meet the opportunities and face the challenges of doing business today

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uring the last Summer Gift Market, Forty One Madison, home of The New York Tabletop Market, hosted an informative sunset seminar in the stunning WWRD showroom. The seminar was led by speaker Jorge Pérez, an industry expert and guru in tabletop and giftware.

Having previously been brand spokesperson for Waterford, Jorges is now an on-air luxury lifestyle expert for the ShopHQ Channel in the US. During the seminar, Jorges offered his ideas and tips for promoting speciality stores’ special place in the retail environment today.

Tableware International had the opportunity to attend and to speak with Jorges in person about how such specialty stores can capture a larger share of today’s consumer audience...

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As e-tail improves in customer service, how can specialty stores maintain their long-held customer service advantage?

“No one in the world of e-commerce can offer customers the ability to touch, smell or taste products – these are some of a specialty store’s advantages. And talk about instant gratification, customers actually get to walk away with the product.” Jorges goes on to describe opportunities a specialty store has to build relationships with its clients. “You can impart something very important called knowledge to your customers, tell them the history of the brands you sell and information about how a quality product is made, this is something you can do that e-commerce cannot.

Nothing can replace being able to put a piece into a customer’s hands while telling them the story of the brand… suddenly the piece goes from merely being a purchase to a family heirloom.” Anecdotally he

adds, “ You can sell a $350 bowl even when there is a larger $35 bowl right next to it by engaging the customer with the story and history of the brand; that more expensive bowl now becomes a value.” Jorges points out that it is necessary for specialty stores to, as he calls it "e-volve." "You have to compete, but don’t just compete, beat your online competitors. If they offer free gift wrap and shipping, so should you.”

Jorges also gives specialty stores this advice, “If you know a customer is a collector of a particular item, act like a personal shopper and let them know when a new collection arrives.

E-commerce sites send out notices when something new has arrived… so should you.”

What are the key impressions a store can make in customers’ minds to build its success?

“The knowledge a store’s owner is able to impart to customers, and the emotional experience a

shopper will get from owning a fine product, are key to success.” In Jorge’s view, specialty stores can do what understaffed department stores cannot: “A specialty store’s staff can encourage shoppers to add the [proverbial] chocolate fudge to what they initially planned to buy by adding extra serving pieces or accessories.” He also advocates giving customers the message that they can use their tableware in unexpected ways, “Inspire customers, let them know they can use their gold-banded dinnerware for a lovely breakfast.”

What are effective ways store owners can use social media to attract customers?

“Using Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram reinforces the message to consumers that your store is the place to go. If you don’t use these platforms you’re as old as a business card. Employing social media is just as critical for attracting baby boomers as it is for Millennials – using these

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Retail COMMENT tools isn't just the way people shop today, it’s how they research what they’re going to buy. If your store is not active on social media, less customers will know about you as the place to go for certain brands and/or to get a special shopping experience.”

Jorge recommends posting useful and interesting content, not just promotions: “Post [editorial] content, like the best tips for cleaning sterling silver, the five things to know before setting your holiday table.” He also suggests, “Write about local trends and events to build community.”

Since consumers treat stores as a showcase to view items, what do you suggest can help keep them from buying elsewhere?

“Fight back, position your store as the best destination for your product category by offering knowledge, tips and by using social media. Brag about what your store offers that other’s don’t.” Jorge says, “Who trusts e-commerce…? Offer super service to build trust with your customers… for example, customers will trust and continue to do business with a makeup artist who gives them the best tips for the shape of their face.” Pérez underscores the importance of the customer experience: “You need to make a purchase experiential for your customers. Spas, travel and dining out experiences are competing for tableware dollars today – for many people it’s no longer about owning more things, but how what they own makes them feel. Go from a flat selling approach to inspiring customers with the experiential feeling that owning a fine product will give them. By telling customers the stories behind the brands you sell, not only are you making the sale, but you’re turning that customer into a collector.” Given that one way to keep customers from shopping elsewhere is by offering local products that cannot be found anywhere else and supports the local artisans, Jorges says, “ A major store can’t bring in local products to 700 locations. Let customers know your store supports local talent; it’s like paying it forward in retail form — you support local and they’ll support you.”

Is it essential to have a website if it does not do e-commerce?

“In the US, many of the wellestablished specialty jeweller/ 46 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

tabletop stores have served their community for three generations, but gone are the days when even stores such as these can do business without a website; it’s the new calling card. Your website takes your message further by showing customers who don’t already know you exactly what is behind your doors, your heritage and what your store stands for.” Jorge points out that retailers should make sure their website is optimised for viewing on a smartphone, he also emphasises the state of the business in retail today, “Omni-channel marketing is no longer optional for a retailer; e-commerce is critical — if you’re not there, customers are not there.”

What are your favourite staff education approaches?

“Take your staff for an experience – to dine at a restaurant that uses fine tableware, for example, so they better understand what it feels like to eat that way. Reinvigorate your staff ’s passion by hosting a semi-annual ‘Training University,’ a day filled with vendor rep’s training seminars. Or, set up webinars between your staff and vendors and always instruct the staff to view the videos that vendors supply.” Jorge feels, “It’s important to teach your staff to tap into their own customer service experiences."

Any display techniques you’d suggest for small-space stores?

“When you holiday or travel to an out-of-town trade show, visit the local stores for ideas. I love tabletops that create a visual experience; I once saw a window display where the tableware was suspended from the ceiling over the table – it compelled me to enter.” Jorges favours displays that feature a look instead of a brand. “People don’t buy by brand, instead they want to see a look pulled together.” Jorges recommends displaying by colour scheme, if a customer wants to see all the white ware they can find it all in one place.”

His creative suggestions include, “Create unexpected displays like a tray with barware on a bed in the bedding section, that’s a 5’x6’ area of space you can use for a dual display.

Another way you can find extra space for merchandise: look up, you can hang pieces from the ceiling. — just beware of clutter.”

TOP TIPS Jorge Pérez’s merchandising and marketing advice for specialty stores Be social It is critical to use social media to engage Millennial and baby boomer customers; statistics show 73 per cent of adults use social networking sites. It is just as critical your posts contain useful content. Posting vendor-generated content like educational videos are especially effective as 65 per cent of people are visual learners. For your social media to be most valuable you must post every day; a good ratio of postings is four to one: four content-focused posts for every one ad/promo post.

Don’t do a bridal registry, do a registry acquisition Unless your store has a well-established national bridal registry service get out of the bridal registry business. Instead of the expense and space to maintain one, you can access a registry a bridal couple has created on another online website; offer to fulfil the gift items listed from the vendors you carry. Family members and local customers may like to give their business to a local store they trust to service them.

On the web It is essential your store website is optimised for viewing on smartphones. Work with vendors to get your store a better/best placement on their websites, and in turn do the same for them. Enhance your website’s search engine ranking by including key, relevant words like ‘great gifts’.

Be global Follow ethnic trends in your community and carry relevant merchandise for local demographics.

Help vendors help you Vendors need to be sales partners.

Schedule vendor reps to come on peak selling nights and other high-volume selling times like weekends and fourth quarter holidays; reps are the brand’s best sales people and can offer a helping hand when you are busy. Post a schedule on your social media platforms when vendor reps will be at the store.

Meet the experts Invite top wedding bloggers to hold a seminar in your store on how-to ideas for brides-to-be. Invite a local party planner to discuss tips on how to host a party at home; customers will follow.

Colour of the year Celebrate the trend colour of the year; merchandise products together in that shade and offer that colour in free gift wrap for a limited time.

Food trends Follow what’s happening in the world of gourmet trends and feature serving pieces that customers can pair with fun and new food ideas when entertaining.

Trunk shows Have vendors stage trunk shows in your store, you don’t have to buy the inventory to get the benefit of selling these special and limited-time available products. It’s a fun experience and can generate press coverage.

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Retail Galleria Fiaba

True Italian style With its gallery-like layout and high-style in-store events, it’s little wonder that Galleria Fiaba, one of Italy’s finest retail stores, was selected as one of six Global Honorees at the 2014 Global Innovation Awards

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he spectacular façade and the name of Galleria Fiaba, which is situated in the historical centre of Vittoria, Sicily, reflects the overall store’s approach to retail: to be like a gallery showcasing fine objects for the home and lifestyle.

Everything about Galleria Fiaba is visually stunning, and just like most things Italian, there is a solid focus on beauty and style. The broad range of designer products are displayed as they would be in a modern art gallery, and the first thing that visitors to the store see towering before them is a polished, shining black wall with seven enormous display windows facing the street, lit up by 100 vibrant blue LED lights. The wall acts as a frame to the window displays and gives anyone who looks at the building an idea of what lies

within – stylish, modern products of the highest quality for the most discerning shoppers.

Galleria Fiaba was established in 1985 and is the brainchild of two sisters, Lucia and Salvatrice Rotondo.

They set up the store with the aim of always staying ahead of the competition in terms of innovation and trends, and simply stocking beautiful products. Their motto is ‘self-improvement’ and everything they do in business is about this – continually improving and going one step further.

Lucia’s husband, architect Giuseppe Scollo, and Giuseppe’s brother, engineer Gabriele Scollo, conceptualised the store’s design.

The building had to be, in terms of function and aesthetics, like a modern art gallery. It is a concept created to avoid any optical barrier, allowing the visitor to enjoy a 360-degree view

“Our success depends in large part on the relationships that we have developed with the client, interpreting and sometimes anticipating their needs and advising them in the best way.”

Laura Scollo, director, Galleria Fiaba of the entire 750-sq m space over three floors no matter where they are standing. The open plan nature of the building design – a stainless steel structure, with shining black stairs that from a distance appear suspended, and a glass lift – allows consumers to see everything that they pass by.

The store offers everything from porcelain, silverware, crystal and lighting to top-line homewares and objects to enhance the garden and outdoor areas. All products are chosen to reflect the nature of the business: beauty and innovation, which takes centre stage.

Luxury brands such as Alessi, Baccarat, Rosenthal, Lalique, Hermes and Royal Copenhagen sum up

the attitude that only the best will do when it comes to the products Galleria Fiaba sources and showcases.

In line with the focus on innovation, Galleria Fiaba always aims to stay ahead of customers’ needs by suggesting things to them before they even know of an upcoming trend or new product on the market.

In this way, the business is considered by its many loyal customers as a true trendsetter and as a place to go to for inspiration.

“Our success depends mainly on the relationships that we have developed with the client, interpreting and sometimes anticipating their needs and advising them in the best way,” says director of the store, Laura Scollo. “No

THE BRANDS AT GALLERIA FIABA Alessi, Artemide, Baccarat, Driade, Flos, Fontana Arte, Giovanni Raspini, Herend, Hermes, ITRE, Kartell, Kosta Boda, Lalique, Lladro, Mario Cioni, Mepra, Richard Ginori, Ricci, Rosenthal, Royal Copenhagen, Saint-Louis, Sambonet, Serafino Zani, Taitu, Venini, Villeroy & Boch, Wedgwood TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 49

Retail Galleria Fiaba

“One of our strengths is being very active in promotions. Not so much with discounts – we are convinced that the luxury brands in the portfolio should not be sold off – but in terms of activities to engage the customer.”

Laura Scollo, director, Galleria Fiaba coincidence then that we deposit 40 wedding lists simultaneously.”

The sisters also place a big focus on entertaining customers, and in true Italian style, the events at Galleria Fiaba are always impressive and on a large scale. Wine and gastronomic events, fashion parades, temporary exhibitions of cult Italian design pieces, all add to the gallery-like approach of the business, and they keep customers coming back.

An example of one recent event was a fashion parade created in collaboration with Pepita – a haute couture boutique, where new collections from great designers such as Blumarine, Moschino and Alberta

Ferretti were presented to more than 400 customers.

Many of the events feature renowned DJs and caterers with barmen, to keep customers wellfed, entertained and the drinks and excitement flowing. There is always an air of ‘cool’ at Galleria Fiaba, as the business always sticks to its mission of being a true trendsetter.

“One of our strengths is being very active in promotions. Not so much with discounts – we are convinced that the luxury brands in the portfolio should not be sold off – but in terms of activities to engage the customer,” says Laura, pointing to a party they are planning to organise with Lladro – think models showcasing Lladro’s porcelain sculptures in-store.

At the Global Innovation Awards in Chicago last year, when Galleria Fiaba was announced as being one of the six Global Honorees for its retail expertise, a

very excited Laura, Lucia’s daughter, and her father took to the stage.

And although they could not speak much to the crowd in English, their excitement was contagious.

“We are so, so happy,” said Laura.

“We are so proud of being a winner at gia! Thank you! Thank you!”

The jury chose Galleria Fiabia as they wanted to reward, “philosophy retail led by a strong desire for innovation that led to the creation of an original point of purchase, with a structure of great impact and characterised by extreme attention to detail. A true trendsetter.”

Soon Galleria Fiaba is to venture online, so watch this space. If the website and online shopping portal is even half as cool and stylish as the bricks and mortar experience of Galleria Fiaba, then there is no doubt that it will generate more business and herald more decades of retail success for this talented Italian family.

For more information about the gia (Global Innovation Award) programme, contact Piritta Törrö at piritta.torro@ inspiredconnection.fi. Additional information on the gia programme is also available online at www. housewares.org.gia.

Did You Know…? The name Galleria Fiaba translates as Fairy Tale in the Italian language.

50 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Line it Up! Brian Gluckstein has been recognized internationally as one of the top 35 designers around the world in Andrew Martin’s Interior Design Journal. He is known for his ability to create luxurious interiors with an unmatched comfort level. Audrey, designed by Brian Gluckstein for Lenox, is a reflection of that signature style with an art deco twist. Lines of black and

© 2015 Lenox Corporation

gold set against edges with a dimensional look, Audrey dinnerware is a sophisticated design statement for your table.

Retail Article

A thoroughly modern mix

A beautiful backdrop, contemporary product and brands that tell a story is what makes Article one of Dublin’s best home stores

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pened in 2010 by John Adams, previously Ireland’s operations manager for Habitat, Article Dublin is a home and gift destination offering a beautifully edited range of contemporary tableware and decorative home accessories. This independent enterprise, which won the Best Interiors Shop in The Irish Times Best Shop Awards, was borne out of Habitat’s closure after the economic crash took place.

“I had worked for 20 years in retail with David Mellor in London and later with Habitat, before moving to Dublin in 2002 to manage the Habitat franchise operation in Ireland,” says owner John Adams.

“With the demise of Habitat, I decided that I wanted to work for myself and although Ireland was experiencing a very severe economic downturn, I felt that there was a gap for a relatively small-scale interiors store in Dublin.”

Due to its small size, John has of course had to be very selective about his product choices and the store is testament to his expert retailing eye, showcasing as it does a carefully edited collection of quirky yet functional pieces sourced from 52 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

all over the world. John admits that Article represents a very personal selection and that he doesn’t try to appeal to everyone.

“The starting point for me when curating is, ‘Would I have it in my own home?’” explains John. “It also needs to be well made and be great value for money. By value, I don’t mean cheap… if I’m stocking a mug for €25, it will be a handmade product where the customer can understand the time involved in the manufacture, rather than something with a designer name slapped on the side,” says John, pointing out that most of the brands he stocks and the products he curates have a story behind them.

And it’s such brands with stories to tell that sell best for Article – brands such as Jars Pottery, La Rochere Glass, Jansen+Co, Stelton and Reiko Kaneko. “Stelton and Reiko Kaneko are primarily bought as gifts, while Jars Pottery, La Rochere Glass and Jansen+Co offer a real ‘feel appeal’ when you pick them up – they all have a brand story,” says John, explaining how he sources products that are generally not already available in Dublin, as well as looking for style, quality and craftsmanship.

“For us, there has been a definite

move towards more colour and handmade product – products that have a bit of a story to tell,” says John.

The array of homewares and gifts that line the shelves, and which includes tableware alongside decoration, stationery, textiles and books, features everything from the practical to the whimsical, but all embrace a certain modern aesthetic that has an emphasis on clever, but not-too-cutesy, design.

“We tend to have a contemporary bias, with handmade items mixed in and we try to stock as many Irish brands as we can,” says John.

International contemporary brands, such as Danish design brand Stelton, British-Japanese ceramic design brand Reiko Kaneko and French glassware brand La Rochere sit alongside some of the best Irish designers, including The Georgian Collection (think scented candles).

John discovers his quirky offering of brands by visiting a number of trade shows, such as Maison & Objet Paris and Home in London, as well as spotting new brands online, in magazines and by visiting other stores internationally.

Tableware makes up 35 per cent of Article’s products, offering everything from trays, ceramic

jugs, teapots and enamel mugs to plates, placemats, egg cups, tea sets, flatware and napkins.

“In terms of tableware, we are focused on casual dining and gift – glassware, dinnerware, serveware and kitchen utensils,” says John, highlighting how glassware, mugs and serving dishes are for Article the biggest sellers. In fact, serveware is flying off the shelves. “Home baking continues to grow as a category for us, which means serveware pieces, such as cake stands and platters are in demand,” says John. “There is also demand for Tapas-style serveware – mixed serving bowls and wooden boards offering a more eclectic look.”

Tableware, as a category, is in fact showing growth in turnover for Article, both casual pottery sold as mix-and-match pieces, and the highend more crafted product, which is mainly purchased as a gift. John says that half of his repeat customers buy gifts rather than self-purchases and he estimates that 20 per cent of his customers are tourists, attracted into the building itself, situated as it is in a converted 18th-century townhouse.

Located in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, a boutique shopping centre in the heart of Dublin, the venue was originally Lord

“For us, there has been a definite move towards more colour and handmade product – products that have a bit of a story to tell. We tend to have a contemporary bias, with handmade items mixed in and we try to stock as many Irish brands as we can.”

John Adams, founder and owner of Article

Powerscourt’s dressing room and as such, features the original spectacular plasterwork. Period-style cabinetry lines the walls paying tribute to the premises’ Georgian heritage, making it the perfect backdrop to showcasing the beautiful tableware.

“The shop has very high 5-m ceilings with plasterwork from 1780, so we have a great backdrop,” says John. “We have bookcase-style shelving to quite a high level and we try to include information cards on the most interesting products,” explains John, further pointing to the fact that they use centre tables to mix product in themed ways, offering consumers inspiration and ideas.

John says he is planning for a minor re-fit this year and wants to improve the lighting and stockroom.

But Article doesn’t just rely on its bricks and mortar store. As a multichannel retailer, it also has an online presence and e-commerce facility, though sales have so far proven strongest in-store.

“We find that Article online is mainly about customers doing research before they come in and buy, but we are also doing a growing amount of online business with people buying gifts to have them sent overseas,” says John.

Article is also active on social media, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. “These platforms are a good way of keeping customers in touch with the shop. For us, Instagram works best – it feels less like hard selling,” explains John. As a rule, Article doesn’t do promotional activity using discounts, but instead has two clearance sales each year.

“Maybe this is old-fashioned, but it seems to work for us. Customers know they are not going to buy something and then find it discounted the following day.”

John attributes his success – Article recently won the best interiors shop in The Irish Times Best Shop awards, based on public opinion – to his dedicated team.

“I think we are small enough to be personal – people like to buy from people, not from companies, and I have a small, dedicated and loyal team. Although we are a city centre shop, we have lots of regular customers and a friendly, warm atmosphere,” says John. “I want to keep doing what we are doing better, keep the focus on the shop and keep enjoying what I do.”

BESTSELLERS AT ARTICLE Within the 35 per cent make-up of tableware, most is for casual dining or contemporary gifting, with the five bestselling brands, including Jars Pottery, La Rochere Glass, Jansen+Co, Stelton and Reiko Kaneko. Pictured here is the contemporary yet functional Vacuumn Jug (right) from Danish brand Stelton and the fine bone china Drip Tease teapot (below) from British-Japanese designer Reiko Kaneko.

www.articledublin.com TABLEWARE TABLEW TAB LEW WARE IN INTERN INTERNATIONAL RN R NATI A ONAL 19 AT

Retail Destination focus

VIEW FROM…

New York This month, we shine a spotlight on the Big Apple with the opening of two brand new tabletop retail stores – Japanese brand Spin Ceramics and US textile brand Chilewich

Spin Ceramics

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pin Ceramics is a 12-year-old tabletop company based in Shanghai – it has a store in Shanghai, a store in Singapore, and has just set up its first store outside of Asia, in New York. Spin Ceramics’ products marry ancient methods with modern design.

All pieces are limited production pieces, with dozens of designs regularly retired to make room for new designs introduced each year. Handcrafted and with each piece unique, all pieces are fired twice, including a high firing, to make them super durable. The brand decided to open the New York City store due to the fact that 80 per cent of the clientele visiting its main Shanghai store are from outside China.

Spin set up shop on America’s ‘Coolest Shopping Street’ The store has opened on Crosby Street in SoHo, New York, which was named ‘The Coolest Shopping Street in America in GQ April 2014.

“We specifically chose Crosby Street because we really liked the vibe and energy of the street. The shops here are unique and it’s a bit off the beaten path, which is very in keeping with Spin’s other locations,” says Clay Cunningham, Spin’s managing partner, Spin Ceramics USA. Spin has Eastern and Western influences The brand features products with both Eastern and Western influences. For example, Sake and Ikebana vases are contemporary takes on the Japanese tradition. Spin is also 54 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

the beneficiary of an expanding American epicurial palate. “People are eating more diverse types of cuisines, Asian included. First they ate it at restaurants, now they are making it more and more at home.

Demand for our Asian-inspired tabletop also comes from our customers with Asian backgrounds, who love the market niche we fill,” explains Clay.

The brand offers sophisticated yet whimsical looks One tea set has a top that looks like a suspended drop in a ripple of water, while another has translucent polka dots. Some of its besesellers include the Archaeologist’s Chopstick Rest Set, the Lotus Bowls Set, the Twelve Faces Vase Set and the Wutong Leaf Fishes. “It’s meant to perceived as

functional art,” explains Clay.

Spin to sell more sets in its New York City store In Asia, buying a set of plates is less common outside of department stores, so Spin Ceramics has historically not sold sets of plates in its stores in this region. In the new New York City store, however, they have chosen to sell plates in sets because it is what the US consumer is most familiar with and demands.

The NYC store shows the depth and breadth of Spin’s designs One of the challenges they had was selecting which designs to display in the US store. “Our main objective was to choose a collection that showed the depth and breadth of Spin’s designs, from The Twelve Tastes Cup Set made of Zisha from Yixing County and Cocktail Olive Tulwar in bone china from Chozhou to the Unglazed Mobius Strip Vase Set in porcelain from Jingdezhen,” says Clay.

It offers small-space pieces The Shanghai-based Spin store tends to carry more Asia-specific tabletop items, such as noodle bowls, flat

plates for sushi and platters made for sharing,” says Clay, pointing to the Handmade Green Tea Cup and Ikebana Vases, which are popular with Asian consumers. However, Singaporeans – like New Yorkers – tend to live in more compact apartments, which means that in its Singapore and New York stores, Spin carries more designs to accommodate smaller spaces, as well as less Asia-specific pieces.

“Singapore is a meld of East and West in both its culture and design aesthetic, so the noodle bowls are popular, but because Singaporeans tend to drink coffee over tea, we sell more coffee cups than tea cups in Singapore,” says Clay. The Lotus bowls are great for New York City living, in particular, as they nest inside each other, saving space.

Spin’s customers are incredibly diverse We have customers from all walks of life and from all over the world. We have products that appeal to many different tastes and demands. There is something universal about ceramics and it is an art form that is approachable and tangible. Our items are also very giftable.

“In Asia, buying a set of plates is less common outside of department stores, so we have historically not sold sets of plates. In the New York City store, however, we have begun to sell plates in sets because it is what the customer is most familiar with.”

Clay Cunningham, managing partner, Spin Ceramics USA

The store will be 2,000 sq-ft The starkest difference between the New York and Shanghai stores is the sheer scale of the latter – it covers three levels over 6,000 sq-ft, covering every design currently in circulation; while the NYC store is 2,000 sq-ft with a 13-ft ceiling.

Design-wise, the NYC store is similar to other stores and includes ancient brick from China with visible Chinese characters, a wall display of tea and sake sets and suspended glass shelves that go six inches back into the wall.

The layout is like an art gallery The pieces are displayed individually, which allows room in the display for each piece to be appreciated as a unique design. “It is a relaxing environment where you are encouraged to take your time to appreciate Spin’s designs,”

says Clay, pointing to the fact that their stores have been compared to an art gallery, even a museum.

“We emphasise the individuality of each design with as few distractions or embellishments in the display, much like our products.

One of Spin’s most compelling presentations is the 20-ft sake and tea set display, which holds two dozen unique designs” Spin has just started with social media “The most common and impactful way people hear about Spin is through word of mouth,” says Clay. “So, we have just started to use social media as a way to stay connected to existing customers and reach out to new ones. Social media is the new word of mouth and we are excited to participate in the virtual conversation.” http://spinceramics.com TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 55

Retail Destination focus

Chilewich

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orld-renowned textile design brand Chilewich has been enhancing interiors with its original textiles, including tabletop, since 2000. Woven exclusively in the US and renowned worldwide for its durability, ease of care and inventive design, Chilewich textiles are manufactured into a wide range of products, including its design-led, yet functional, napkins, coasters and table runners.

The brand boasts 12 weaves, encompassing 107 colours, for placemats in standard and custom sizes, as well as runners and tetea-tetes, plus napkins. Chilewich has just opened its first retail store, which is located in New York City.

Childwich decided to set up shop in the Flatiron District The first store is located at 23 East 20th Street in the Flatiron District in New York City. “We chose the Flatiron District because it really does have everything

173

– great home furnishing stores and showrooms, some of the best restaurants in the city, and gorgeous cast-iron architecture,” says founder and creative director, Sandy Chilewich.

The idea for the concept store came about while walking in SoHo Sandy Chilewich says that, while walking in SoHo with her husband and business partner, Joe Sultan, they noticed a tiny artisanal confectionary store called Oxcolatti. “We were so impressed with the impacful and ingenious presentation, which they had created in such a small space, that we traced down the designers, DeSpec,” explains Sandy.

De-Spec created a compelling display solution for Chilewich Childwich asked De-Spec, an award-winning internationally recognised multi-disciplinary practice with a focus on the relation of space and its occupant, to submit concepts for displaying

The number of placemat SKUs Chilewich offers, which comes in a range of textures, colours and shapes.

It also offers 113 runner SKUs. 56 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Chilewich’s wide range of products in a unified and powerful way. “They presented such a compelling display solution, which was so elegant in its simplicity, that we realised we wanted to introduce this concept in our very own retail store,” says Sandy, explaining how they had never had the opportunity before now to showcase all their merchandise in their own way under one roof.

The store layout features a modular display system DeSpec created a 3D matrix chart of the total range of colours, textures and shapes, which they presented to Chilewich and which became the impetus of the display systems.

The pioneering store layout features a modular display system, which allows a myriad of shapes, sizes and styles to be displayed and interchanged effortlessly in the 820 sq-ft space.

The store offers the most comprehensive collection While Chilewich is represented in retailers throughout the world, the brand’s first and only retail store offers the most comprehensive collection of Chilewich tabletop and flooring designs under one roof.

Chilewich wanted to communicate that they are textile designers first “Our expectation is that people will recognise that this is a concept store and that the unique design for how we display our products will become an identifiable part of our brand value,” says Sandy.

“The concept is that we are textile designers first and that is what we hope people will grasp at once. We also hope this will communicate that there are a wide variety of uses for our materials, which one can enjoy in their everyday lives.” www.chilewich.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 57

Profile Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo

Bringing glamour

to the table

Italian fashion and accessory brand Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo adds tabletop to its stylish offerings with a new homeware collection. We speak to Socrates Constantinou, managing director, Yalco Group, which distributes the brand’s homeware collections, to find out more Tell us about the Versace 19.69 brand...

Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo was established by Alessandro Versace, a member of the well-known Italian fashion family, in 2001. With his expertise and long experience in design and fashion, Alessandro created a concept dominated by Italian elegance, style and quality.

Across its wide product range, which includes fashion, wedding dresses, handbags, eyewear, jewellery, accessories, home textiles and tableware, the brand communicates elegance and Italian tradition, as well as contemporary trends, delivering a very distinctive and individual style of lines, forms and materials.

Homeware is a recent addition. Why this particular category?

The Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo Homeware Collection is the new baby in the product range. The brand encompasses a substantial knowledge and heritage, as well as an holistic approach to all consumer needs, 58 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

so it was inevitable that it would extend its product range to include homeware. The brand’s unique style, glamour and distinctive personality, combined with its superior quality of product, offer the best possible credentials to the Versace 19.69 homeware collection.

The homeware is manufactured in several leading factories globally using the highest quality materials and respecting the most innovative techniques and the highest quality standards set by the brand.

And the quality of the Versace 19.69 tableware?

There are 11 collections of dinnerware in the range so far and all of them combine superior quality and outstanding style, with the indisputable glamour of the Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo brand. The material of the dinnerware is the highest quality fine porcelain and each of the collections come in two forms, coupe and rim, which allow the decal and the colours to be fully developed and therefore to express the unique Versace 19.69 brand character. Pieces are sold open stock.

What’s the inspiration behind the designs?

What are your plans retail-wise for the brand?

It is the glamorous, optimistic and distinguished character of the Versace 19.69 brand that lends itself to the tableware. The patterns are everyday classics, combining luxury with timeless elegance and a little dash of glamour.

Yalco Group has worldwide exclusivity for all dinnerware, flatware, glassware and cookware of Versace 19.69 and our aim is to be present in every acknowledged department store internationally; in all well-established retail chains; and in specialised e-shops.

Are there plans to extend the tabletop category?

As well as the 11 collections of dinnerware, we have four collections of flatware in 18/10 stainless steel and one glassware collection, both of which complement the dinnerware ranges. We will be expanding our glassware collection and very soon we will be launching a crystalline range of high-quality lead-free glass.

So, who is the target consumer for Versace 19.69’s tableware?

The Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo Homeware Collection is focused on a sophisticated yet still practical consumer. He or she is seeking real value, but with a twist of glamour in his/her everyday life.

And plans generally?

Versace 19.69 Abbigliamento Sportivo is a dynamic brand in a fast-growing stage right now. It already boasts a wide variety of products across many categories and still continues to expand through different categories, with the aim of covering almost all everyday lifestyle needs. In addition to the expansion of tabletop with a crystalline range, we are also aiming to introduce the designers’ cookware concept into the range, which will share the same brand values – that of luxury, glamour, timelessness and elegance. We strongly believe that this could be a new approach that substantially enriches the cookware segment. http://v1969italia.com

Profile NambÉ

Nambé rising With new management, expansion into Europe and a brand new dinnerware collection on the table for 2015, the iconic American tabletop brand Nambé is set to take the international tableware market by storm

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ith 64 years under its designdedicated belt, iconic familyowned tabletop brand Nambé is renowned for combining the finest materials with hand craftsmanship and design from the world’s most esteemed designers, delivering product that transcends trends, generations and cultures.

And, with two recent additions to the Nambé management team – President and CEO Bill Robedee and Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Sales Lou Scala – the lifestyle and gift company that set up shop in New Mexico in 1951, is set to take its products to even greater heights this year, with logistical enhancements, expanded product design and new designer collaborations.

Previously, the Chief Legal Officer at Lenox Corporation, Bill has served in leadership roles at some of the

most important brands in tabletop.

Bill recently joined Nambé as President and CEO, with the aim of growing the brand.

“Nambé is about a casual contemporary elegance that is both timeless and effortlessly modern – it speaks to the heart of today’s tabletop consumer and is ideally positioned for dramatic growth in today’s marketplace,” says Bill.

And, as part of the brand’s growth in 2015, Nambé will be strengthening its position in the European market. “We see Europe as a tremendous growth opportunity,” states Bill. “We have shown our product at Ambiente for many years now, and we always receive a great response there.” As part of its European growth, Nambé will enhance its logistics in order to help buyers and retailers receive delivery of Nambé products quicker, easier, and in the quantities they

NAMBE TIMELINE 1951 Winkler Mills Craftsmen Inc., near the Nambe Pueblo, casts bronze and copper cookware/gifts.

The owner retires, offering the business to his secretary Pauline Platt Cable.

1953 Former metallurgist Martin Eden develops an eight-metal alloy that retains hot and cold temperatures for long periods of time. Pauline 62 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

partners with Martin to form Nambé Mills, creating modern cookware and serveware.

1956 The Museum of Modern Art selects two Nambé pieces for the annual Good Design Show.

1967 Co-owner Martin Eden announces plans to double production space.

In three years, the workforce has

demand. “Now that we are poised to overcome some of the logistical challenges we faced doing business in Europe in the past, we are excited to grow our business there,” says Bill.

Previously, Nambé had a scattershot approach to the European markets but, in the last six months, it has established a warehouse and logistics facility in Ireland, which will stock product for the European and Middle East markets. This will mean Nambé will not only boast a European product assortment, which it will showcase at Ambiente in February 2015, but that this assortment will be based in Europe, with shipping from Europe.

“This will open up a world of potential customers for Nambé – customers such as independent gift shops, who weren’t previously able to do business with the brand due to their demand for smaller amounts of product,” says Bill.

Nambé will also be taking a

similar approach to its operations in Asia and in Australia, creating logistical solutions that will enable the brand to grow in those regions.

"In China, Nambé has partnered with rapidly expanding luxury lifestyle retail chain Tao Living and is now well-positioned for growth in 2015. Nambé's high-design aesthetic has resonated well with China's growing segment of young style-conscious professionals and the retail partnership with Tao overcomes many of the barriers that have hampered other brands in penetrating this all important market," explains Bill.

It is the international appeal of Nambé’s design aesthetic that is driving such international expansion; a unique and contemporary yet timeless design aesthetic that translates well in other cultures.

“It is not culturally specific and appeals to a broad design sensibility,” says Lou, pointing to the fact that

grown from seven employees to 26.

The new space is 12,000 sq-ft and the plan is to have 46 employees.

The number of retail outlets selling Nambe has grown to 450.

1977

1976 Now popular, Nambé has inspired its share of imitators; an ad appears in the local paper to instruct the buying public how to differentiate between Nambé and its lesser quality imitators.

After two fires (in 1972 and 1976), the Nambé foundry is relocated to Santa Fe and a new foundry constructed – an expansion to 24,000 sq-ft.

1981 Demand for Nambé has grown beyond Pauline Cable’s expectations. The Hillenbrand family purchases Nambé Mills. The collection consists of 83 items.

COMING IN 2015 BULBO MUG STACK

SCOOP SERVER

Designed by Lou Henry, this stack of four ceramic mugs nestle into each other atop a rich acacia wood base for a sculptural effect.

Designed by Wei Young, this award-winning chip ‘n' dip product allows for easy, all-in-one-place dipping with its two-tiered design.

Nambé Dinnerware

by Robin Levien

people from all over the world appreciate the Nambé design aesthetic, along with the brand’s high-quality well-designed product.

“We hope to capitalise on that as we expand into more international markets,” states Lou. It is the brand’s mid-century modern design and its dedication to both artistic integrity and everyday functionality that has not just ensured its products transcend both time and cultures, but has helped the brand secure countless design awards. Nambé is a brand that certainly lives up to its tagline ‘Nambé is art designed for everyday living’ boasting products that have been displayed in the permanent

collections of 23 international museums – think the Kissing Salt & Pepper set in the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, and the Lounge Chip & Dip in the Chicago Athenaeum – and most recently, in 2013, securing the ‘Best of Best’ Gold Award.

“Good design is timeless design and the mid-century design movement has proven to be a strong influence, even on design today. Nambé has remained true to its original design aesthetic for more than 60 years, while also remaining relevant to current design trends,” explains Lou. Helping the brand achieve such timeless design is its roster of

top international designers, who collaborate with Nambé to create its award-winning cutting-edge product. Designers like awardwinning designer Karim Rashid, and playful designer Neil Cohen are, in fact, at the heart of what Nambé is all about and integral to its design heritage. “Nambé has always been about good design and our designers continue to be one of the most important components of our business. Most of our designers have been designing for Nambé for many years and they have a deep understanding of, and a deep affection for, the brand,” says Lou, explaining how Nambé always gives its designers the freedom to create

The late latest high-profile designer to partner with Nambé is renowned British d designer Robin Levien, the founder and creative director of Studio LLevien. Having designed for brands bran such as Rosenthal, Villeroy & Boch, Lenox/Dansk and Porcel, R Robin is well known for his design desig work in the tableware industry industry, delivering product that is functi functional yet beautiful, very like Nam Nambé’s aesthetic. Having aspired to create a design project with Nam Nambé for a very long time, Robin told to Tableware International that he iis excited to now have this t opportunity to design dinnerware for the brand. “Nambé is a brand which understands design – they have won many design awards and have worked with top designers such as Karim Rashid, not to mention one of our design heroes here in the studio, Eva Zeisel,” explains Robin. “Studio Levien is a shape house; Nambé is a shape-driven company – we should be a match made in heaven. We are aiming to bring the wonderful heritage of great shapes in metal and in wood at Nambé into ceramic tableware,” explains Robin.

1989

1999

2007

2013

For eight years, Nambé delivers record sales and the collection consists of 100+ items. Nambé is in high demand on bridal registries and at many of the nation’s department stores and specialty retailers.

‘Dedicated to design’ becomes the Nambé mantra. Designers Karim Rashid and Neil Cohen create a collection of 24 items.

Nambé releases 27 patterns of flatware, strengthening its position as the premiere brand in luxury tabletop and gift. Nambé’s collection boasts 350+ timeless designs.

The Nambé Gourmet Chirp Kettle takes the coveted Best of the Best Gold Award at the Housewares Design Awards competition, and the Curvo Colander wins the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award.

FRUIT TREE BOWL

BRAID BOWL Introduced in 2013 and designed by Sean O’Hara, this sleek glass bowl with gently curved corners is lifted off the table by artful coils of textured gleaming chrome.

1995 Nambé creates the Studio Collection, with award-winning design Karim Rashid selected as the designer to inaugurate it.

Featuring a unique design by Wei Young, this fruit bowl boasts a playful spirit with its Nambé alloy fingers on which bananas or grapes can be draped. The rich natural acacia wood tones, meanwhile, make the fruit colours pop.

2003 Nambé is awarded the 2003 Metropolitan Home Modernism Award in recognition of its products exemplifying the spirit of the great Modernist movement of the 20th century.

2011-2012 Nambé launches a Gourmet Kitchen line of products. The name Nambé Gourmet is trademarked in 2012 and a line of quality cookware is introduced.

2014 New management appointments include President and CEO Bill Robedee and Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Sales Lou Scala.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 63

Profile NambÉ

without boundaries.

The latest iconic designer to team up with the brand is renowned British designer Robin Levien. Having designed the highly successful Trend range for Rosenthal Thomas in the ‘80s, a tableware range with Raymond Blanc, and the House porcelain for John Lewis, Robin Levien is expert in dinnerware design and is in the process of designing dinnerware for Nambé.

“Robin Levien is well-known in the design world and we are very excited to have him help us launch Nambé dinnerware later this year.

Robin understands Nambé and has been an admirer of the brand for a long time… and that goes both ways; we are big fans of his work and look forward to partnering with him on this project," says Lou. In fact, dinnerware is set to be the big product focus for Nambé in 2015, along with the promotion of Nambé’s coffee and tea line and its gourmet collection.

“Our plan is to introduce Nambé dinnerware in a big way this year.

Our customers have asked for it, and we are looking forward to delivering some great, new dinnerware collections that will appeal to a broad customer base,” says Lou, explaining how dinnerware will complete the Nambé table.

Nambé already delivers flatware and crystal glassware and barware, the latter currently licensed to WWRD, an arrangement that will

continue into the future and that this year will be updated to deliver a more casual collection, as well as a more well-rounded barware range.

In addition to Nambé’s serveware pieces and tabletop accessories, the brand also boasts its Nambé Gourmet line, a collection focused on ‘top of the counter’ kitchen items that perfectly communicate Nambé’s expertise at marrying functionality with great design.

“This collection is meant to be used every day in the kitchen, but also to sit out on the countertop and be admired,” says Lou, explaining why many of the products are made with stainless steel, so they are practical, durable and dishwasher-safe. “They are not for hiding away in the kitchen cabinet – we like to say Nambé Gourmet is functional sculpture for your kitchen countertop," adds Lou. The Nambé Gourmet line, launched in 2011, has already proven very successful for the brand, with much of the success centering around its appeal to younger consumers, as well as its gift-giving opportunities. “Consumers don’t mind spending a little bit more on a nice gift, but they want something high quality that will last a long time and be memorable and useful long after the gift wrap is thrown away,” says Lou, highlighting how Nambé gift boxes all of its products.

And while Nambé sees itself first and foremost as a lifestyle brand, it

DREAM TEAM

is also a gift company, continuing ntinuing to be one of the top brands ds on bridal registries in the US. “We “W try to focus on developing product that is beautiful, functional, high quality and priced right for gifting on any occasion, as well as being packaged beautifully,” says Lou. It is also, however, a metals company, renowned for its proprietary metal alloy material, which it discovered in 1953 and continues to be its core material.

This signature metal alloy – and its 15-step casting process – ensures nsures Nambé metal designs have the beauty and lustre of silver, the he strength of iron, and will nott crack, chip or tarnish. In the last few w years, however, design has come to o dictate the materials used, with materials terials such as wood being added.

But whether crafted purely ly from the brand’s signature alloy, lloy, mixed with acacia wood, or fashioned from stainless steel el or porcelain, its products, which hich include everything from chip p ‘n' dip servers to salad bowls, allll share the same unmistakeable Nambé mbé elements… timeless beauty, y, gallery-worthy design, artistic ic integrity, uncompromising quality and function beyond compare… are… elements that will, no doubt,t, take Nambé into 2015 and into Europe E with great success.

Find Nambe’s European assortment of product at Ambiente (Hall 4.0, Stand A81). www.nambe.com

YARO BOWL & SALAD SERVERS Crafted of rich, dense and durable acacia wood and designed by Sean O’Hara, the sculptured Yaro Salad Bowl boasts a narrow pedestal with flared sides up to a wide mouth, a design that ensures no dressing escapes the greens, while the acacia wood absorbs stains and odours. The salad servers have acacia wood heads and sculpted y handles made of Nambé alloy.

KISSING SALT & PEPPER Designed by Karim Rashid and crafted from Nambé’s signature metal alloy, these five-inch shakers boast a sensuous feel and highly polished finish. So innovative are they that they are on display at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.

Two new management additions to Nambé are set to bring exciting change to the family-owned tabletop brand. Having worked in leadership roles with some of the most important brands in tabletop, including Lenox, Bill Robedee (pictured left) is the new President and CEO of Nambé. “Bill brings to Nambé a driving passion and enthusiasm for how the Nambé aesthetic speaks to the modern consumer, together with the real world expertise needed to strengthen our business platform for growth,” said Nambé Chairman Dan Hillenbrand. Lou Scala (pictured right) has joined Nambe as its Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Sales. Having worked in senior executive positions at Lenox and Waterford Wedgwood, Lou is responsible for directing product development, sales and marketing activities across Nambés wholesale, retail and e-commerce channels. “Lou comes to us with an unparalleled track record of successes over the last two decades. His passion, instinctive understanding of our design driven aesthetic, and his talent for innovation make him the ideal choice for this key role,” says Bill Robedee.

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THE BRAZILIAN TABLEWARE

MADE IN BRAZIL

CUSTOMERSERVICE@OXFORDPORCELANAS.COM.BR

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Guide LICENSING

High fashion &

heritage

With a focus on haute couture and heritage, licensing in the tableware sector is proving prolific and popular. We look at why it works and outline what benefits such product can offer manufacturers and retailers alike

S

SPOTLIGHT ON… Vista Alegre Christian Lacroix In 2012, Vista Alegre created a co-branding partnership with Christian Lacroix, giving birth to tableware and home décor products. In early 2014, the partnership delivered Paseo, dinnerware with gold and platinum distinct reliefs in glazed white and biscuit inspired by the embroidered motifs of the 19th century bullfighters’ cape. Debuting in late 2014 was the Love Who You Want! Collection, a porcelain gift range from Vista Alegre Christian Lacroix. Inspired by the cadavre exquis method created by surrealist artists in 1925, where a collection of words/images is collectively assembled, the collection (pictured) features images from Lacroix’s collections. These pieces, including a set of 16 coasters, can be arranged in countless ways letting consumers design their own characters, while such characters appear, pre-formed, on vases/boxes. www.myvistaalegre.com

48 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

ales of licensed product generated an estimated $115.75 billion in the US and Canada alone in 2013, according to the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association (LIMA) Industry Survey 2013. A growing market, licensed product can provide retailers with stand-out-fromthe-crowd pieces that help draw customers in, a higher RRP, and entry to a different customer base.

And while it’s true that some product categories relate better to licensing – gifts, clothing and toys – the category of tableware is a growing one in the licensing landscape, with increasing numbers of tableware manufacturers securing licences in order to elevate their product by association, cash in on a particular trend, or introduce the brand to a new consumer, widening the company’s portfolio and appeal.

“There has definitely been a trend for licensing products in recent years. Everyone is looking for a strong brand offering and point of difference in their ranges,” says marketing manager, Portmeirion Group, Rachel Daniels. Philippa Green, licensing manager for the National Trust, which has recently joined with tabletop company Creative Tops, to create a range of tableware, concurs: “I think both retailers and producers like Creative Tops have realised that it is imperative to have a point of difference in their product ranges and a great way of doing that is by working with another brand.

66 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Joint branded licensed products are doing well at the moment, especially where both brands can offer something unique and the link between the brands can be understood by the consumer.”

Uniqueness and point of difference is key. “What works well is something that is familiar and instantly recognisable to the consumer, something related to trends, or a little bit different,” says Keith Nye, managing director of Tradestock, which has recently taken on the Royal Mail licence. Director of marketing for Rosenthal, Andreas Gerecke, agrees: “Uniqueness in the market is one of the main criteria for deciding if a licence makes sense or not,” says Andreas, explaining how, for Rosenthal, a licence needs to create unique products in new market segments.

And while character licensing in tableware exists – Portmeirion has licences for British children’s characters Peppa Pig and Thomas & Friends, Wedgwood has the Peter Rabbit licence and Dartington has The Gruffalo licence – high fashion, heritage and food are the most dominant licences in tableware.

“Our focus in licensing picks up on two key trends within our sector and in life in general,” says Vikki Irvine, senior brand manager for Denby, which has licences for dinnerware and kitchenware with fashion house Monsoon and with celebrity chef James Martin. “Fashion and food, both of which bring different benefits to the company and

Wedgwood Jasper Conran

Denby Monsoon expand our product portfolio into different market sectors, price points and attract new customers.”

And this is exactly what licensing can do for retailers. “The key to success for brand licensors [be it retailers or manufacturers] is to be cautious and extend the brand only into product categories where the brand has relevance and appeal to consumers,” advises Kirk Martensen, president, Goldmarks Co, a Chicagobased consultant specialist in brand extension licensing.

High-fashion home An example of such relevance is the collaboration of high fashion with tabletop – Vera Wang for Wedgwood, Christian Lacroix for Vista Alegre, Versace for Rosenthal, Donna Karan for Lenox and Monsoon for Denby, to name but a few. “We have seen a move within the housewares market for pattern and more fashion-inspired product,” says Denby’s senior brand manager, Vikki Irvine, pointing out how Denby’s licence with fashion house Monsoon has allowed them to fit into this growing trend, providing them with an archive of patterns, an iconic look and a fresh approach to the tableware market.

For homewares/tableware retailers, the partnership of a wellknown tableware manufacturer with a big name in fashion can, and does, inspire trust and confidence, making such products highly covetable.

“Two great brands coming

together strengthens the product offering, reflecting positively on both,” says Rachel, Portmeirion Group, a company that has recently announced a landmark partnership agreement with iconic British fashion house, Ted Baker, a partnership that is already proving highly complementary (see page 30). Entitled Ted Baker Portmeirion, the collaboration includes two capsule ranges inspired by Ted Baker’s S/S 2015 collections.

Retailers can often expect licensed fashion tableware to be both popular and lucrative, offered at a higher price point, perhaps, with consumers willing to invest in a piece of high fashion.

The Vista Alegre Christian Lacroix collections (a co-branding partnership), for example, are currently in the top three bestsellers of all Vista Alegre products. “It has definitely allowed Vista Alegre a much better recognition in the top end markets with this association with an haute couture brand,” says Vista Alegre’s USA president, Daniel Da Silva, explaining how they chose Christian Lacroix for its luxury image.

Similarly successful in its highend fashion meets high-end porcelain partnership is Rosenthal Meets Versace. “The Versace Meets Rosenthal brand is one of our bestselling brands,” says Mary Sarafidis, executive buyer of retailer Parousiasi, a multi-brand tableware store, of which there are 52 across Greece. “The Versace name has been

Spiegalau prized in Greece since the ‘90s and the name screams luxury and high quality to Greek consumers.”

And certainly this connection to luxury was the intention: “For Rosenthal meets Versace, we target people who appreciate the luxury lifestyle,” explains Andreas. “It helps to up-value the brand itself due to the positive image effects on both sides.”

Of course, not all fashion brands suit the tableware category, with some more relevant than others.

Take Vera Wang Wedgwood. With tabletop continuing to be a large part of the bridal registry business, a bridal designer – aka Vera Wang, who is an authority on bridal – is a perfect licence choice; not just for the tableware category, but for Wedgwood, who are premium in the formal fine china category. The association is ideal and consumers, especially those buying for brides, are keen to invest in dinnerware that is not just doubly branded (Wang and Wedgwood) but highly relevant.

“When it comes to couples picking tableware items for their wedding registries, Vera Wang and Jasper Conran are the clear favourites at Wedding Gifts Direct,” says Donne Black, sales director for bridal etailer, Wedding Gifts Direct.

Another bridal designer lending her bridal expertise and stylish name to tableware is Monique Lhuillier, licensed to Waterford – The Monique Lhuillier Waterford Collection offers formal dinnerware, stemware and giftware.

What the retailer says… “We don’t normally carry branded or licensed products, but we saw the new Royal Mail Collection from Tradestock at Exclusively Housewares last summer and liked it so much we decided it was a range we could do well with. It is quintessentially British, featuring an iconic image of the Queen in a very striking design, which we feel will have widespread appeal and look stunning in any dining setting.”

Karen Carnovale, director, Kitchens of Bristol, Bath and Cardiff, UK

LICENSING SPOTLIGHT Tradestock on the Royal Mail licence In 2014, British tabletop brand Tradestock, which has a number of art Licences (Ann Edwards and Howard Shooter) landed the iconic British Royal Mail licence.

The Definitive Collection features The Machin Definitive (above), the iconic profile portrait of The Monarch, which has featured on British postage stamps since 1967 – in vibrant and bold contemporary colours on placemats, coasters and trays. We talk to managing director of Tradestock, Keith Nye: Why this licence? The licence is very suited to our product ranges and complements our existing designs perfectly. There are many benefits.

What sort of benefits? Well, firstly the prestige associated with it. It is such a recognised and respected brand and hopefully the link will help to strengthen our market position and brand identity. The fact the licence has such a huge catalogue of stamp designs we can pull from offers great potential, as well as the availability of future commemorative designs, offering amazing gifting potential.

What are the benefits for retailers?

Instantly recognisable iconic Great British design, which when put on coasters, placemats and mugs, has widespread appeal, from young to old, from traditionalist to modernist.

Initially geared towards department stores, garden centres and specialist independents in the UK, it appeals to both self purchase and gifting.

What has been the reaction so far?

We’ve had a phenomenal response and are already seeing huge interest from the UK, Japan and America. We are also moving forward at speed with bespoke product and subject matter for a number of multiple retailers.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 67

Guide LICENSING

SPOTLIGHT ON… Royal Doulton licences Royal Doulton currently works with high-profile international celebrity chefs, Gordon Ramsey and Donna Hay on dinnerware and serveware. Gordon Ramsey by Royal Doulton includes Bread Street (a mix-and-match white and slate colour palette in stoneware) and Maze (tableware with subtly embossed concentric circles). New for Maze in 2015 is an eighth colour, buttermilk – fresh and creamy, it can be used alone or mixed with other colours.

The brand also works with Charlene Mullen, a Londonbased homewares designer, recently launching a collection influenced by her ‘blackwork’ and ‘scenic’ embroidered textiles – think hand-drawn black-and-white designs featuring a soft geometric ‘foulard star’ pattern and ‘London Calling’ scenes (pictured). Royal Doulton also works with urban artist Nick Walker and Pure Evil Street Artists. New for Spring 2015 are some limited edition modern collectibles to celebrate the brand’s 200th anniversary: Charley (Pure Evil) Uzzell-Edwards and Nick Walker return with figurines of the Pure Evil threelegged bunny and the Bowler Hatter Vandal respectively. www.wwrd.com

48 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 28 68

Global or niche?

It also helps that Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier are global names.

Choosing a licence with global appeal, especially for the tableware category, which needs global sales to flourish, is also crucial. “High profile and global brand awareness is important for dinnerware to ensure global appeal and sales,” says Carol Baxendale-Potter, brand director, Royal Doulton, a brand that has licences with global culinary names like Gordon Ramsey.

And, fashion brands like Vera Wang, Versace, Donna Karan, do just that.

One of last year’s big licence launches in tableware that is garnering huge international appeal is Miranda Kerr for Royal Albert.

While not strictly fashion – Miranda is a supermodel – her name is known globally and in the first five months of its life, the collection has seen strong sales, especially in Australia, Asia, Europe and the US, resulting in extensions for spring 2015 – Tea For One and bakeware.

The ‘fit’ of Miranda Kerr and Royal Albert is key, says brand manager Carol. “We chose Miranda Kerr as we knew that she was already a fan of Royal Albert, having drunk tea with her grandmother from her Royal Albert tea set. She is also wellknown for promoting the health benefits of herbal teas.”

But, while broad appeal is good, licences that are less broad, more niche, can provide other types of sales for manufacturers and retailers, by drawing the licence’s fanbase to the category of tableware; and for a retailer, to their store.

Take the Royal Doulton Street Art licence – Nick Walker and Pure Evil Street Artists – a licence that is niche yet appealing to a different market than that normally associated with the British porcelain brand.

“Street Art has opened up the Royal Doulton brand to a consumer who would not necessarily have

looked at our product before,” says Carol, highlighting how by working with a brand that already has a fanbase, the manufacturer can tap into that fanbase. In turn, retailers, by offering such product, can attract new types of customers.

Offering such licensed product can therefore help brands and retailers widen their company portfolio, attracting a different audience. “The partnership with Monsoon has helped to create a range of stunning patterns and techniques that you probably would not normally associate with Denby, which has widened our portfolio,” says Vikki at Denby.

Andreas at Rosenthal agrees: “For our Andy Warhol licensed products, we target art lovers. Licensing helps to reach different customers.”

And for Vista Alegre, the co-branding partnership with Christian Lacroix has given them a global name and a more daring approach, helping them conquer new markets. “It has brought some irreverence and a daring approach, reinforcing the contempary side of Vista Alegre,” says Daniel Da Silva, pointing out that it has helped Vista strengthen its global positioning, conquering new markets and extending its international sales.

Wedgwood has also been able to broaden its international appeal with the right licences and creative partners. “The careful selection of creative partners is key to our strategy to broaden the appeal of Wedgwood and enhance our reputation as a destination for luxury lifestyle collections,” says Antony Robson – European marketing manager at WWRD. “Whilst these licences enable us to expand into new and relevant categories, we also look to capitalise on the individual design DNA of our partners to bring a fresh outlook,” says Anthony, pointing to the Jasper Conran partnership, which he says

Kim Parker for Lifetime Brands

IN THE KNOW

RHS Dartington

Which tabletop brands have which licences?

Portmeirion Vintage Kellogg’s was a key evolutionary point in modern design history.

Similarly, Czech brand Rudolf Kampf’s aim was to target a new audience with its Muhammad Ali licence, which it launched last year as part of its World Sport Icons project. “We decided that a sporting licence could help us reach a new target audience,” says Michael Belov, development director, Rudolf Kampf.

Licensed product has the added advantage, therefore, of bringing with them a built-in audience or potentially receptive new customers.

“Working with another established name, in the form of a licence, can bolster each brand’s efforts to enter into new markets,” says Rachel, Portmeirion Group.

The gift factor And, for many tableware creators today, who cannot subsist on tableware alone, venturing into new product categories, like cookware and giftware, is essential… and licensing (the right licence) is a way to ensure being giftable and collectable. “Licensed ranges allow us to expand into product types and offer outlets that our core ranges wouldn’t cover,” says Richard Halliday, marketing and design director, Dartington, pointing to the brand’s Beswick Snowman collection, which quickly became a bestseller and helped Dartington re-establish distribution in the gift trade.

Licensed gift-ready tableware – a V&A mug, a Peppa Pig egg cup, Royal Mail coasters, or a Miranda Kerr for Royal Albert teapot, for example – gives tableware brands more product categories and more outlet potential, and tableware retailers the chance to draw customers in for impulse-buying opportunities.

“Buying for occasions and gifting is increasingly important for the tableware category and new products within our licensor ranges have been created to be more impulsive, one-off or statement items, like mugs and accessories, including tins and fabrics, which make beautiful and practical gifts and come beautifully gift packaged,” says Vikki Irvine, Denby.

Rachel Daniels at Portmeirion Group, agrees: “Gifting is incredibly important and licensed pieces have to be suitable for gifting or it is a huge missed opportunity,” says Rachel, explaining how its recent licence launch of Peppa Pig and Thomas & Friends ranges has not just helped the brand broaden its appeal to a younger audience, but helped expand its gift portfolio as they are such popular and iconic characters. “The packaging for each item has been carefully considered to include lovely gift-boxed items.”

The gift potential in licensing is huge for tableware companies, and also for retailers, with the collectability factor a large part of

ROSENTHAL

DENBY

Rosenthal holds licences for Versace (Rosenthal Meets Versace) and Andy Warhol, with these covering the rights of producing and selling porcelain, glass and art products, as well as limited editions. The former licence targets those who appreciate luxury, while the latter licence targets art lovers. www.rosenthal.de

Denby has dinnerware and kitchen collections with fashion and interiors house, Monsoon, and tabletop and entertaining sets with chef James Martin. www.denby.co.uk

PORTMEIRION GRP The group has a number of licences, including Sophie Conran (Sophie Conran for Portmeirion range and Sophie Conran for Royal Worcester glassware); Royal Worcester RHS Roses; Vintage Kellogg’s; The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Morris & Co; Sanderson for Portmeirion; Berni Parker mugs; Wrendale Designs; Peppa Pig and Thomas & Friends, as well as a number of licensed placemat/coaster designs in the group’s Pimpernel brand. The latest exciting new licence is with British fashion house Ted Baker for dinnerware and giftware. www.portmeirion.co.uk

DARTINGTON In the past 12 months, Dartington has launched two major new licensed ranges, including an RHS gift collection and a range of accessories with Julie Dodsworth.

The brand also has the Beswick ceramic brand, which features several character and nostalgia licensed collections, including Thelwell and The Snowman. www.dartington.co.uk

CREATIVE TOPS Versace Meets Rosenthal

Waterford Mad Men

Over the past seven years, Creative Tops has built a portfolio of heritage properties, including The National Trust, Victoria & Albert Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Wildlife Trusts, Mr Men and Little Miss and quirky vintage brand, Katie Alice. www.creative-tops.co.uk

WEDGWOOD Wedgwood currently holds licence agreements across categories of tableware, gifts and linen with UK fashion designer Jasper Conran, who is known for mixing classic British elegance with a cheeky irreverent attitude; and acclaimed US designer Vera Wang (dinnerware and giftware with a modern approach to classic style). They also have a licence to produce Peter Rabbit nursery ware – held since 1949, it is one of the oldest licences around.

LENOX Lenox Corporation has a number of licence agreements and/or partnerships with designers, including Kate Spade (Kate Spade New York), Donna Karan, Marchesa, Scalamandre and Aerin Lauder. Kate Spade offers formal and casual dinnerware, flatware, glassware and giftware; Donna Karan for Lenox delivers formal and casual contemporary dinnerware and flatware; and Aerin for Lenox delivers dinnerware and barware. www.lenox.com

GIBSON Gibson Overseas Inc. has a number of licences: French Bull, the homewares brand with pop culture appeal, and US fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi – think colourful and contemporary cookware, giftware, dinnerware.

In 2014, it launched two new licensed collections: porcelain dinnerware from the late designer Florence Broadhurst and contemporary dinnerware from lifestyle designer Trish Richman. www.gibson.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 69

Rudolf Kampf Muhammad Ali

Guide LICENSING Miranda Kerr Royal Albert

Rosenthal Meets Versace

this. Richard Halliday says Dartington is heavily focused on the gift market and collectability is a feature of this.

And certainly, having a wellknown and liked theme or look – like Julie Dodsworth – can help steer the gift purchaser. Rachel at Portmeirion Group, says: “Collectability is a huge part of licensing in tableware, the aim being to not just offer items with timeless appeal that people will cherish for years to come, but also to encourage consumers to really buy into a particular range.”

The potential of the gifting market is one of the main reasons why British company Tradestock took on the Royal Mail licence: “The licence with Royal Mail has given us a a deeper involvement in the gift side of the business,” says Keith Nye, Tradestock. “Royal Mail is very collectable, both from the point of view of its ‘Britishness’ and in the many designs and subject matter, especially historic ones.”

Gifting is also key for Rudolf Kampf’s World Sport Icons series.

“Gifting is one of the most important categories that our Muhammad Ali collection serves, with personal

Kate Spade New York (Lenox)

and corporative gifting the best commercial categories for the range,” says Michael Belov.

A passion for the past Another trend dominating the tableware market is that of heritage, with consumers hungry for all things historic and nostalgic (prevalent in tough economic times) with ‘heritage’ currently the buzzword in home décor. “In a world that’s more uncertain than ever, people are searching for roots, foundations and anchors. They want to understand how the past shaped the present and they want to protect the things they value,” say British charity, Royal Historic Palaces, which boasts its own licensing programme. Denby’s Vikki Irvine, concurs: “Since the recession, we have seen a general trend by brands to reflect back their history and heritage as a USP and this also mirrors the consumer’s appreciation for a simpler time, a back to basics approach.”

Therefore, an interest in, and desire for, licensed tableware with a story, with heritage and with history – inspired by historic archives from

historic institutions, for example – is proving popular. Known as Art Licensing, licences from historic societies and museums – the V&A and the National Trust, for example – and from retro brands that evoke nostalgia (Kellogg’s and Penguin), are feeding into consumers’ thirst for the past and demand for a story.

“I think the reason heritage brands are increasing in popularity is partly because they have authenticity and give confidence to the consumer that they are brands that can be trusted,” explains licensing manager for V&A, Lauren Sizeland.

And with their huge archives of iconic imagery and/or historic patterns, the V&A offers a great fit for the tableware category. Not only are such licences the perfect fit design-wise, but they offer a perfect historical brand fit, with many manufacturers as established and historic as the institutions themselves. “Our RHS Collection reflects shared values and consumer interests,” says Richard Halliday, Dartington, an English crystal company, which boasts the Royal Horticultural Society licence.

V&A Licensing continues to lead

the way in art licensing, boasting 65 licences and spanning categories from interior furnishings, tabletop and apparel, to jewellery, stationery and wall art. Since 2008, they have been in partnership with tabletop company Creative Tops, delivering nine collections; the initial collection, a range of mugs that performed above all expectations. They also develop exclusive lines for retailers, like Britain’s Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, and Spain’s El Corte Ingles.

“The V&A has developed a visual language of design that is recognised both within the Museum and in the global market. Because the V&A product ranges are all inspired by the museum’s archives, they are all accompanied with historical provenance,” says Lauren, explaining how this is carefully documented on the packaging.

“The additional appeal to the consumer is that all profits are covenanted to the V&A to help fund its collecting, exhibitions and research,” says Lauren.

So successful are the V&A tableware and gifts that Creative Tops has recently announced a new heritage licence with the

Marchesa

by Lenox

13%

The percentage make up of fashion licensing in the industry. The dominant sub-category is Character/Entertainment (46%). Brands and Trademarks make up 18%; Sport 13%; Collegiate 3% and Art 3%.

National Trust, and launched its first collection, Country Kitchen.

They aren’t the only ones heralding heritage. At BLE 2014, we saw a new tableware range courtesy of a recent licensing agreement between British institution, Historic Royal Palaces, and tabletop brand Maxwell & Williams.

In addition to heritage patterns and historic prints from such institutions, patterns and prints from textile designers and print artists/ illustrators, as well as iconic imagery from vintage brands, are also proving prolific in tableware licensing.

Royal Doulton this year collaborated with housewares designer Charlene Mullen on an expansive collection; Lifetime Brands has just signed the licence for artist Kim Parker, delivering six contemporary floral collections; while crystal brand Dartington and flatware company Arthur Price took on the Julie Dodsworth licence (think vintage-inspired folk art) for glassware and cutlery respectively.

In fact, vintage-inspired designs

Maison et Objet Czech Selection Stand Hall 8, A 105 - B 106

Ambiente 4.0.B88. 4.2.J67

Creative Tops V&A

and brands that tap into childhood memories are trending. Creative Tops’ licensed Katie Alice tableware, which is retro-inspired, is proving popular worldwide. Greek tableware retailer Parousiasi has recently starting stocking the product and is already seeing it become one of its bestsellers, with the younger generations, in particular.

This nostalgia for childhood memories and happy times has led to demand for comforting retro imagery, too. Licences like Vintage Kellogg’s (Portmeirion Group) are popular. “Our Vintage Kellogg’s collection, is another example of historic revivalism,” says Rachel. “The vibrant collection evokes happy memories of a bygone era.”

Ultimately, for manufacturers and retailers alike, such licensing partnerships and subsequent product can be appealing to consumers looking for something new and different, providing retailers with exclusive products, new audiences, high profile names and, ultimately, greater profits.

“When it comes to couples picking tableware items for their wedding registries, Vera Wang and Jasper Conran are clear favourites at Wedding Gifts Direct. Vera Wang Wedgwood dinnerware includes modern and chic patterns that complement the unique style and sensibility shown in the designer’s bridal, ready-to-wear and lifestyle collections, with Grosgrain and Lace Platinum the most popular.

Jasper Conran’s signature aesthetic of mixing classic British elegance adds a more modern twist to tableware.” Donne Black, marketing and sales director for bridal etailer, Wedding Gifts Direct

www.bomma.cz

What the etailer says…

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 71

Guide LICENSING

ISAAC MIZRAHI FOR GIBSON Gibson has a number of licences, including fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Early in 2014, Gibson launched a licensed porcelain dinnerware collection from the late Australian designer Florence Broadhurst. More recently, Gibson has reinterpreted the signature Florence Broadhurst pattern Japanese Floral into a bold new rective glaze pattern, set to be introduced early 2015. The design stays true to the Broadhurst sensibility but updates the look for a new generation of high-end consumers in the tableware market. Each 4-piece place setting, crafted from fine ceramic, includes a dinner and dessert plate, soup bowl and mug.

VERA WANG WEDGWOOD The first Vera Wang Wedgwood tableware collection debuted in 2002 and the partnership has been so successful, it has seen the launch of crystal stemware, barware, flatware and gifts.

The collections reflect her modern approach to classic style, tradition mixed with a contemporary edge. For spring 2015, Vera Wang Wedgwood will launch three dinnerware collections (two formal, one casual) plus crystal stemware and giftware.

Feminine and chic, the Vera Chantilly Lace Gray fine bone china dinnerware pays homage to old-world lace craftwork with a modern interpretation of floral lace in sensual pearl gray with platinum rims and accents; while the casual Vera Simplicity Indigo dinnerware range introduces a rich on-trend indigo palette in two designs, Ombre and Chevron. Also new for spring is Grosgrain Nouveau Platinum crystal stemware (pictured right) and giftware – think deep horizontal cuts and platinum banding.

www.wedgwood.co.uk

WATERFORD MAD MEN EDITION

www.gibsonusa.com

MONSOON FOR DENBY The partnership between British tableware brand Denby and British fashion house Monsoon, offers Denby a 40-year-old archive of patterns that are fashion-forward and relevant. “A larger number of consumers today no longer want minimalist or sculptured whites and are looking for something more electric and unique. The Monsoon Home Dinnerware Collections have embraced the consumer who prefers decorative fine china rather than the ‘studio’ look of Denby stoneware,” says Denby’s senior brand manager, Vikki Irvine. Denby has Dinnerware Collections and three Kitchen Collections with the licence, with the latest, Bettie (pictured), featuring unique patterns from Monsoon’s archives in warm reds and blues. Bettie combines a range of mixed materials, including ceramic, tin, textiles, glass, cork mats and china in a range that delivers all tabletop.

www.denby.co.uk

RUDOLF KAMPF MUHAMMAD ALI COLLECTION As part of the Czech porcelain brand’s global project World Sports Icons, it launched a porcelain tableware and giftware collection with the Muhammed Ali licence. “The idea is to create several luxury porcelain collections under the name of iconic sportsmen,” says Michael Belov, development director, Rudolf Kampf. The limited edition collection is very much gift and collectability focused – the basic collection came in just 430 sets, each with its own number; while the Anniversary Edition came as 70 sets with a certificate of authenticity. A luxury product, the collection is personalised and unique. The next sporting license in the World Sports Icon series is due in 2015. Watch this space.

www.rudolfkampf.eu

48 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Crystal brand Waterford has several licences under its luxury handcrafted belt, including with bridal designer Monique Lhuillier and hit TV series Mad Men. Debuting in 2014, The Mixology Collection – Mad Men Edition, officially licensed through series producer Lionsgate, is a crystal barware range that pays homage to the era (50s/60s) of Mad Men. To coincide with the final seven episodes of Mad Men, set to air in spring of 2015, Waterford has introduced new pieces. Reflecting the late ‘60s, pieces include gilded drinkware (Holloway Gold); new additions to the Draper and Olson patterns and an Olson Cigar Ashtray. Also new for spring 2015 is Monique Cherish (Monique Lhuillier Waterford Collection), a range of formal fine bone china dinnerware (5-piece place setting), crystal stemware and giftware, with the dinnerware pattern reflecting that of a wedding cake’s frosting.

www.wwrd.com

TED BAKER PORTMEIRION

MIRANDA KERR ROYAL ALBERT

Award-winning British tableware company, Portmeirion, last month announced a landmark partnership agreement with iconic British fashion house, Ted Baker. “There are so many parallels between Portmeirion and Ted Baker – a diverse and eclectic offering, wonderful British eccentricity, startling eye for detail, cuttingedge design and, of course, quality that is unrivalled anywhere in the world,” says Phil Atherton, group sales and marketing director, Portmeirion Group. Entitled Ted Baker Portmeirion, the collaboration comprises two capsule ranges – a 41-piece vintage floral bone china dinnerware range (pictured) and a 22-piece porcelain giftware range, both of which have been inspired by Ted Baker’s forthcoming spring/summer 2015 apparel collections. The dinnerware range features a delicate floral print set on a mis-matching pastel palette, while the gift range uses combinations of animal and geo prints.

They will launch in the UK In March 2015.

One of 2014’s big tableware licence launches was Miranda Kerr Royal Albert, a collaboration between WWRD’s fine china British brand, Royal Albert, and model and entrepreneur, Miranda Kerr. “We chose Miranda Kerr because we know that she was already a fan of Royal Albert, having drunk tea with her grandmother from her Royal Albert tea set,” says brand manager of Royal Albert, Carol Baxendale-Potter, highlighting how Miranda is the perfect brand ambassador and design partner for the brand as she is popular with the Royal Albert target customers. The collaboration began with the debut of a tea set, which says Carol has been so successful globally – with strong sales particularly in Australia and Asia, as well as in Europe and the US – that the launch collection has been extended to include a Tea For One giftable teapot in the Friendship pattern (pictured) and a line of bakeware.

www.portmeirion.co.uk

www.wwrd.com

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 73

Profile RCR Cristalleria Italiana

Making drinkware

crystal clear Famed for producing the only lead-free crystal glass in the world, RCR Cristalleria is Italy’s leading crystal manufacturer. We talk company branding, Italian heritage and glassware trends with the CEO of RCR, Roberto Pierucci

NEW FOR R 2015…

A new and original multifunctional proposall in i the spirits sector, Comb sp bo con onsi s st stss of state-of-the-art sp pir irit it glasses guaranteed to gi give ve the distillates a starring role.

The bo b ttle is stacked with tw wo gl glasses for a private or convivial spirits moment.

74 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

R

CR Cristalleria Italiana is the leading Italian crystal manufacturer with a factory in Colle di Val d’Elsa in the heart of Tuscany, manufacturing 100 per cent Made In Italy crystal drinkware for the retail sector (56%), hospitality sector (15%), and for promotions and private label business (29%). RCR offers both traditional and cutting-edge design products for table settings, from virtually weightless stemware through to hefty vases, and also has expertise in adding colour, cutting, customising and designing its own ranges. Such ranges, including its award-winning World’s Best, can be found in stores like John Lewis and Marks & Spencer in the UK, El Corte Ingles in Spain, and hospitality-wise in the Boscolo Hotel chain in Italy.

RCR exports from its Italian factory to almost 80 countries worldwide – 30 per cent in Italy, 30 per cent rest of Europe, and 40 per cent the rest of the world. In addition to showing at HOMI Milan in January, RCR always displays at Ambiente in February. We talk to the CEO of RCR Cristalleria, Roberto Pierucci, to find out more…

RCR Cristalleria is a 100 per cent Made In Italy brand. How important is this for the company?

Made In Italy has always been a key asset for RCR for a number of reasons. Logistically, RCR has a single production and distribution hub, which is in Colle di Val d’Elsa, deep in the Tuscan countryside. From this plant we export products to more than 80 countries and so more than half a century of crystal glass tradition and expertise positions us as a 100 per cent Made In Italy brand, one of Italy’s most famous for table settings and home décor. In fact, RCR has great brand awareness – 57 per cent of Italians know it, according to a recent brand awareness survey conducted in Italy. In addition, Made In Italy is the

exclusive touch symbolising the heart of our sales strategy, reflecting the main features of RCR products, which are defined by high design content for enhanced appeal and convenience; high quality yet affordable drinkware offering top performance; and products guaranteed by cuttingedge technological research in the tableware sector that is copied extensively by our competitors. As an Italian industry, RCR still considers passion and attention to detail characteristics of a crafted product.

RCR has recently reorganised the brand. Can you explain why you did this and what buyers and retailers can expect from RCR now?

We have reorganised our whole product assortment in order to refresh the RCR image to the market; empower the brand values to the consumers (reputation, prestige, quality, Made in Italy message); finetune the collections’ organisation for our trade partners; and emphasise the originality and benefits of our offering. The new RCR Collections now consist of Style (and Style Prestige), Trends and Luxion® Professional.

Style is a comprehensive collection for consumers who seek elegance every day. It includes prestigious lines decorated with cuts and hand finishing under the name of Style Prestige. Trends offers trendy styles for the modern and contemporary home, with innovative, handy and practical shapes for every occasion. Luxion® Professional is the high-performance collection for the high-end hospitality sector, a condensed assortment to ensure continuity and availability, and with amazing durability and resistance.

There are a number of crystal drinkware companies around.

What makes RCR stand out?

RCR is the only pan-glass tableware Company; the only company

NEW FOR 2015 RCR Cristalleria Italiana will be presenting the following new collections at Ambiente 2015

The Only One The Only One worldwide offering excellence in all segments of all glassmaking techniques. We are the only company to differentiate moulding and blowing production techniques, producing virtually weightless stemware through to hefty vases. Also, we are creators of the now patented Luxion®, the only lead-free crystal glass and the best crystal glass worldwide, now used on all our products. Luxion® is a brilliant – the most brilliant – crystal glass, which is ultra-transparent (conforming to European Standard ISO/PAS IWA 8: 2009), and dishwasher-resistant. The characteristics of Luxion® make it the perfect material for tasting demands and for the hospitality industry since it enhances the sensorial profile analysis of any beverage without altering taste or flavour and leaving the natural colour in tact. Moreover, Luxion®’s lightness and strength make it ideal for the professional catering industry, which demands a long life cycle, versatility and being able to withstand multiple dishwasher cycles.

How important is the creation of varietal-specific glassware?

Culture, pleasure, socialising: these three values best represent wine, and due to RCR’s commitment to the spread of the winemaking culture, it

offers different styles for experiencing wine. At RCR, a goblet isn’t just a container, it is a professional instrument that enhances the organoleptic profile of each wine. Designed to perfectly suit the various types of wine, the Luxion® goblets, for example, are the peak of a long tradition rooted in Tuscany, in the same hills that are the cradle of some of the world’s most famous wines. RCR’s World’s Best range, which won the Good Design Award 2014, was developed in collaboration with experts – Luca Gardini, the world’s top sommelier 2010 and Fabio Novembre, one of Italy’s most talented designers.

What glass trends are you seeing?

In retail and hospitality, we are seeing the resurgence of heavier, deepcut luxury crystal glassware. We are also seeing growth retail-wise for varietal-specific drinkware for other beverages other than wine, like spirits and cocktails. Two of our new ranges for 2015 – Ego and Happy – have been designed in response to the demand for wine-varietal glassware, while new line Combo is in response to demand for spirits-specific glassware. We are also seeing Retro Styling as a growing trend. With regards to shape, we are finding that most people today opt for traditional styles, like the classic style,

Happy which is a not-too-long stem, so the glass fits into the dishwasher, with a nicely rounded belly and cut rim.

The aim of business is to grow.

What is RCR’s plans in 2015?

The first objective this year for RCR is to continue along the path we have followed in recent years. This requires great determination and immense enthusiasm. In times of crisis, with the markets in recession and with negative forecasts and expectations, this attitude seems impractical, but our motto is, “always look at old situations with new eyes”. Our hope is for the optimism that RCR embraces to be contagious, which is why we’re presenting RCR via a tour in 2015 – this will take us to restaurants, hotels and theatres, where we will talk to operators about how light is captured in our products. We will continue to invest in our product, and in our technical and design innovation, to bring a dynamic offering to what is otherwise a static, standardised market. In line with this, we are also aiming to target the younger generation with our products.

Discover RCR Cristalleria’s new offerings on its stand – Hall 4.0 Stand F-61 – at Ambiente 2015 in Frankfurt, from February 13-17. www.rcrcrystal.com

A modern and design range for retail and hospitality, this targets the younger generation with its innovative shape designed for unique sensorial performance.

Happy Multi-purpose and stackable, this new range adds a touch of glam, while catering to the new lifestyle trends of mixing and matching.

Ego This new RCR blown line is ideal for wine tasting, delivering 4 goblets and 2 tumblers with innovative design and technological innovation: the stem forming means a greater resistance and less breaking of the disc; while the improved shape delivers a better balance of the cup, ensuring enhanced oxygenation and enhancement of flavours.

Fiesole A complete range of goblets, tumblers, bottles and a jug designed in a traditional cut, the diamond, which underscores the brilliance of a refined and prestigious collection.

SPOTLIGHT ON… WORLD’S BEST RANGE Winner of the Good Design Award 2014 and developed with Luca Gardini, the world’s top sommelier in 2010, and Italian designer Fabio Novembre, World’s Best range consists of five stemless glasses boasting an innovative shape suited to large and small mouths and noses. The shifting curvature meets the side edge to form the spaccavino (the intersection of the two surfaces that make up the glass) which opens up the wave of the liquid and releases its aromas.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 75

D To Si th

Mahmood Saeed Glass Industry Company (MSGLassCO) has 14 multinational production lines presented in 111 countries. MSGlassCo continues to expand as a Brand leader in home and catering markets and has become well known for its tableware and glass containers for cosmetic & food products. innovative products that are responsive to trends and customer needs.

With design and innovative shapes, MSGlassco brings elegance and style to enrich your table anytime of the day.

visit us at

msgi-sa.com

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

Meet us in 1. Ambiente 2015 Exhibition in Frankfurt from 13th - 17th Our Stand 1. Ambiente 2015 February, Exhibition in 2015 Frankfurt from 13th # till6.3-D52 17th February, 201 our Stand # 6.3-D52 2. Our Housewares Show in Chicago from 7th - 10th March, 2015 Standfrom # is7th S2075-S2076, 2. Housewares ShowOur in Chicago Till 10th March, 2015 S2175-S2176 Our Stand # is S2075-S2076, S2175-S2176

Profile Sambonet

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he Sambonet brand was founded by Giuseppe Sambonet in Vercelli, Italy, in 1856, becoming the official purveyor to many noble Italian families, including the Count of Turin.

Lauded with being the first company in Italy to build an industrial production plant capable of manufacturing both sterling silver and galvanic silverware in 1932, Sambonet went on to develop an innovative process for the production of stainless steel flatware. The brand conquered the international market by being chosen to supply the Cairo Hilton Hotel with a hollowware line, which marked the beginning of Sambonet’s great tradition of supplying world-class hotels and restaurants, from Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental, to Hyatt and Hilton. Starting from the ‘60s, great designers collaborated with Sambonet, popularising the brand’s focus on design, and Roberto Sambonet himself created collections, which are now design classics, on show at the MoMA in New York. In 1997, Sambonet – along with Arthur Krupp – joined The Paderno Group, an international leader in the production

78 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

of professional cookware and kitchen utensils. The Paderno Group added to its brand portfolio with Rosenthal, Thomas and Huschenreuther in 2009 and with Arzberg in 2013. There are now seven brands in the portfolio. We talk to head of international retail, Caterina Bernabino about Sambonet...

For many retailers, Sambonet is renowned for its quality flatware. But is that all Sambonet is about today?

Today, Sambonet is a brand focused on its strengths – Italian excellence, design research and innovation – offering a cosmopolitan audience not just single products, but complete concepts. To do this, we have, in the last few years, re-thought our strategy and redefined each segment in terms of target and product positioning. With our rich and diversified range, we are able to cover the needs of different domains: table, kitchen, and gift ideas for kids and for the luxury segment.

How much of Sambonet’s products are focused on retail?

The entire Paderno Group, which includes seven brands, is focused 50 per cent on retail and 50 per cent on

HoReCa. The leading brand in the group in the HoReCa market is Sambonet – focused almost 70 per cent on this segment and 30 per cent on retail. Another big brand in the group, Rosenthal, is the leading brand on the retail front.

How important is the relationship between Sambonet and Rosenthal? It is complementary; while they are two distinct brands, they share important values – tradition and quality, the use of fine materials, art and design, superior craftsmanship and innovation.

Rosenthal, with its focus on retail and Sambonet, with its focus on HoReCa, means that each brand is able to learn from the strong points of the other.

How international is Sambonet?

Sambonet’s international distribution is organised as follows: 10 per cent cookware, 20 per cent kitchen accessories, 15 per cent gifts, 30 per cent hollowware and 25 per cent cutlery. Every country represents a different market and we have different strategies for each. In terms of tabletop, the market is extremely influenced by lifestyles and traditions, which are

different from one country to the next – therefore, we have the best performances in areas that have cultural affinities with ours, such as other European countries.

How important is the fusion of functionality with high design?

Functionality and design have always been key points in Sambonet’s philosophy. From the start, the brand has followed two distinct approaches to design; internal creations and partnerships with well-known designers – both resulting in great successes and various prizes. Gio Ponti was the first designer to collaborate with Sambonet in 1932, garnering the brand many design awards. Other collaborations followed, including with Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Giulio Iacchetti and Rodolfo Dordoni. Creativity is at the heart of the brand, with Roberto Sambonet, who has been art director for many years, designing various award-winning items, like Pescera,

The Tables Section of Sambonet includes Kitchen brand ‘from Sambonet to Kitchen’ . Launched in response to the growing number of cooking enthusiasts, it offers high-quality, highperforming and high-design pieces, from its steel and silicone cooking utensils in the 12O’clock range, to its traditional yet contemporary terracotta cookware. gives more weight to new products, as well as reviewing the current assortment to satisfy contemporary consumers’ needs and provide an actual concept linked to specific occasions.

which is currently part of MoMA’s catalogue. In 2001, Sambonet created the Centro Stile Sambonet (Sambonet Project Centre), a select group of young designers who work to realise remarkable creations – these have so far included Twist flatware, the Sphera collection and the Menù cookware, winners of the Red Dot Design Award.

The project has also designed flatware collections H-Art and Party, which earned the Good Design Award.

What trends has Sambonet recognised and responded to recently?

The analysis we made on the socio-cultural trends of our younger target audience and on the markets in which we operate led us to develop our corporate strategy of brand differentiation. We now have three distinct product areas, characterised by clear positioning – Table, Kitchen and Specials, the latter focused on specific themed sales like Wedding favours, Luxury, Gift & Christmas and Home & Design. The Tables segment, which includes flatware, represents 50 per cent of Sambonet products, while 30 per cent is Kitchen and the remaining 20 per cent, Specials. This strategy

And how is Kitchen performing?

Really well. Our kitchen department, represented by the brand ‘from Sambonet to Kitchen’, was launched in 2013 in response to market requests for quality products. It was launched with the aim of satisfying an ever-increasing number of cooking enthusiasts who desire high-performing instruments.

The range includes new specifically created products alongside existing ones that have been reinterpreted and restyled in a more design-led way. For example, 12O’clock is a new line of user-friendly, attractive steel cooking utensils with silicone details – think excellent performance, eye-catching design and functional features.

Any consumer demands Sambonet has recognised recently and subsequently acted upon?

In more recent years, we have seen a renewed desire for a more traditional and healthy way of cooking, which has led to a growing desire for new tools.

To cover this, we have added other materials to our stainless steel offerings, the latter having historically been the ‘protagonist’ of our productions. We now offer an array of materials such as wood, silicone and terracotta. Take the Terra.Cotto collection, realised in 2013 in collaboration with Stefania Vasques, which mixes a traditional material with a modern design. In 2015, we will continue to follow this trend, launching the Terra.Cotto collection entirely realised in cast iron.

Gio Ponti was the first designer to collaborate with Sambonet in 1932 – his centrepiece designed during the ‘50s and finally brought to life in 2013 won the Wallpaper* Design Awards, the Interior Innovation Award and the Red Dot Design Awards.

In addition to Table and Kitchen, Sambonet has introduced its Luxury concepts project aiming to cover the needs of a new and sophisticated upper class. Can you explain?

For the international fairs – Homi, Ambiente and Maison & Objet in Spring 2015 – we will be presenting our new Luxury catalogue as part of our Private Interiors project. This particular division will be focused on offering to high-end clientele, a series of proposals and services to completely furnish their interiors, such as villas, apartments, private jets and yachts. With such high-quality products already in our range, we simply adapted the offering to cover the market in a more accurate way. The collections included are mainly Sambonet’s silver ones, made with the brand’s exclusive technique H§P Hard Sambonet Silverplating, which guarantees enhanced hardness and resistance to the sulfuration of the silver coating. For this line, we have developed an unusual cycle of galvanic electroplating and polishing, completely handmade, that delivers an exceptional mirroring effect, greater hardness and durability of silver surfaces. Every item in our Luxury catalogue is customisable with special monograms and logos, so customers can guarantee uniqueness of product.

And thanks to collaborations with talented designers worldwide, we are able to create specific solutions and customised proposals of the very highest quality.

new and innovative spirit linked to its international business development.

Today, even more because of the attention placed by the global market towards historical values and Italian excellence, it is extremely important for Sambonet to be identified within those contexts. Every product line is proposed and introduced to the market with a coordinated image linked to the design and all the information needed to launch the products in the market.

What does Sambonet wish to communicate to hospitality providers and/or retailers about its brand?

Sambonet has always preserved its exquisite craftsmanship in spite of the

and brochures.

So, the Italian heritage remains key?

Yes. Sambonet is extremely rooted in the Italian territory, with an Italian heritage of two centuries. The Italian excellence is considered an added value, not only internationally but also in Italy - therefore we are very careful to carry on such communication with our retailers and customers. We convey this message not just with our high-quality high-design products, but also through both our catalogues and our communication projects.

What steps has Sambonet taken in order to communicate with, and help, the retailer and/or the hospitality operator, with the communication of the Sambonet brand and its heritage?

We offer specific retail catalogues dedicated to every concept of Sambonet. We also offer retailers coordinated window campaigns; ADV projects and press office activities; products for points of sales, such as displays and window signs; and product literature like technical sheets Visit the Sambonet stand at Ambiente 2015 (Hall 4.1 Stand C50-C51) in Frankfurt. www.sambonet.it; www. corporate.sambonet.it

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 79

SHOW SEASON Advice

Tradeshow tips & tricks We ask the top people at the top shows for Tabletop exactly what top tips they would give to retailers and buyers attending this year’s trade shows and fairs

The New York Tabletop Show The New York Tabletop Show features two annual four-day shows, in April and October. Outside of this, its 160 brands have permanent showrooms, many of which are year-round. www.41madison.com

“Plan! Plan! Plan! Set appointments with your key suppliers. Include time to walk the entire show, to seek out potential new resources.

And, try to do additional reconnaissance outside of the show, seeing what other retailers are doing and how they are merchandising, looking outside the tabletop category as well.”

Laurie Burns, senior vice-president Forty One Madison

80 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

The International Home + Housewares Show This once-a-year show in the spring is the world’s premier housewares marketplace, featuring more than 2,100 exhibitors categorised into four show-within-a-show expos, including Dine + Design. Each year, the show attracts 20,000 buyers. www.housewares.org

“Take advantage of Housewares Connect 365 – this offers indepth information on each show exhibitor, including product photos, videos and full catalogues – before travelling to Chicago in order to plot your time. Plan to meet with your current suppliers, but save time to explore new vendors, too. Visit the gia Global Innovation Award display to learn from the world’s finest retailers and venture out into the local retail scene for direct comparative benchmarking. Chicago retail maps can be downloaded at www. housewares.org/attend. Finally, do the post-show follow-up.”

Derek Miller, vice-president global marketing, International Housewares Association (IHA)

Homi Milano Formerly Macef, this bi-annual Italian lifestyle show in Milan attracts 80,000 visitors to peruse the stands of its 1,300 exhibitors, displayed in 10 different categories, including Living Habits, which is dedicated to Kitchen & Dining.

The brand has also launched its first edition in Moscow.

Ambiente The biggest consumergoods fair in the world, this annual show in February features 4,700 exhibitors, with an incredible 2,200 of them making up the Dining segment, including housewares and an extensive array of tableware.

www.homimilano.com

www.ambiente. messefrankfurt.com

“Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want and be open to new ideas and opportunities. Like the saying goes, ‘You can’t find new roads with old maps,’ don’t limit your contact to a single transaction and never limit your contact only to companies that have met your needs because other companies might, in time, offer you new ideas and opportunities. Play with hybrids.

The ‘wow’ effect is the only one that can differentiate one retailer from another. Therefore, being able to dare and try, sometimes with limited investments, but with great ideas, can transform one’s business into a start-up of style. Why not try?”

“Do not waste time at the fair looking up companies or major events and presentations – you can find all this information on the Ambiente website weeks before the show starts. Make sure the special exhibitions about trends, design, functional innovation and upcoming designers and companies are on the top of your agenda. New ideas are so important. A very special highlight is our 2015 partner country USA. ‘Seashore Galore’ is the title of Scott Henderson’s impressive presentation of US products. The Partner Country Day on Monday also promises highlights.”

Cristian Preiata, exhibition manager,

Nicolette Naumann, vice-president Ambiente/Tendence,

Fiera Milano

NY NOW NY NOW, the market for Home + Lifestyle is a bi-annual show delivering 100,000 products in 400+ product categories across its four comprehensive collections – Home, Lifestyle, Handmade and New! Its Home Collection features more than 1,100 suppliers in two sections, including Tabletop + Gourmet Housewares. www.nynow.com

“Firstly, before you arrive, develop a shopping strategy based on your current inventory as well as open-to-buy needs.

Secondly, during your visit, be organised and keep good notes so that everything makes sense, even after seeing hundreds of vendors and thousands of product lines. Finally, after your visit, have open communication with show organisers about what you liked and what changes would improve your overall experience.”

Randi Mohr, NY NOW co-director and vice-president TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 81

SHOWS 41 Madison

“The industry should remain steady in 2015” In anticipation of show season and the spring 2015 tabletop introductions, we catch up with a tableware tradeshow expert. Tableware International talks tabletop business, top trends and targets for the year ahead with Laurie Burns, senior vice-president and director of Forty One Madison

This year sees 41 Madison – the home of tabletop – reach its 41st year. 41 years on, what does Forty One Madison communicate for the industry today?

As we now head towards a halfcentury, Forty One Madison is a pillar of stability for the tabletop industry, and in nearing this next milestone, it is abundantly clear that our owners are dedicated to ensuring we provide the industry with a quality building for showcasing product and hosting meetings. Forty One Madison is a vital forum for the best of the best in brands and the buyers who represent the range of retailers in search of goods and products.

Core suppliers meet the core retail community of North America here year-round.

What are the biggest achievements to celebrate for Forty One Madison and the concept behind it?

We’ve enjoyed the strongest of times and weathered some uncertain moments in the economy. We steadily kept focus on serving the industry, 82 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

continuing to provide the kind of space needed, not only for showcasing products and hosting meetings, but also for conducting training sessions, staging special events and programmes. So, our greatest achievement has been a successful evolution as the relevant marketplace for the world of tabletop in North America.

etailers, etc. Buyers find it easy and convenient to do business here and know they are welcome at showtime and also whenever they need to see product and/or make decisions.

What vision did you have when you joined? And have you succeeded in making that vision a reality?

Within a week of my arrival on the job at Forty One Madison in 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the economy spiralled into a recession. In its wake, several tabletop companies were put on the selling block and the entire landscape of our industry began to be re-shaped as companies were bought, sold and consolidated in a scramble to survive. Ironically, during that time, some of the most creative product debuted, as did new brands and ways of doing business. Our challenge is always to bend with the industry’s needs and remain fully invested in our business. This meant aggressively incorporating upgrades and modernisation to spaces, staying the course on our marketing

I’m not one to come into a job making sweeping changes, and my goal when I arrived in this post was to remain committed to the original vision for Forty One Madison – since it is a vision that is unparalleled and successful.

The mission continues to be that of attracting the world’s best brands and factories, serious about the tabletop business in the US, and help them establish a homebase here, so that they can take advantage of the diverse retail community who visit here – buyers representing the major department stores, specialty shops, mass market chains,

What were the initial challenges for you when you joined and how did you manage them?

and advertising support, and widening our net ever so slightly to add brands that cross over into tabletop and that value the calibre of buyers who visit 41 Madison.

What are your expectations for the building and for the show in the year ahead?

We have signed numerous longterm leases that will keep Forty One Madison near full and we anticipate the year ahead to be a good one, with a high level of activity. Our plans for the upcoming 2015 Tabletop Market will focus on bridal – a category that drives a large percentage of tabletop sales. Table décor in the lobby during the April 14-17 2015 Market will be created by the editors of Martha Stewart Weddings, and at the October 13-16 2015 Market by Brides magazine. Our annual breakfast seminar in April will also take on the bridal market topic and what it means for the industry. Also, over the course of the next two years, we will be undergoing a complete lobby renovation and will be continually adding upgrades

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Modern traditions Ambiente 2015 Hall 4 4.1 1 A80 Feb: 13-17

+420 224 494 442

SHOWS 41 Madison

41 MADISON FIVE FAST FACTS

“ throughout the building relating to connectivity. Underway and due to be ready for spring 2015 is a complete renovation of the 16th floor.

How important has been increasing the internationality of the show in terms of visitors?

A signature of Forty One Madison and The New York Tabletop Market is, of course, the internationality of the core brands that are represented here. The buyers, though, are chiefly from North and Central America with some visits from South America. The draw of New York City itself, of course, adds to the appeal of international buyers as visitors, since this is a retail Mecca offering up large doses of imagination and inspiration. So, we often sign in guests who visit showrooms both off showtime, as well as at showtime. The flagship showrooms in NYC are of great inspiration to retailers from around the world, and particularly from American brands that take advantage of their showrooms here to catapult export. Many showrooms are open daily, and others, by appointment.

How do you see the tableware industry faring in 2015?

The industry should remain steady in 2015 compared to 2014. Like all times, those introducing and shipping what consumers want will do well.

What do you see as the main challenges of the industry at present?

One of the continuing challenges 84 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

We have signed numerous longterm leases that will keep Forty One Madison near full and anticipate the year ahead to be a good one, with a high level of activity.” facing the industry is logistics and management of inventory for those companies that don’t own their own factories. Getting orders placed, produced and shipped in timely fashion from offshore sources with the right timing for retailers is key to the business now. For those owning their factories, timing is everything too. Another challenge that is constant is changing lifestyles.

Keeping pace with all of the fast-changing influences is what fuels the innovations we see from manufacturers year after year.

Finally, one challenge that cannot be ignored is the diminishing square footage allotted to tabletop in retail stores. With less space on the sales floor, manufacturers will have to rethink their strategies, more fully leverage an online presence and, I predict, adapt to the everchanging marketplace.

Any tableware trends that you believe will take centrestage in 2015?

Among the trends that are impacting the industry is the continuation of the casualisation of dinnerware – and one of the most interesting is its intersection with luxury. The concept of mixing up high and low is as strong as ever. Another tableware trend is the diversification of glassware – this is one of the fastest-growing categories as we see styles to match the increasing

”

types of beverages – craft beers, for instance, and retro cocktails – that consumers are now craving.

Flatware is evolving with more colourful and textured handles and all price points, and I’m seeing even more innovative packaging on sets and quantities/ assortments in those sets.

The ‘entertaining at home’ phenomenon continues unabated. How important has this been to the tabletop industry and do you think this will continue into 2015/16?

Entertaining at home is not going away and presents an ongoing and enormous opportunity for the tabletop industry. In this hyper-connected world, home is one of the places where people are connecting with family and friends. The concept of ‘Live in Kitchens’ (LIKs in real estate lingo) is another indicator that this trend is going strong. The open kitchen is the epicenter of the home and consumers need and want beautiful, yet useful, tableware and electronics in view of their friends and family.

The Spring edition of The New York Tabletop Show will take place April 14-17, 2015; while the Autumn edition is scheduled for October 13-16, 2015. Both take place at Forty One Madison. www.41madison.com

More than 160 leading international tabletop brands reside in the building.

Five brands occupy full-floor space at 41 Madison – these include Lenox on the 24th floor, WWRD on the 23rd floor, Oneida with Robinson Home on the 4th floor; Jay Companies on the 12th floor, and most recently, The Godinger Group on the 27th floor.

In addition to the two annual New York Tabletop Shows in April and October, many of the showrooms are open for business during the twicea-year NY NOW shows (40 brands will be open during NY NOW, Jan 31Feb 4) and some are open all year round.

The building offers a free 24/7 Forty One Madison App, downloadable at 41madison.com, providing users with an updated showroom listing and the latest introductions by individual brands, as well as allowing attendees to communicate with a showroom and plan and list their visits and appointments.

Some brands have had their wholesale showrooms in the building for more than 35 years – these include Noritake, Mr Christmas, Nikko Ceramics, Oneida, Reed & Barton, Rosenthal, Royal Doulton, Villeroy & Boch and Wedgwood.

ublime

A FUSION OF STYLE AND ELEGANCE

13 -17. 2. 2015 Ambiente

Hall 4.2 Stand E23 www.bormioliluigi.com

Profile Crystalex

Suite

success

This year, Czech glass producers Crystalex will unveil several brand new series of glassware suites, as well as dozens of new innovative decorations

L

eading manufacturer of household glassware in the Czech Republic, Crystalex has developed a superlative product range for 2015. Not only will the brand, which boasts a rich and long tradition of thousands of years of Bohemian glassmaking, launch new series but it will also deliver a rainbow of decorations, to launch at Ambiente..

For 2015, an enlargement of the existing stemware assortment has been prepared – the Crystalex designers creating three completely unique new ranges. Boasting an attractively-shaped stem and quite atypically formed cup, Grace delivers a royal impression and offers lots of possibilities for unique décor. The new Rebbeca suite offers graceful and smooth contours; while the new Kate suite is a completely modern line. With an open cup that smoothly turns to stem, Kate boasts different heights of stem, elevating its elegance, and comes in eight different sizes. It offers not only classic wine glasses, but also goblets for water and beer, liqueur glasses and even champagne saucers.

Inspired by the traditional long boats of Venice in Italy, the new Gondola range of vases and bowls come with crimped rims resembling the boats of the same name. The ripple adds dynamism and comes in a variety of colours. Also new and with a focus on the rim is a line of decanting carafes, which boast a diagonal rim and bevelled neck.

Crystalex is also successful in the

production of decorated glass, offering a wide range of original motifs and boasting a portfolio of traditional and contemporary decors.

Crystalex uses a large number of traditional hand and modern techniques, from pantograph etching to diamond engraving and frequently uses a fusion of techniques for a unique decor.

Every year, Crystalex unveils new decorations and 2015 is no different, with dozens on the cards, and with a focus on the latest trends. With neon brights trending, new decoration neON features four neon colours in a variety of combinations on stemware and tumblers. Ellipse is a new decoration involving diamond engraving technology to create ellipses that are then filled with colour to highlight them.

This year too, the decorative project Rainbow is being enlarged.

A range of drinkware and vases enriched with fresh colours will be extended to include other sizes of tumblers, while stemware is introduced and new vases are added. The decorative offer is now very wide and includes pantograph etching, engraving technologies, painting, screen printing, decals, sand blasting and spraying, as well as combinations of these. An integral part of 2015’s product range includes enlargement of pantograph etching decorations in connection with cutting; this combination gives rise to exclusive décor on stemware, and in 2015, on vases too. www.crystalex.cz

Did You Know…? The traditional decorative technique of pantograph etching has been used at Crystalex for some 150 years. Currently experiencing a resurgence, it is offered as a clear pantograph décor, complemented with a gold/platinum rim; as a richly-coloured décor with spray colours and as an exclusive décor combined with cutting/painting.

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design, colour and function for the home ADDIS HOUSEWARES AEROLATTE AMEFA ANNIVERSARY HOUSE APOLLO HOUSEWARES ARTHUR PRICE CHARLES BENTLEY & SON BERGHOFF WORLDWIDE BHL BLACK & BLUM BOBBLE BODUM BRABANTIA BURTON MCCALL BWT CHARLES VIANCIN CITY LOOK IMPORTS COUNTRY MATTERS CREATIVE PRODUCTS CROWN TRENT CURVER DARTINGTON CRYSTAL DAVID MASON DESIGN DENBY BRANDS DEXAM DKB HOUSEHOLD DNC THE DRH COLLECTION E-CLOTH EDDINGTONS ELIA ETHOS

EUROPASONIC FISKARS FOSSEWAY TRADING GEH GILBERTS GIMI GOURMET GADGETRY GREEN PIONEER I GRUNWERG HAUS HOME ACCESSORIES HORWOOD HOMEWARES HOT PLATE PRODUCTS ICB NOSTICK IC INNOVATIONS ICTC IMPERIAL GROUP JEAN DUBOST JERAY JOSEPH JOSEPH JUST MUGS JVL HOMEWARE SOLUTIONS JWP KILNER KINETICO KUHN RIKON LADELLE LE CHATEAU TEXTILES LE CREUSET LEKUE-EMILE HENRY MAHITTI MAKE INTERNATIONAL

MASON CASH, RAVENHEAD AND PRICE & KENSINGTON MASTRAD MAXWELL & WILLIAMS METALTEX MEYER N J PRODUCTS NAVIGATE NEAT IDEAS NORDIC WARE OCTOPUS PUBLISHING OXO GOOD GRIPS PENDEFORD HOUSEWARES PHA KITCHESSENTIALS PREMIER HOUSEWARES PYREX READY STEADY COOK RKW ROBERT WELCH DESIGNS ROOT 7 ROSTI MEPAL H & L RUSSEL SABICHI HOMEWARES SALTER SCOTT BROTHERS SIMPLEHUMAN SISTEMA SMASH GLOBAL SODASTREAM SWAN T&G TAYLORS EYE WITNESS

And don’t forget to visit Exclusively Electrical our sister show running alongside Exclusively Housewares ARIETE (JALENO) BAMIX (PROVEN PRODUCTS) BEURER DUALIT EPE INTERNATIONAL EWBANK GROUPE SEB

HOSTESS (CROSSLEE) HSCL - SEVERIN JURA KITCHENAID KUVINGS (IPAS) MAGIMIX MEYER

REDMOND SMART WORLDWIDE TEAM UKI UP GLOBAL SOURCING VITALITY 4 LIFE VITAMIX WITT

For more information on the show take a look at www.exclusivelyhousewares.co.uk or call 0121 237 1130

TEFAL TERRAILLON THE COOKWARE COMPANY TONTARELLI TRADESTOCK TYPHOON ULSTER WEAVERS UNIKIA UP GLOBAL SOURCING WESCO WESTERN HOUSE WHAT MORE WHITEFURZE WHITFORD WILTON XYSTOS ZODIAC STAINLESS PRODUCTS ZWILLING J A HENCKELS

Run by the industry, for the industry

Exclusively Housewares will run alongside its NEW sister show Exclusively Electrical, designed especially for small domestic appliance buyers

www.exclusivelyelectrical.co.uk

SHOW PEVIEW Ambiente

Discover what’s on the table at Ambiente With an expanded dining sector, growth in HoReCa, and more than 4,700 exhibitors expected from 190 countries, this truly international show brings the very best of design and tradition for the international tableware industry

U

nder this year’s motto – Ambiente – The Show – the world’s leading consumergoods event will take to the stage, occupying the entire Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre for five days, from February 13-17 2015.

With over 4,700 exhibitors expected, from some 89 countries, Ambiente is a must-visit at the start of the year, offering as it does three sections – Dining, Giving and Living – and delivering a complete spectrum of consumer goods for the table, kitchen, housewares, wining & dining, giving, living and furnishing.

“Ambiente is the unrivalled business platform for the global consumer-goods industry.

Products from almost 90 countries are on an area the size of more than 46 football fields,” says Nicolette Naumann, vice president Ambiente/Tendence.

Focus on tabletop The Dining section is the biggest you will find anywhere, with the entire eastern part of the Exhibition Centre reserved for Dining. Across 16 halls, Dining represents the entire market for table, kitchen and household wares, with an incredible 2,200 exhibitors covering everything 88 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

from the premium segment right up to the volume business.

The product groups are as clearly structured as the range is broad, meaning buyers from various marketing channels and assortments can find what they’re looking for without walking far.

“The manufacturers’ innovation cycles are geared to the date of Ambiente. This is why trade visitors in Frankfurt can see considerably more new items than at other fairs with similar thematic emphases,” comments Thomas Kastl, director at Ambiente for the Dining segment.

Tableware at all levels is on show in the Table segment. From manufactories via designed oriented companies to branded companies and specialists for the HoReCa segment, this is where buyers will find the unusual, the exquisite, the trend-setting and the revenue-generating.

With suppliers such as Alessi, ASA Selection, Eva Solo, Georg Jensen and Stelton, the Table Contemporary product group displays new trends in Hall 4.0.

At Table Prestige in Hall 4.1, suppliers such as Dibbern, Lenox, Rosenthal, Wedgwood, Tiroler, Glashutte (Riedel) and Villeroy & Boch provide the keynote for the high-quality offering. International

companies are also offered by the Table Daily Life in Halls 4.2 and 6.2, with brands such as Arc International, Bohemia Cristal, Bormioli Rocco, Libbey, Pasabahce and Rak Porcelain presenting.

Finally, bulk buyers will find glass, porcelain and ceramic ware in the Table Top Trade product group in Halls 6.2 and 6.3, with suppliers such as Arda Cam, Gibson Overseas, Vidrios Reciclados San Miguel or Wrzesniak Glassworks.

What’s new!

In line with the growing lifestyle orientation in the kitchen, one area of growth for Ambiente 2015 is that of small electrical appliances – the number of exhibitors from this segment increased during the last two events, a positive trend set to continue in 2015.

“More and more companies from this segment want to make presentations in Frankfurt. So, this year, small electrical appliances will be bigger than ever – both in terms of the exhibition space occupied and the number of exhibitors,” says Thomas.

The HoReCa sector is another area of growth at Ambiente.

Launched three years ago, the Contract Business Programme offers visitors from the hotel and

restaurant business the right business contacts, expertise and tailor-made solutions.

“Equipping large projects like exclusive hotels and restaurants, cruise liners or the business class and first class airlines demand high standards in the aesthetics and quality of the products used. And, at Ambiente, professionals will find around 270 top suppliers with great expertise and experience in this business segment,” says Nicolette.

For the first time, BHS Tabletop AG will be presenting the Bauscher, Schonwald and Tafelstern brands on three separate stands. Other well-known companies, such as Dibbern, Porzellanfabriken Christian Seltmann, Steelite International, Waterford Wedgwood and Zieher, have come to symbolise the highquality and international range on offer at Ambiente for HoReCa. The relevant suppliers are all identified by the Contract Business label and so are easily recognisable. In addition, the Contract Guide covers all the exhibitors from the sector, including contact details, and is available for free throughout the Exhibition Centre. For those seeking contract business, there is a digital ‘matchmaking platform’,

SPOTLIGHT ON DINING We speak with Thomas Kastl, the director for the Dining segment, Messe Frankfurt How important is Tabletop in the entire Ambiente make-up?

Enormously so. It is the largest and most international section of Ambiente, both in terms of exhibitors and visitors. The variety and number of products, which range from ceramic, porcelain, and glass products to flatware, kitchen products and housewares, is unrivalled globally.

The tabletop industry is very “vibrant.

At Ambiente 2015, there will be a lot of new design and innovative approaches, especially in terms of materials and functionality.

”

Thomas Kastl, director for the Dining Segment, Messe Frankfurt which includes limitations to access and verification procedures for suppliers, and company information can be looked up in advance and appointments made.

For Ambiente 2015, the United States is the Ambiente Partner Country and a comprehensive programme is planned, including a theme day, activities, events and a special presentation.The latter will be designed by New York-based design studio Scott Henderson Inc; entitled Seashore Galore, it will have a coastal landscape in New England feel.

And the extras…

However, Ambiente is not only the sector’s new-products summit, it is also the place to attend for events, trend presentations, awards ceremonies and promotional programmes for young designers.

The most important trends for the table, kitchen, home and giving segments will be presented in a show, featuring hundreds of products (see overleaf ). There will also be the Solutions Show, a display area delivering product that fuses functional innovation with clever design. Here, visitors can discover new products from Ambiente exhibitors, which offer creative solutions.

Designer and curator of the show, Sebastian Bergne, spotlights special features of each of the products in a brief film clip.

Also displayed is product from young and up-and-coming designers in the Talents and Next promotional programme displays.

Here, visitors can discover creative ideas, exciting products and tomorrow’s leading designers.

As in previous years, Ambiente 2015 will be the setting for the presentation of numerous renowned awards ceremonies.

Consumer goods skilfully combining aesthetic qualities with practical benefits will be honoured with the Design Plus Award and the winning products will be displayed in a special exhibition at the fair. The German Design Award, meanwhile, will be presented on the first day of the fair and visitors will also find the winning products in an impressive exhibition. Finally, the ‘Plagiarius’ negative award shaming product piracy, and the Kitchen Innovation Award, will both be given during Ambiente.

Ambiente 2015 will take place at Frankfurt am Main from February 13-17, 2015. Visit www.ambiente. messefrankfurt.com

What’s new for the Dining area this year?

The HoReCa sector continues to gain importance. In 2015, for the first time, BHS Tabletop will present all three brands, Bauscher, Schönwald and Tafelstern. We have also increased the number of suppliers of small electrical appliances; around 60 companies from this spectrum will show new products – names like Bialetti, Gastroback, KitchenAid and Vitamix. With the US as our partner country, we are also looking forward to an impressive presentation by designer Scott Henderson in the foyer of Hall 4.1. Around 90 exhibitors come from the US, including companies like Lenox Corporation, Nambé and Q Squared Design.

How do you see the Tabletop industry performing at present?

From my perspective, the tabletop industry is very vibrant. At Ambiente 2015, there will be a lot of new design and innovative approaches, especially in terms of materials and functionality.

Some companies invest in sustainable production techniques, for example, or come up with new ways of using tabletop products.

What trends in Tabletop do you feel will dominate in 2015?

Nostalgia will have an influence on products over the next two years, with colour, shape and materials conveying this feeling. In German, we have the word ‘Sehnsucht’ (translated as ‘yearning’) which is about memories, dreams, home. I am sure this trend will be visible at Ambiente. Nature is also a persistent trend. For example, forest animals and birds continue to be popular motifs on tableware. Mixing different materials like porcelain, copper, cork, glass or wood is also a trend that continues to grow. I am also seeing coppery gold rising in terms of décor and colours.

Which product categories in Tabletop are trending?

As a distribution channel, HoReCa will continue to gain significance for our exhibitors. The baking trend is getting stronger and stronger. The right presentation of cakes, muffins and cake pops is important to consumers. We can also see a growing choice in storage solutions. Whether they are made from glass or plastic, lunchboxes and containers are becoming very sophisticated.

Why should Ambiente be a must-visit for retailers and buyers?

The crucial thing is that suppliers and manufacturers premiere new product ranges and innovations specifically at Ambiente, so buyers see products here that they won’t have seen anywhere else.

And the special design and trend shows like Ambiente Trends 2015 or Design Plus make it easy for buyers to get an efficient overview of the important new products.

TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL 89

SHOW PEVIEW Ambiente

AMBIENTE TRENDS 2015

T

he most important trends for the table, kitchen, home and giving segments will be presented at Ambiente 2015, as always, in an impressive special show. The four trend worlds are the work of the renowned trend bureau, Stilburo bora.herke.palmisano.

Boasting hundreds of products, the Ambiente Trend Show offers the trade a tangible and time-saving overview of the most important trends at the fair and is supplemented by daily guided tours and lectures.

The four trend worlds for Ambiente 2015 are inspired by feelings of yearning and nostalgia. The feeling of ‘Sehnsucht’ (yearning) is the source of inspiration, in fact, for the consumergoods industry in the coming season – think dreams, idealised images, personal belongings and emotions – and so important is it currently in consumers’ lives that the theme has become the leitmotif for Ambiente Trends 2015, influencing not just colours and shapes, but also materials and processing techniques.

From all the thousands of products presented by more than 4,700 exhibitors at Ambiente, the trend bureau Stilburo bora.herke.palmisano has made a selection representative of the trends taken from the themes of dining, enjoyment, living, furnishing, decorating and giving, and these are presented in the form of four spectacular trend worlds.

“Every year, the trend presentation serves as a valuable guide and a major source of inspiration for the trade. With the theme of ‘Sehnsucht’, our trend experts have selected a multi-facted, emotional and striking keyword to reflect the variety of products at Ambiente in an approach that is innovative as well as exciting,” says Nicolette Naumann, vice president of Ambiente.

All the exhibitors represented in the trend show are listed in a flyer, so it’s quick and easy to track down and order the products on display at the fair. A trend brochure offers advance information about the four Ambiente trends, while there are four collages (pictured here and overleaf ) and a selection of images devoted to the colours, patterns and shapes.

90 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

The desire for yearning Inspired by feelings of yearning and nostalgia, the four trends for Ambiente 2015 will be revealed through presentations and lectures

TREND 1: CLARITY & LIGHTNESS Simplicity of design with a touch of romance defines this style. Light blue, lime green and gentle wood tones harmonise with unobtrusive nuances of white and grey, while fine materials and delicate designs are sensitively combined. This love of simple design goes hand-in-hand with the refined elegance of the materials and surfaces –

moving structures typify this look with fine reliefs, open work and fine-mesh weaves. Textiles are nostalgically interpreted to include pleats, tucks and lace match up with fine wood grains and romantic blossoms and tendrils. To match this soft colour palette comes fragile glass – finely chased, frosted or with a metallic coating and a cool sheen.

TREND 2: CRAFT & CULTURE A return to ones’ roots leads to a greater appreciation of traditional materials, forms and processes of manufacture. Experimental mixes provide the theme for the fusion of cultures and the blending of traditional and modern production techniques. Carpet and textile art, ceramics, basket weaving, artistic paintwork and unusual haptics are the inspiration for this.

Irregularities and deliberate imperfections reveal themselves in intense shades of camomile yellow, tourmaline, claret, indigo and rust brown. Vivid blends and gradients of colour are enhanced by powerful brushstroke designs, while expressive textiles are set with fringes and a striking woven look. Porous, sandy ceramics, strongly grained woods and materials such as sisal, raffia, rattan and canvas emphasise the affinity with nature.

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Ambiente 2015 | 13. - 17.2.2015 | Stand 4.2. - J 81

SHOW PEVIEW Ambiente

With the theme of “‘Sehnsucht’, our trend

AMBIENTE TRENDS 2015

experts have selected a multi-facted, emotional and striking keyword to reflect the variety of products.

”

Nicolette Naumann, vice president of Ambiente/Tendence

AMBIENTE BY NUMBERS The number of countries from which the 144,000 trade visitors hail – 66 per cent from Europe, 21 per cent from Asia and 9 per cent from America.

160

TREND 3:

TREND 4: HISTORY + ELEGANCE HUMOUR + Citations from history and luxurious materials CURIOSITY are the starting point for modern designs that are full of elegance and passion. The urge to explore the world of fantasy and mysticism is celebrated in shades of dark mahagony, midnight blue and caviar black, with rose, shimmering pearl and a glittering bronze providing theatrical colour accents.

The finest materials with sensuous surfaces and a decorative patina provide that touch of opulence and glamour artistically staged and combined with high-tech equipment.

The interplay of materials and textures is exquisite – think highly polished, veined marble joining up with dark varnished wood.

Along with cast iron or aluminium with the look of cast iron, the spotlight is on copper, bronze, brass and chrome, either in a highgloss, matte or hammered finish.

Wooden panelling in a traditional look turns out to be thermo-shaped jersey laminate.

The luxury look is rounded off with traditionally figured porcelain, soft leather, velvet and chenille.

The playful insouciance of childhood is the inspiration behind this very optimistic design trend, which greets everyday life with a smile.

A bold assortment of colours, such as mint, orange, rose, nougat and graphite joins with unusual materials and a straightforward variety of forms.

The design credo is ‘humour’ with unorthodox solutions providing surprises of a very special kind: a look of spontaneity for all those with a penchant for the offbeat and the outlandish.

Moving multi-coloured effects rub shoulders with monochrome surfaces in matte or high-glass. Mirror foil and iridescent surfaces form a contrast with dull rubber, silicone, fleece, foam and recycled plastic.

As an expression of joie de vivre, motifs, lettering and graffiti receive a generous amount of space.

The number of export-oriented suppliers in the volume business sector offering a wide spectrum of merchandise in the Passage product segment, from industrially-made goods to handcrafted articles in large quantities.

1300

The number of halls at Ambiente displaying goods from the fields of design, innovation and lifestyle. There are 16 halls alone dedicated to dining.

27

The number of football pitches it would take to fill the entire area taken up by Ambiente in Frankfurt.

46

The number of exhibitors in the Dining area alone, covering everything from the premium segment right up to the volume business segment.

2200

Don’t Miss… The Trend Lectures The perfect complement to the four themed trend displays are twice-daily lectures, which put the flesh on the bones of the trends that have been identified. Design consultants stiliburo bora.herke.palmisano provide practical details on the upcoming trends with market-specific information and inspirational pictorial material every day at 12 noon and at 3pm in the Symmetrie 2 room, Hall 8.1.

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rebecca

Ambiente 2015 | 13. - 17.2.2015 | Stand 4.2. - J 81

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SHOW PEVIEW Ambiente

Herend Hall 4.1 Stand G20 Herend porcelain graces the offices and homes of emperors, film stars, athletes, business people and collectors all over the world. Handcrafted for nearly 200 years, Herend product is held in very high esteem. The graceful porcelain products from the Hungarian manufactory represent the balance of tradition and innovation, blending the secrets of 19th-century masters with 21st-century innovation in design. This year’s Herend novelties, which have been created in this spirit of tradition meets innovation, include a blue jay figurine, which blends the traditions of naturalistic and stylised painting for a modern appearance; a baroque tea pot with rich reliefs painted in ontrend colours; and a turtle, that delivers a surreal effect. As part of a comprehensive concept, these products can be viewed on the Herend stand at Ambiente. Also on show will be Rain forest, the main attraction of the Herend manufactory, a huge porcelain tableau consisting of four parts and designed and painted by master painter Sándor Vida.

www.herend.com

Rudolf Kampf

La Cafetière Hall 1.2 Stand C81 Now a part of Creative Tops, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of tableware and kitchenware products, La Cafetiere is all about cafe culture, delivering a range of luxury cafetieres, espresso and cappucino makers, tea pots, chocolatieres and hot drink accessories. This year at Ambiente, La Cafetiere will present a strikingly modern French press called Monaco. Crafted of clear glass and with an enamel frame and a stainless steel plunger, Monaco features simple, crisp lines that form geometric shapes.

Monaco brews up to 8 cups of rich, fresh coffee and comes in on-trend stylish shades, including Retro Blue, Pistachio, Black, Cream and Red.

Hall 4.1 Stand A80 At Ambiente 2015, Czech porcelain manufacturer Rudolf Kampf will present both its brands, Rudolf Kampf and Leander. In addition to the presentation of new pieces in the contemporary bestselling collections of both brands, there will be the unveiling of new collections.

www.creative-tops.com; www.lacafetiere.com

www.rudolfkampf.cz; www.leander.cz

Royal Doulton Hall 4.1 Stand D05 For Ambiente 2015, Royal Doulton (WWRD) will be showcasing a number of different collections. Celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, Royal Doulton will present its 200th year Collection. Four design partners have worked closely with the Royal Doulton team to create unique products – limited edition pieces from renowned designers, such as Charlene Mullen and Barber Osgerby, to accompany new collaborative tableware collections.

Additionally, special celebratory figurines from street artists Nick Walker and Pure Evil will be exhibited, further continuing Royal Doulton’s dedication to working with great British design talent. In an exciting new partnership with the renowned Hemingway family, Royal Doulton will also exclusively be launching the HemingwayDesign range. Working in line with Royal Doulton’s ethos to create design-led ceramics, the new HemingwayDesign collection offers contemporary accessories for decoration, as well as everyday use. From Royal Doulton’s core range, the brand new Pacific collection will also be presented. This takes influence from the sea and surrounding landscapes, making it perfectly suited to relaxed dining. In addition to this, the popular Gordon Ramsey Maze collection will be on display as a complete tableware collection bringing restaurant-style excellence to home dining.

www.royaldoulton.co.uk 94 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Ambiente 2015 | 13. - 17.2.2015 | Stand 4.2. - J 81

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SHOW SHOWPREVIEW PEVIEW Ambiente

Villeroy & Boch Hall 4.1 Stand A01

Lenox Hall 4.1 Stand C31 Celebrating 15 years of its successful pattern Butterfly Meadow, Lenox will present the new Butterfly Meadow Outdoor Dining collection, which it has launched for spring 2015. Lenox will also showcase its two new shimmery soft colours in the Opal Innocence family – Blue and Dune – and a new colourway on Chirp and on Tin Can Alley (see page 42). In addition, Brian Gluckstein by Lenox will introduce Audrey dinnerware (pictured above). Made in America with Art Deco-inspired lines in contrasting gold-and-black pinstripes and trimmed in 24k gold, Audrey provides dishwasher-safe convenience. Marchesa by Lenox will introduce the elegant new Gilded Pearl Collection (pictured below). Designed by fashion icons Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, the design is inspired by the intricate beaded detail found on one of their favourite couture gowns. Gilded Pearl dinnerware is made in America of fine bone china, banded in 24k gold and with hand-applied white enamel dots, which gives this pattern great dimension and a jewellery-like texture.

www.lenox.com

Villeroy & Boch will present an extensive array of new product, from its line of dishes and cutlery, to glassware and accessories. Under the theme ‘Gift Giving à la Villeroy & Boch’, the brand will have a renewed focus on the emotional world of gifts, catering to all occasions. It will showcase its new yet nostalgic gift collection Rose Cottage (pictured right), which features a rose décor and pastel shades on a modern and smooth shape. The brand will also present its seasonal concepts for Christmas and Easter, as well as its special gift ideas for Valentine’s Days, and its thematic concepts around trends like coffee, tea and cooking, which have been expanded. Also on show will be the new décor concept from NewWave Caffe Animals of the World, which debuts with four motifs of birds. Villeroy & Boch will also showcase its new premium drinking glasses Grand Royal, as well as its dinnerware range Anmut Amazonia, which applies the Amazonia décor to the round classic Anmut form. Finally, the brand will reveal a completely new collection, For Me. In both pure white and in a decorated version, Florena, the décor harks back to historical copper table settings from the 19th and 20th centuries, reinterpreting them in a contemporary context.

www.villeroy-boch.com

Zoku Hall 1.2 Stand C40 Zoku, creators of the award-winning Quick Pop Maker and Slush & Shake Maker, will be presenting a number of innovative new products at Ambiente, including the Zoku Iced Coffee Maker (pictured above) – a genius product that turns piping hot coffee or tea into a chilled beverage.

The coffee maker works perfectly with any brewing method to serve up single portions without watering the drink. It includes a removeable stainless steel mug, an outer insulating sleeve, a spill-resistant lid, and a colourcoordinated straw. The spill-resistant 11-ounce mug fits perfectly into car cup holders. Customise the coffee maker on the inside and out with a choice of four Zoku colours: red, purple, teal and slate blue.

www.zokuhome.com 96 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Studio William Hall 4.0 Stand A73 British flatware brand Studio William will launch new products at Ambiente 2015, including the new Studio William pattern, Balsa. Made from the finest 18/10 stainless steel, this pattern has a minimal, articulate aesthetic appearance, where the character of the pattern is defined by the hidden cut-away on the underside of each piece, providing the user with the ability to adapt the table aesthetic by turning each piece over. Each of the spoon bowls is different in width and volume to complement and enhance its function and application. Studio William will also introduce the HAL-approved Airline cutlery in two ranges, Baobab and Larch (pictured below). Both in a mirror finish, each pattern is designed to include the strident requirements of Airline/Airport Security. Ambiente 2015 will also be the first showcase of the brand’s Good Design 2014 award-winning Sensory Textured Spoons.

www.studiowilliam.com

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Ambiente 2015 | 13. - 17.2.2015 | Stand 4.2. - J 81

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Lsa International Hall 4.0 Stand E51 LSA International will be showcasing its exciting spring/summer 2015 collection at Ambiente. The new collection spans wood, porcelain and glass and presents innovative stackable designs – think serveware elevated on wooden stilts, colourful drinkware and additions to bestselling ranges in a collection that showcases craftsmanship of the highest standards.

www.lsa-international.com

Tradestock Hall 1.2 Stand D77 The award-winning revolutionary concept FreeForm has enjoyed increasing success. Now, the worldwide launch of FreeForm Professional will take place at Ambiente, with FreeForm Professional Trays (pictured), FreeForm Professional Hot Plate and FreeForm Professional Prep & Serve, all of which are created in a combination of high-quality bamboo and silicone. All feature soft-grip handles and a ‘flat to formed to flat again’ design allowing for easy storage, They are easy to clean, reversible, non-slip and multi-functional.

www.tradestockltd.co.uk

Wedgwood Hall 4.1 Stand D05 This year at Ambiente, Wedgwood will reveal a new dining collection by long-term collaborator, Jasper Conran; some mixed material additions to its bestselling pattern Wild Strawberry; and the new Arris collection, which will herald a chic new direction for the brand. In recognition of a longstanding creative partnership between Jasper Conran and Wedgwood, Tisbury is a comprehensive range of premium everyday dinnerware fashioned from resilient materials like porcelain, wood and glass, with a subtle embossment running throughout. To mark the 50th anniversary of the muchtreasured pattern Wild Strawberry and the onset of the summer calendar, new additions in ceramic, glass and metal, perfect for stylish outdoor dining, will be available from May 2015. Hero pieces include the limited edition Punch Bowl (pictured), whose stunning lidded centrepiece features over 1,600 individually cut strawberry ‘pips’, as well as the Alfresco Epergne, a skilful reinvention of the 18th-century centrepiece, fusing function and beauty for the contemporary luxury aesthete. Also in 2015, Wedgwood will unveil an exciting new design direction with Arris, a sumptuous collection of dinnerware, teaware, unique gifts and statement pieces. The new range comes in a mature palette of sensuous browns and blacks accompanied by opulent yet contemporary golds and coppers. Octagonal plates, elegant espresso cups, modern glassware and curved bowls with lustre copper bases all feature in Arris, as well as statement pieces such as the unique and desirable Treasure Box.

ww.wedgwood.co.uk

Crystalex Hall 4.2 Stand J81-J91 At Ambiente 2015, Czech glass manufacturer Crystalex will unveil its completely new product range – a brand new series and a rainbow of decorations. There will be three new series in the brand’s stemware suites, including Grace, Rebecca and Kate, the latter a modern and comprehensive line in eight different sizes, catering to wine, beer, liqueur and champagne. Also new will be Gondola, a range of vases and bowls with crimped rims and in a variety of colours; as well as a new line of decanting carafes with a diagonal rim. On the decoration front, dozens of decors have been prepared for 2015: neON is all about the varying combination of four neon colours; while Ellipse is about colour-filled ellipses on stemware and tumblers using diamond engraving technology. See page 86 for more information.

www.crystalex.cz 98 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

design Manola Del Testa

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Poole Pottery Hall 4.1 Stand B21

Denby Hall 4.1 Stand B21 With the launch of its new look and feel and new brand positioning, ‘Made of Strong Stuff ’, highlighting the strength and quality of Denby stoneware, Denby has lots to shout about at Ambiente 2015. This new brand positioning is perfectly represented in its new collection Peveril, a vibrant, eye-catching and rock solid premium tableware range inspired by the English countryside. In addition, Denby will be showcasing two new ranges for the Monsoon Home Dinnerware Collection by Denby for 2015: Filigree is a delicate pattern with soft modern curves adorned in silver scrolls and inspired by traditional ornaments on fine cream china; while Kyoto (pictured above) is an oriental-inspired floral in soft watercolours of aqua and blue with a bolder tangerine and pink on fine cream china. Both ranges include pieces for eating, drinking and serving. Known for its feminine and exclusive eclectic designs, Monsoon’s Dinnerware Collection blends together the exotic allure of Eastern colour and prints with a western bohemian style and influence. Combined with Denby’s expertise and manufacturing ceramics for more than 200 years, these collections are stylish, practical and durable – all can be used in the oven, dishwasher, microwave and freezer.

Renowned for its lustre bespoke glazes and vibrant statement giftware, Poole Pottery (Denby Brands) will launch a new giftware range for spring 2015. Part of the iconic Poole Pottery Living Collection, Maya (meaning Earth) takes its inspiration from the rolling forms of the British landscape, featuring a colour palette of soft greens and deep blues, and beautifully offset with lines of gold and turquoise, reminiscent of the stunning natural patterns found in the agate stone. Poole Pottery products are still designed and handcrafted in the UK, each piece created by the brand’s team of skilled artisans. Maya is available in eight statement vases, an oval dish and a decorative round bowl, all presented in stylish packaging, making it perfect for gifting.

www.poolepottery.co.uk

www.denby.co.uk

Luigi Bormioli

Kinto

Hall 4.2 Stand E23

Hall 4.0 Stand F30

Italian glass specialists Luigi Bormioli has added a Vinegar bottle (0.25-litre) with a tapered silicone/stainless steel pourer to its successful line of Specific Serving Bottles, Optima. The new bottle, together with the Premium Olive Oil bottle (0.25-litre), make the perfect Cruet Set. Also being presented is new drinkware collection, Grangusto (pictured).

Created for all fine wines and for the sales/service of wine by the glass, Grangusto is the latest creation by Accademia Luigi Bormioli. The Grangusto all-purpose stemglass and stemless are the result of extensive scientific studies and the long-standing professional experience that Accademia Luigi Bormioli has developed in wine-tasting instruments for the wine-tasting sector. The bowl’s characteristic shape and dimensions maximise the sensorial perception, far exceeding the performance of the standard ISO stemglass.

The Grangusto all-purpose stemglass has contemporary and technical features; its shape makes it a design element on the table, while simultaneously serving as an unique winetasting instrument. Both the stemglass and the stemless have three discreet decorative pour-lines, 10 cl, 12.5 cl and 15 cl, for serving wine by the glass.

Japanese tabletop brand Kinto will showcase the brand’s new coffee series Slow Coffee Style. Celebrating the ‘slow movement’ and presenting a more organic and relaxed way of living, this collection, which has a vintage feel and muted natural colours, offers products designed to deliver the pour-over Japanese way of preparing coffee. The coffee is brewed in a stainless steel filter, then dripped into a gently formed coffee carafe.

The collection offers two different sized coffee carafes (300ml and 600ml), which can be used with a stainless steel filter or disposable cotton paper filter. Other pieces include a stainless steel kettle, porcelain brewer, plus porcelain mugs and coffee servers. Kinto will also launch a number of other new products. Check out the special website for the coffee series.

www.luigibormioli.com

66 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

www.slowcoffee-style.com/en

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Portmeirion Group Hall 4.1 Stand B16 Visitors to Ambiente are in for a treat this February as Portmeirion Group gets ready to unveil a host of new ranges from across its award-winning portfolio of brands – Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel. www.portmeiriongroup.com

Portmeirion Royal Worcester Royal Worcester has a host of new introductions for 2015 reinforcing its position as an innovative and high-quality gift and homewares brand. The award-winning Wrendale Designs collection has been extended to include a plethora of fine bone china pieces. Firstly, four cute and cuddly creatures illustrated in Hannah Dale’s effervescent style make an appearance on the fine bone china mug collection, with the highly anticipated dog, cat, pig and bunny designs set to be bestsellers. Secondly, a comprehensive giftware collection featuring a variety of the furry and feathered characters has been launched. From tea-for-ones, tea sets and cutlery, to other table and home accessories, each features an adorable animal design. Royal Worcester will also showcase Up, Up & Away – an ultra-modern tableware and gift collection inspired by the winning design of its Fired Up Design Competition created by Staffordshire University student, Jemma Moore. This fun, bold and playful range includes key tableware and gifting lines featuring dreamy hot air balloons set against an industrial landscape with bursts of pinks, oranges and blues.

Spode Iconic British tableware brand, Spode, delivers a fresh interpretation of classic Spode archive designs with its new Winter’s Scene collection. Retaining the charm and appeal expected from this great British brand, historical Spode artwork prints have been gracefully modernised to create this sophisticated design. Featuring a vibrant and contemporary red border of holly leaf and acorn illustrations, specially selected pieces are completed with a sophisticated Winter’s Scene motif to create an elegant festive table. Building on the popularity of Spode’s bestselling Delamere Rural range, a beverage pot has been introduced. With its unique and striking shape, this pot, designed to serve tea or coffee, will form a stunning centrepiece for any table setting. With these new introductions and charming existing collections, Spode continues to be the perfect choice for those looking for a modern, classic tableware design from a brand rich in heritage.

Pimpernel Tabletop accessories brand, Pimpernel, known for its quality placemats, coasters, trays and tabletop accessories, will unveil its exclusive new designs this spring. These include the adorable Puppy Club and Kitty Club coasters, which are sure to melt the hearts of any animal lover. The new Coastal Signs range (pictured right) is reminiscent of Britain’s rugged shores and draws on nostalgic seaside adventures. The range includes a collection of placements, coasters and trays all featuring signs associated with the coast and which evoke those happy seaside memories.

Feathery farmyard creatures come to life in the new Wrendale Designs collection. Featuring a variety of round placemats and coasters plus a charming glass worktop saver and mug and tray set, this range is awash with beautiful animal illustrations that truly capture the essence of spring.

102 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Portmeirion will be launching a number of exquisite new tableware ranges, including the highly-anticipated Ted Baker Portmeirion collections. Simply entitled Ted Baker Portmeirion, the two distinctly-styled ranges include a 41-piece vintage floral bone china tableware collection and a 22-piece porcelain mug and giftware range, inspired by Ted Baker’s forthcoming spring/summer 2015 designs. New giftware lines from the leading homewares brand will also include another stunning collection from the award-winning Sophie Conran for Portmeirion partnership. Sophie Blue is a striking pattern featuring a timeless design based on traditional English sponge ware techniques in a stunning deep blue. A new colourway and line extensions also build on the core Sophie Conran for Portmeirion range; Pebble adds a beautiful accent colour to the table whilst key pieces in white and glass also join this comprehensive dining and homewares collection. Finally, a fresh splash of floral magic is sprinkled on to Portmeirion’s new Water Garden collection, which welcomes a teapot, covered sugar bowl and creamer to the range.

ROSENTHAL Hall 4.1 Stand C51B The German brand will reveal a number of extensions and new collections at the show, including a brand new complete collection of dinnerware and coffeeware.

Designed by Swiss textile designer Regula Studli, Les Fruits du Jardin (pictured below) combines shiny red berries, white blossoms and the black fruits of the laurel shrub with vibrant lemon-yellow tones, delivering an airy new design that is reminiscent of sunny days in the South on the Brilliance collection. Always on the cutting-edge of porcelain production, Rosenthal will also reveal its collection of wall and table clocks, the Mitis Collection, made from colourful porcelain paste. Designed

by Sebastian Herkner, a shooting star of the German design scene, pieces combine functional and precise measurement of time with a trendy lifestyle concept.

www.rosenthal.de

Royal Porcelain Hall 4.2 Stand E84 Founded in 1983, Royal Porcelain is one of Asia’s leading manufacturers of high-quality ceramic tableware, exporting to more than 60 countries worldwide. Its two production facilities, located in the Kangkoi district of Saraburi province, produce up to 30 million units annually and use the most advanced technologies, machinery and expertise from countries including Germany, England and Japan. At Ambiente 2015, Royal Porcelain will introduce a collection that puts the brand’s unique design Diana on a new shape, Baroness. Pretty in form and in print, with scalloped edges, this new collection is produced from high-quality fine china.

www.royalporcelain.co.th

MADE IN

ITALY

Extra strong porcelain

www.tognanaporcellane.it

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Ashdene

Twig New York

Hall 4.2 Stand A43

Hall 4.1 Stand G03 The recently launched trendy boutique brand of Hankook, Twig NY, will deliver the entire collection, including full dinner service and tea service, of the Blue Bird pattern that is part of its Heritage Collection. Designed by American designer Molly Hatch, the collection is inspired by the look of historic 18th-century European teacups. Molly wanted the Heritage Collection to reflect tradition, but also function for a contemporary lifestyle. She sees the blank pot as a blank piece of paper, the three-dimensional surface tableware providing an exciting and engaging canvas for drawing and painting. Molly chose to decorate the backs of plates and bases of cups to explore as many surfaces as possible, so the décor on the base peeks out on the last sip of tea and the illustrations on the back of plates are seen while in a dish rack. The collection comes in the classic and timeless colours of blue and white, while the unique touches and modern twist offer a contemporary collection.

www.twigny.com

This Australian homewares company will be revealing four new collections at Ambiente – two stoneware, one fine bone china ceramic collection and a gifting product range. The Rose Collection designed by Australian botanical artist Jenny Phillips features illustrated fine bone china mugs, tea towels and melamine trays. The Plume & Perch Blue Wren Collection is a High Tea and Textile range, featuring a delicate blend of watercolour feathers, leaves, twigs, insects and flowers, with pieces including coupe mugs, tea cups & saucers, a teapot, two-tier cake stand, sugar bowl and creamer, tea for one and napkins, all in coordinating packaging. The Nectar Stoneware and Kitchen Textile Collection features handpainted designs in watercolour and ink – think humming birds, bees, dragonflies and marigolds in orange, burnt red and golden yellows – on stoneware pieces, such as a water pitcher, oil decanter, platter and salad bowls. Finally, inspired by the artist Daniella Germain’s love of nature, the Into the Woods Collection features cheeky animals, wild mushrooms and fragrant blossoms hand-drawn in pencil with watercolour highlights. Pieces include a platter, water pitcher, salad bowls and dipping bowls set.

www.ashdene.com.au

Loveramics Hall 4.0 Stand A67

Finum Hall 1.2 Stand A07

Dansk Hall 4.1 Stand C30-31 This Danish brand, part of the Lenox Corporation, will present a new collection, The Burbs, a versatile dinnerware range designed for both indoors and outdoors. With a nod to mid-century design, The Burbs offers carved stoneware and decal porcelain 16-piece dinnerware sets in core colours layered with whimsical mix-n-match patterned melamine, colour-rimmed glassware and flatware sets. All items in the collection are unified by their understated colour palette and geometric accents.

www.dansk.com

104 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Renowned for creating clever ‘taste’ products that fuse high function and high design, German brand Finum will unveil two new tabletop taste products. Following on from the success of its award-winning spice grinder Look Touch Taste, Finum will reveal the Mini version, a set of salt and pepper grinders on a tray. With the same design as Look Touch Taste, pieces come with a ceramic mechanism and in black and white.

Finum will also reveal a brand new manual coffee grinder, delivering a “new generation in coffee grinding” with the Bean Me Up (pictured).

Promising to deliver incredible aromas and flavours and grinding three-to-five times faster than others, Bean Me Up features a manual ceramic grinder mechanism with adjustable coarseness. Easy-to-clean and dishwasher-safe, the materials used are also natural, meaning no metallic taste in the coffee, and it comes in a variety of colours.

www.finum.com

Hong Kong-based brand Loveramics makes contemporary yet timeless tabletop items that are functional and fun. Inspired by the modern lifestyle of practicality and multi-functionality, and fusing East and West, the Er-go! collection is a high-fired porcelain range that’s durable, chip-resistant, multi-functional and space-saving and comes in various sizes and shapes for all cuisines. Also on display will be the Petal Collection (pictured below), a bone china range inspired by a walk through a sunfilled valley – think delicate flower heads scattered across the pieces in ascending shades of pinks, lilac blues, turquoise and green. The set of four Petal salad plates showcase pools of soft colour fading and dispersing towards the edge, echoing the gentle reflections in the water.

www.loveramics.com

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Moser

Chilewich

Hall 4.1 Stand G30

Hall 11 Stand C90

This Ambiente 2015, luxury Czech crystal brand Moser Glassworks will present its new collection, Design Moser 2015. This collection will feature unique modern glass artefacts and art exhibits from the Moser Glassworks’ heritage, as well as the winning designs from the Ludwig Moser Award. “We are poets of our art. The works illustrate Moser’s personal stories of extraordinary colours and its many years of experience with exquisite craftsmanship. With these works of art, Moser transforms hot glass into crystal fantasies, bringing joy and poetry to life,” says art director of Moser glassworks, Lukas Jaburek.

Renowned for its innovative textiles, including placemats and napkins, New York-based Chilewich will be presenting two new products at Ambiente as part of its spring/summer 2015 collection. Its new Imprint Placemats (pictured) are luxurious textiles silk-screened by hand with metallic gold and silver inks, the base material woven exclusively for Chilewich in an open mesh so that a soft fringe can be created on all sides of a square placemat. While Imprint looks delicate, it is just as durable and easy-to-clean as other Chilewich products and comes in Antique Silver and Rustic Gold. Its new Glassweave Placemats boast a richly woven texture using proprietary extruded yards. Silver and gold yarns are each encased in a clear covering, allowing the metallic colours to reflect like glass, so they glisten as if under direct sunlight, creating a shimmering surface.

Phthalate-free, they are suitable indoors and outdoors and come as placemats and runners in gold and in silver.

www.moser-glass.com

www.chilewich.com

Bomma Crystal Hall 4.0 Stand B88; Hall 4.2 Stand J67 For centuries, the Czech basin has produced the highest quality crystal thanks to the ingenuity, experience and skill of master glassmakers, whose art has been handed down from generation to generation. Crystal manufacturer and designer Bomma boasts high-quality products cut from genuine Bohemian crystal – perfectly cut to achieve high refraction of light similar to diamond shine. The brand works with leading Czech and international designers to create the latest designs and technology. Bomma’s works are displayed in prominent Czech and international galleries, such as Modernista, Futurista, Gallery Mint, La Rinascente Milan and FBC London. This year, new and young designers will join the Bomma team. At Ambiente 2015, Bomma will introduce the Blanc Collection (pictured), created by Prague-based student Monika Kořínková.

Monika combines cut porcelain with crystal, creating a perfect collection for luxe candy shops that can be used for cupcakes or macaroons. Also new is a series of lamps called Ignis (fire in Latin) from student Eduard Herrmann. His collection represents a simple idea; the archetype of a table lighting object transformed into cut crystal.

www.bomma.cz 106 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Royal Crown Derby Hall 4.2 Stand G81 Known for producing exceptional fine bone china tableware and luxury gifts, Royal Crown Derby embarked on a new chapter last year to produce tableware that is fresh, modern and relevant to the lifestyles of today, manufactured to the highest quality and 100 per cent Made in England. Royal Crown Derby now boasts three categories, including The Luxury Collection, The Classic Collection and The Contemporary Collection. Ambiente 2015 will see Royal Crown Derby showcasing the Bristol Belle range. Defined by an eclectic mix of coordinating patterns and colourways, the range features an extravagant gold or platinum pattern set against a deep and vivid on-trend range of colours. The brand will also present Amber and Pearl Palace, an elegant new collection highlighting the mastery of complex techniques to produce intricate patterns defined by luxurious texture and captivating detail.

www.royalcrownderby.co.uk

Spring/Summer 2015 Ambiente, Frankfurt - Hall 4.0, E51 lsa-international.com

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Auratic Hall 4.1 Stand A81 For the past 220 years, Chinese factory Yong Feng Yuan has been promoting traditional Chinese ceramic ware using the most advanced equipment and modern technologies. The company’s latest factory, launched last year, is in Inner Mongolia Province, a production hub covering one million sq m and boasting 54 kilns, with production capacity expected to supply 240 million pieces of high-quality ceramic consumer products all year round. Its ultimate goal is to be the most competitive global ceramic supplier. Recently, Yong Feng Yuan gave birth to a new brand Auratic, which delivers elegant, refined and delicate fine china, and many of Auratic’s designs will be on display at Ambiente 2015.

Noritake

www.auratic.com

Hall 4.1 Stand D51

Maleras glassworks

At Ambiente this year, high-end Japanese tableware brand Noritake will reveal its latest luxurious collection, which is ideal for both formal dining and afternoon tea. Princess Bouquet (pictured above) features a very delicate whiteon-white application of ethereal flowers and lace.

Paired with a white porcelain body and featuring a distinctive scalloped edge, the collection is elegant and understated, set off with a thin metallic band, which is available in either gold or platinum. Princess Bouquet is a vintage-inspired yet contemporary collection.

www.noritake.com

Hall 4.0 Stand A22 Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year is high-end Swedish crystal brand, Maleras.

For 125 years, the brand has been producing handmade crystal and today employs some 50 skilled craftsmen in the creation of handmade crystal sculptures and tableware.

Maleras will unveil its new colourful spring 2015 collection. Inspired by the vast forests in the Kingdom of Crystal, designer Ludvig Lofgren delivers the new series Into the Woods – think pinecone and spruce cone vases and a sweet stump votive in soft shades.

Also inspired by the woods is Mats Jonasson’s art creation Woodland Lake (pictured) – two handpainted curious frogs meet in a calm pond – which is a part of Maleras’ 125th Anniversary Celebration Collection.

In addition, some of Mats’ most popular Wildlife sculptures, such as bears, tigers and fawns, have been revitalised with handpainted colouring; while his new art piece Morgana delivers the Mats’ signature design of detailing faces in crystal, incorporating bright shades with gold. Finally, Ludvig has also created new extensions to the Peacock family, including a sculpture and votive, both handpainted in transparent bright colours.

www.maleras.se

Zieher Hall 4.2 Stand B23 German hospitality tableware and buffet brand Zieher will showcase its stunning selection of HoReCa-specific products. New for Ambiente 2015 will include a variety of buffet system extensions. Zieher’s flexible skyscraper-inspired buffet system Skyline will be presented in a new polished matte black-and-white version; while the brand’s Stablo system boasts the addition of an integrated ring. This ring allows the presentation of plates and platters, as well as the insertion of a wine cooler made of borosilicate glass. An integration of the optionally available Zieher rechargeable LED lights create breathtaking visual effects. Also new in presentation is Solid (pictured left), a range of bread/fruit baskets made of solid maple and walnut with open recesses at each end.

www.zieher.com 108 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

„Skyline“ The Original!

GERMANY

„Solid“

„Solid“

AMBIENTE FFM, GER

www.facebook.com/ZieherGermany

Visit us at: 13. - 17.02.2015

Hall 4.2 booth B23

www.zieher.com

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Elia International Hall 4.1 Stand A74 At Ambiente 2015, Elia will showcase a new range of cutlery, the 18/10 stainless steel contemporary Effra collection. Nominated in the UK in the Catering Excellence Awards, the Effra range (pictured) makes a stunning visual impact due to its distinctive and eye-catching design. With sleek curves, ergonomic design and heavy gauge, this pattern makes an exciting statement, as well as fitting comfortably in the hand. This range is crafted from 18/10 stainless steel, with a high-shine mirror finish. Elia will also highlight its successful range of Glacier premier bone chinaware, available in a 12-piece gift box. Lightweight yet strong, owing to its bone ash content, the range includes 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates and 4 oatmeal bowls. In addition, Elia will present its extensive collection of cutlery, chinaware, bar and beverage items.

Rona Glassworks

www.elia.co.uk

Hall 4.2 Stand G01-G02

Bauscher

Rona will reveal a number of new novelties to its existing wide machine and handmade portfolio, with the all-new machine-made stemware ranges launched in upgraded gift-boxed packaging. One new deluxe introduction is Flamengo, a modern well-balanced stemware with an impressively long stem and elegant drawn point bowl in five sizes.

Also in five sizes is Vista stemware, an addition to Rona’s non-lead crystal machine-made portfolio.

Grace (pictured) is a range of oversized wine glasses in four sizes and sets of two, making them highly giftable; while Nectar is a machine-made tumbler series in three sizes and with brilliant fine thin-walled glass. Rona will also launch a new range of machine-produced contemporary carafes – Maipo and Salta – with tall bodies and long necks; and a varietal-specific programme of whisky and spirits glasses, including ones for Japanese chilled sake and Russian vodka.

Hall 4.2 Stand E42 German company Bauscher – a brand of BHS tabletop AG – will highlight its new Purity collection.

Thanks to the newly developed and revolutionary material Noble China and the collection’s timeless shape, Purity sets new standards in dining, especially in terms of durability. The newly developed hard porcelain delivers a remarkably delicate body, a subtle exclusive bone white colour and an extraordinary surface hardness and impact-resistant edges, offering a collection ideally suited for use in top restaurants and hotels. The design is understated – think clean basic geometric shapes with flowing gentle lines – along with generous dimensions and finely balanced proportions.

www.rona.sk

Duralex Hall 4.2 Stand H22

www.bauscher.com

Gibson Overseas

Renowned for the pioneering of tempered glass technology, French brand Duralex produces Hall 6.2tableware Standand A-10 ovenware in tempered glass, which means its glass is virtually unbreakable and has high resistance to impacts This USmeans company will give and thermal shock. This gives all its glassware products high quality and durability and its products visitors to Ambiente 2015 can move smoothly from freezer to microwave. At the show, Duralex will showcase its recently-launched sneak which peek ofincludes its brandnew category of Ovenchef. Made from reinforced tempered glass, the ovenwarearange, new lovely whiteware an assortment of oval and rectangular dishes, is resistant to a thermal shock of 200°C and can withstand collection, Brinsley. temperatures between -20°C and 300°C. It will also showcase its recently-launched stackable cocktail ering dishes with lids and its two new hot beverage offerings – the 35cl Cosy mug andOff the 9cl a espresso Caprice – as well as its standard range of tumblers, plates, dishes, bowlsmodern and other table accessories, available in six different colours.

www.duralex.com 110 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

edge with new elegant silhouettes, the 16-piece porcelain Brinsley collection provides a perfect canvas to any tablescape. The combination of a transparent glaze and clay make for a beautiful collection

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Porcel

Hall 4.1 Stand H03 Porcel will unveil its four new spring 2015 collections at Ambiente. Leaf combines colour and texture with different shapes and geometrics for a mix-and-match range of dining, tea and coffeeware. The colourful pop of mustard yellow, together with the classic shapes of fine porcelain, create a contemporary look. Inspired by rain drops, Silver Rain (pictured) features platinum drops and specks of blue on fine porcelain dinnerware, teaware and coffee ware. A few selected pieces feature a blue coloured glaze with the silver drops elegantly placed. Nature is the inspiration for Sweet Garden collection, which features the ‘gold flower’ Chrysanthemum in pink and in grey tiny dots, providing a gentle texture. Finally, the Atlantico collection is a celebration of the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal’s history and culture. In a deep and intense blue, pieces boast aqua lines and twinkling drops of high-fire cobalt blue – traditional of Portuguese tiles. Gold details, reminisicent of Portugal’s rich empire, add luxury and elegance.

www.porcel.com

Prouna Hall 4.1 Stand G03 Known for its exquisite craftsmanship and luxurious tableware, Prouna will unveil its new Art Nouveau collection (pictured above). Inspired by forms of nature, the rounded and curvy pattern expresses flow and harmony. The bone china body is elegantly covered with pearl colours of either cream, brown or copper, as well as thousands of Swarovski Elements, which create fascinating light. The iridescent pearl colour of the body appears to change its colour in all of the different angles of view; while the hand-decorated Swarovski Elements not only prove the craftsmanship of Prouna, but create profound beauty.

www.prouna.com

Hampton Forge Hall 3.0 Stand G74

Oxford Porcelanas Hall 6.3 Stand C50 This Ambiente, Brazilian manufacturer of ceramic and porcelain tableware Oxford Porcelanas will showcase a new variety of shapes, colours and patterns, as well as innovative products by world-renowned designer Karim Rashid. The portfolio of products is marketed under four brands, Oxford Porcelanas, Oxford Daily, Oxford Crystals and Biona.

Oxford was established in Brazil in 1954 and is currently available in 60 countries. As the largest porcelain and ceramics manufacturer of the Americas, the brand delivers unique design and high-quality products to the world by using sustainable practices and technologies in its own production facilities.

www.oxfordporcelanas.com.br 112 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Fashion-forward flatware company Hampton Forge will present a number of new collections under its signature Hampton Forge brand. A contemporary twist on antique style, Tuscany Antique features sleek shapes with a unique motif merged with richly textured antique-finish handles and is coated in 18/10 stainless steel. Pairing a mirror finish with 18/10 stainless steel, Hylton Snake (pictured) takes ‘classic’ in a curvy new direction with triple-riveted enamel handles in a palette of sophisticated hues. Inspired by jewellery, Belvoir Gold is an arty design in 18/10 with a gold finish and richly polished to a mirrored gleam. Finally, finished in an on-trend copper finish, Paris Hammered Copper is a titanium-plated range with an exquisitely hammered texture with mirror polish finish that reflects the light, creating a dramatic statement on the table.

www.hamptonforge.com

CESIRO exhibiting during Messe Frankfurt Ambiente show 13.-17.2.2015 welcoming you in hall 6.3, booth A30 6LJKLŋRDUD _ 520 1,$ _ GDQBGDYLG#FHVLUR FRP _ UDGXBSXSD]D#FHVLUR FRP _ RIILFH#FHVLUR FRP &HVLUR 6$ 6LJKLVRDUD &(6,52 ZZZ FHVLUR UR _ ZZZ FHVLUR FRP

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Cesiro Hall 6.3 Stand A30

Vista Alegre Hall 6.2 Stand A02B Hall 4.1 Stand F05A Among many other collections, including its new Portrait Barware collection, Vista Alegre will showcase its new porcelain gift range with Christian Lacroix. Inspired by the 1920s artistic method of cadaver exquis, in which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled, in order to create an inspired and creative result, Love Who You Want! by Vista Alegre Christian Lacroix features signature images from Lacroix’s haute couture and modern collections. The collection includes 16 coasters, sets of four (pictured), which can be arranged in countless ways to allow consumers to design their own unique characters.

Unexpected and interactive, it provides a great experience for consumers. The collection also includes boxes and vases featuring various incarnations of the characters on them.

www.myvistaalegre.com

At this year’s Ambiente, Romanian brand Cesiro will present a special collection, Return to Tradition, that incorporates three main ingredients: techniques of handpainting, so every object is a unique work of art; the communication of the Romanian traditional spirit using the signature shades of red and black; and function, designed for the most important meal of the day – breakfast. Inspired by the Japanese market, having done extensive research on the country, the Return to Tradition collection not only tells a story, creating a connection between designer, producer and user, but also boasts a contrast of colours and communicates simplicity and originality in its design. For Cesiro, the US and Japanese markets are the target.

www.cesiro.ro

Bordallo Pinheiro Hall 4.1 Stand F05B Bordallo Pinheiro’s newest collection, which will be on show at Ambiente 2015, is inspired by tropical flora, including Lilies, Birds of Paradise and Alpinia. These exotic flowers are portrayed in vibrant reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows, and are contrasted against a dark background of silhouetted vegetation. The collection is beautifully handpainted and offset with transparent glazes, bringing the flowers to life and marrying a classical naturalism with a contemporary sensibility. Each piece is fully embossed, both inside and out, and incorporates current elements of global fashion trends, while maintaining a timelessness that gives the collection significant staying power. Also on show will be the brand’s new Swallow Figurines. Long associated with traditional home and family values, the gift of a Swallow exemplifies the love, dedication and happiness that exist between two people.

www.bordallopinheiro.pt

Vidivi Hall 4.1 Stand D-81 Italian glassware company Vidivi will present its new glassware for both shots and coffee at this year’s show. The new Vidivi shot glasses (pictured) come in three of the signature styles of the brand – Honey, Concerto and Rialto – providing the perfect vessel for a liqueur, as well as for presenting mousses and finger foods. Meanwhile, the new Rialto Espresso Glass has been designed for sipping coffee without burning yourself, thanks to the clever structure of the bottom of the glass.

www.vidivi.it 114 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

S H A PE OF YOU R BUSI N ESS + 420 224 494 442

w w w.rudolf kampf.eu See You at Ambiente

4.1 A80

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Elinno Hall 4.1 Stand H11 Known for its unique concept of combining traditional arts elements with modern Scandinavian design, Finnish brand Elinno’s latest idea was born from a collaboration with Finnish Michelinstarred restaurant and the Aalto University School of Design in Finland, in which 20 MA design students were commissioned to create a dinner set for the chef. The brief? To be contemporary yet communicate traditional Scandinavian cuisine. The result? A collection called Roots from designers Kristos Mavrostomos and Anna van de Lei inspired by local earthy products, delivering a collection based on the playful shapes of cut potatoes – think different organic curves. Elinno will also showcase its design concept collection Secret Garden, with its evolving story across pieces.

www.elinno.com

Rayware Group Hall 1.1 Stand A71 The Rayware Group is ready to take Ambiente by storm with an exciting array of new products from its portfolio of vibrant British brands. From jar specialist Kilner, there will be a new range of vintage-inspired canning jars in 9, 17 and 34 fluid ounce capacities sporting a unique ribbed design (pictured), as well as a heritage strapline – The Original and the Best, originally used during the 1950s. As the brand continues to extend into the drinking category, Kilner will also launch its 10.5 and 20 fluid ounce milk bottles and an 8.5 quart drinks dispenser. The cream of the crop, however, will be the Kilner Butter Churner, designed to inspired people to create homemade butter with their own twist. Also being showcased on the stand will be two comprehensive baking ranges from Mason Cash – Baker Street in creams and greys and the colourful and quirky Bake My Day range.

www.rayware.co.uk

The Just Slate Company Hall 4.0 Stand D91 Scottish brand The Just Slate Company will unveil its two new collections, The Studio Collection and Stoneware Classics. The Studio Collection (pictured) combines cool muted shades, interesting textures and mixed materials, on serving pieces. With seven distinctive new designs, pieces include a chip and dip set, mixed Artisan serving set, deli platter set, bowl & paddle set, salad server set, two serving bowls and spoons and a rosewood accessory set. The chip and dip set features a beautiful fresh white enamel server complete with a whitewashed mango wood dipping bowl.

www.justslate.co.uk

Nude Hall 4.0 Stand F43 Fusing function with high design, global design lifestyle brand Nude delivers contemporary useful products across four categories – the living room, bedroom, kitchen and dining, and three main collections: Classics, Loft and Signature. “Our Nude products have become works of art in glass, combining the drawings of famous designers with the talent of craftsmen in Turkey,” explains Şişecam’s Home Glassware Group President Cemil Tokel. Its largest collection Loft, includes pitchers, wine carafes, stemware and glassware in its dining category.

The brand’s Signature Collections are collaborations with experimental design-led artists, delivering products that push the boundaries of what is possible. These include a collection with iconic architect and industrial designer, Ron Arad, delivering the DecanteRing, Red or White? And Wine Party, all handcrafted in lead-free crystal glass. The DecanteRing (pictured) is a limited edition piece – only 365 decanters manufactured each year. It also has two glassware lines debuting under its Signature Collection with crystal brand Swarovski – Stone Spirit incorporates small crystals into six glassware pieces.

www.nudeglass.com 116 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

SHOW PREVIEW Ambiente

Libbey

Spal

Hall 4.2 Stand F57

Dunoon

In its new collections, on display at Ambiente, Libbey will present its new brand approach based on trends and customer insights and will showcase several new products from the company’s major brands, including Royal Leerdam Finesse, Crisa and Libbey.

With the cocktail culture having arrived, Libbey will offer vessel choices for the wide range of traditional, classic, upscale and experimental drinkers.

Home entertainers can now elevate their parties with impressive presentations that will capture and delight their guests.

The Libbey booth will feature artisanal cocktails with a modern twist. On the wine front, Libbey will present the new Royal Leerdam Finesse collection, The Experts Collection (pictured). Developed by a team of top Dutch designers, the shape is regal with its power and simplicity and each glass is unique in its own way. The refined workmanship of the rim, achieved through innovative laser technology, targets drinkers’ key palate taste receptors to provide the ideal flavour experience.

Hall 4.2 Stand E22 Traditional British mug manufacturer Dunoon will showcase its high-quality 100 per cent fine bone china mugs that come in an array of shapes, sizes and designs. The showcase will include three new designs from popular artist Cherry Denman and a new shape featuring watercolour designs. New from designer Cherry Denman, whose work continues to be a top seller at Dunoon, on the brand’s oversized Henley shape (600ml) is Happy Hares, Paddlers (sea birds) and Grizzlies. These designs build on her bestselling cat and dog designs Pussy Galore and Dogs Frolics.

All are Made in England in Staffordshire from the best Fine Bone China. Also new from Dunoon is the Iona-shaped Fine Bone China mug – a generous 400ml – featuring ‘Fleurie’ (pictured), a set of three watercolour summer flowers designed by artist Harrison Ripley, who is known for his floral and seascape designs.

www.dunoonmugs.co.uk

Hall 4.1 Stand A15 Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Spal will show through its designs an eclectic and contemporary vision. Through its many in-house competencies, including its industrial facilities, a fully dedicated decal production unit, and the Spal Studio (its internal design department) the brand is able to develop and deliver creative solutions that 100 per cent lined up with the objectives of its business partners.

At this year’s edition of Ambiente, Spal will present its versatility and wide range of creations, which appeal to very different market segments. Attentive to major trends and spot-on with innovation, Spal will showcase designs that range from the craftsmanship look, to collections with an elegant and contemporary feel. Nature and Spal’s global heritage are also inspirations for new patterns designed to challenge the senses in a new and innovative way. Discover textures, reactive decal, reactive glazes and colourful creations.

www.spal.pt

www.libbey.com

DON’T MISS… LEHMANN GLASS EVENTS Hall 4.2 Stand J23 During Ambiente, join French brand Lehmann Glass on its stand for two tasting events. During these events, the brand will showcase its mouthblown and machine-blown concepts, which have been designed to transform the wine-tasting experience. The first Symphony of Senses event on Saturday February 14 will be delivered by Gerard Basset, the best sommelier in the world 2010. Gerard will introduce his Oenomust collection and show how Oenomust proves excellent to the eye, the nose and the mouth and is a genuine flavour enhancer. The second Symphony of Senses event is scheduled for Sunday February 15 and will be held by Philippe Jamesse, chef sommelier at the Michelin-starred Domaine Les Crayeres. Philippe will introduce his Jamesse Prestige Collection. Dedicated to both Champagne and still wines, this demonstration will showcase the collection’s rounded shapes, allowing for the full expression of all wines. “Great wines offers a wide variety of profiles and an infinite range of tastes, colours and ageing. Jamesse Prestige glasses preserve and perfectly reveal the aromas and energy contained in wines,” explains Philippe Jamesse. Don’t miss these two educational events.

www.lehmannglass.fr

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Come and see our new collections for 2015 Birmingham Spring Fair 1st – 5th February 2015 Hall 9 Stand H01 NEW LOCATION

Ambiente Messe Frankfurt 13th – 17th February 2015 Stand 4.2.E22 Dunoon Ceramics Limited Unit 5, Walton Industrial Estate, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 ORY, England.

Telephone: (01785) 817414 Fax: (01785) 812322 Email: sales@dunoonmugs.co.uk

www.dunoonmugs.co.uk

SHOW PEVIEW Chicago Ambiente

Sourcing, seminars & special activities at Chicago Boasting more than 2,000 American exhibitors and delivering some two-dozen educational seminars, The International Home + Housewares Show in March in Chicago is a must for cooking and dining retail product, networking and advice Sourcing product The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago is the leading marketplace to source market-driven innovative housewares and homegoods products, designs and trends.

Every year, in March, the Show attracts more than 60,000 professional attendees from more than 120 countries.

The show, which is owned and operated by the International Housewares Association (IHA), is organised into four ‘Show within a Show’ expos, each of which contains specific product categories featuring a total of 2,100 exhibitors.

In addition to the Clean, Contain + Sustain expo (outdoor living, cleaning products, bath accessories etc.), there is the Wired + Well expo (electrics, home healthcare, personal care); the Global Crossroads expo – think 450 exhibitors in design and country pavilions from Thailand and Columbia to Turkey and Japan – and the Dine + Design expo.

The Dine + Design expo is the 120 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

place to visit for tabletop and includes the product categories of cook + bakeware, tabletop, kitchen essentials + accents, gourmet food + products, and home décor. It also includes Discover Design, an invitationonly category, featuring more than 100 exhibitors delivering product driven by design.

With an increasing focus on product design, the show features the entire product lines of North America’s leading brands, product suppliers and designers, so buyers have a chance to find new innovative products and product lines not yet available elsewhere.

But it’s not just the sourcing of innovative product that makes Chicago such an attractive proposition for retailers and buyers. The show offers first-class educational and networking opportunities for both specialty retailers and corporate buyers – think nearly two dozen education sessions – as well as special exhibitions and creative displays and a full line-up of seminars on trends and design, visual

merchandising and branding, retail success factors and consumer preferences.

Colour trend forecasts As with every year, the 2015 edition will present its annual Pantone Color Forecast. The executive director of the Pantone Institute, who is also IHA’s colour expert, Lee Eiseman, will deliver the major colour trends for 2016 and discuss the impact and power of colour in the marketplace via both seminars (March 9, 10) and the Pantone ColorWatch display, providing first-hand, detailed forecasts and trend identification.

Going Green is another theme that is covered during the show via both display and seminars, highlighting and analysing the global sustainability movement and its impacts currently on the housewares industry.

Retail education On the retail front, there is plenty of retail advice and consultation on offer from the experts Sponsored by the IHA, retailers

can in fact get free individual sessions of Expert Consulting, both on independent and specialty retailing, and covering topics from iCloud to PR and engaging the customer. Topics to be covered at the 2015 show include: Not all PR starts on Facebook; Creating Customer Commitment for Greater Sales; Engaging the Customer In and Out of the Store; and Conceptualising a Great Idea into a Profitable Business.

The gia expert jurors, including Martin M. Pegler, will discuss what makes a prize-winning retail store – from retail architecture to visual merchandising to new technologies – in a presentation at the Innovation Theater on March 9; and retailers can get inspiration from the best visual merchandising and retail practices by checking out the AwardWinning Retailers gia winners display from around the world.

Finally, get first-hand retail advice via retailing case studies: discover how one of the largest retailers in South America, Falabella,

CHICAGO WHAT THE RETAILERS SAY…

“

The executive director of the Pantone Institute, who is also IHA’s colour expert, Lee Eiseman, will deliver the major colour trends for 2016 and discuss the impact and power of colour in the marketplace via both seminars and the Pantone ColorWatch display.

reinvented its struggling business and found success.

But, that’s not all. Retailers can take advantage of the Chicago Retail Tour, a US retail overview and tour that visits some of the most exciting home and housewares retailers in suburban Chicago. Make sure you register for this.

Innovation Theater presentations There is plenty more information and advice to pick up from the experts, with an array of presentations held over the four days in the Innovation Theater.

On the trend front, Euromonitor will deliver a presentation on the trends and opportunities globally in homewares; while The NPD Group will explore the influencers and marketplace trends that are playing a role in how consumers, young and old, are making purchase decisions.

The third instalment of Design Research’s American Living Survey, conducted exclusively for the show, will deliver three years of kitchen colour and design trends data.

On the design front, DesignHouse, a collective of Chicago-based designers, will

discuss how the farm-to-table concept can be applied to design and manufacturing; The Grommet will host a panel discussing The Maker Movement in the creation of the next industrial revolution; McAndrews Held & Malloy will reveal information on strategic IP considerations for product and packaging design; and Riedel Marketing Group will present activities that you must add to your new product development process to improve your odds of new product success.

On the business front, Wray Wad will deliver a presentation on improving your marketing ROI; Goldberg & Meyer will deliver basic information about intellectual property issues; and brand masters HOW Creative will show you how to transform your business into a worldclass brand.

And the extras In addition to the educational and inspiration side, there will be a number of special activities and networking events. In the Cooking Theater, there will also be cooking presentations led by US and international celebrity

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chefs. On Monday, there will be a Show Party, welcoming all international show visitors and delivering food, drink, music and, of course, lots of international networking opportunities – and all of this, free of charge.

Also free of charge for international visitors is a Buyers Lunch every day; access to the International Business Center, which includes meeting rooms, email access and complimentary refreshments; a convenient bus service from participating hotels; a show directory and an online show planner (Housewares Connect 365), which allows you to not just plan your trip, but also communicate with exhibitors for appointments before you arrive Find detailed information on the educational programme for the 2015 show at www.housewares. org/show/attend/nonUS.aspx.

The show is scheduled to take place from March 7-10, 2015, McCormick Place, Chicago. To register to attend and get a show entrance badge, visit www. housewares.org/show/attend/ nonUS.aspx

“The Show is a must-do – always offering a showcase of the world’s best suppliers to our industry, and constantly innovating. A good example to mention is the Inventors Corner – a great opportunity for new companies and individuals to get a toehold and present themselves to the market – and better than that – we found a couple of great ideas there.”

Matthew Canwell, director of buying, Lakeland UK “For more than 20 years, I have been a regular visitor to the Housewares Show in Chicago. For our company, it is one of the most important shows in the industry, and we consider this trip and visit a very good investment to our business.”

Pavel Stanek, owner, Potten & Pannen – Stanek Group, Czech Republic “The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago is worth braving the cool March weather and long international flight for. The seminars provide many eye-opening retail and merchandising insights that I have subsequently shared with my colleagues. It is also a fantastic way to learn about new products and market trends. The organisers do an excellent job of making the show a breeze to attend.”

Grace Tan, marketing & store manager, ToTT Store, Singapore “Today, we manage more than 100 stores in Turkey, and are planning to develop our operation internationally. Since the beginning of our company in 2002, the International Home + Housewares Show has always been the destination for our team in terms of inspiration and ideas.”

Semih Seftali, President ESSE, Turkey

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SHOW PEVIEW Chicago

Finum Booth S3674 Renowned for creating clever ‘taste’ products, German brand Finum will unveil two new products at Chicago. Following on from the success of its award-winning spice grinder Look Touch Taste, Finum will reveal the Mini version, a set of salt and pepper grinders on a tray. With the same design as the genius Look Touch Taste, the pieces come with a ceramic mechanism and in black and white. The brand will also unveil a new manufal coffee grinder, as well as showcasing its current range, including its Tea Control range, On-the-Go products and its German porcelain Tea Pot System.

JIA Inc.

Zero Technologies

Booth S4374

Booth L12526

In addition to its focus on Chinese culture, JIA is known for creating projects and culinary/ tabletop products that fuse East and West, offering objects relevant to both the Asian and Western dining table. JIA also continuously attempts to strike a balance between old and new, aiming to re-interpret traditional Chinese materials and craftsmanship through modern design typologies. The brand believes home objects should not be defined by living spaces, but instead should fit many different modern lifestyles and environments: a casserole in the kitchen is also a focal point in the dining room during gatherings at home. JIA Inc. will be presenting its many tabletop and kitchenware products – old and new – at Chicago.

Adding to its line of award-winning water filtration systems, Zero Technologies will unveil its first gravityled tumbler for people on the go, the ZeroWater Tumbler.

A portable tumbler, delivering cleaner, healthier water, it employs the same patented 5-stage filter technology and revolutionary ion-exchange system that made its pitchers and dispensers a favourite among consumers. The ZeroWater Tumbler is welcome news to health-minded individuals concerned about toxins constantly found in normal tap water. “This Tumbler provides the portable answer for those who demand both convenience and superior water quality day in and day out,” says Doug Kellum, CEO of ZeroWater. Features include a BPA-free, leak-resistant bottle, an ergonomic design and a five-stage filter with colour change indication that makes it easy to know when to change the filter.

www.jia-inc.com

www.finum.com

Frieling Booth S1210

www.zerowater.com

Frieling will introduce the Black Cube Stainless Nonstick, a high-performance fry pan with an exclusive textured surface that combines stainless steel with a premium non-stick coating. This innovative construction provides the traditional longevity and browning capabilities of a stainless steel pan, plus the easy clean-up and low-fat cooking options of a nonstick surface. Unlike non-stick pans of the past, it is 100 per cent scratch-resistant, designed for use with metal utensils. It comes in four sizes.

www.frieling.com

Core Home Booth S1886 With innovation and style at the forefront of Core Home’s philosophy, the brand will present a selection of new woods, ceramics, barware and gadgets at the show. “The creative direction for 2015 is focused on elevating the product, while highlighting the distinctive features that individualise it. We drew influences from other parts of the world, notably Europe and South America,” says international marketing director, Juliet Morrison. Within the new woods is the Italian-inspired Medici range, unique pieces for the kitchen and serveware carved out of the finest 100 per cent Italian olive wood. The Samba Teak range introduces a touch of the exotic with rich teak samba wood grown in the Brazilian Tropics that is extremely durable, making it the perfect prep-to-serve board. Inspired by the trend of farm-to-table, Farmhouse Chic boasts reclaimed woods, rusted iron and time-worn accents – think a rustic and unfinished edge on a selection of trays, storage and wine holders. Similarly vintage but in a modern way are the new Ceramic cheese plates, which can be written on with a dry erase marker.

Expanding the brand’s Core Acacia line is the Ombre Acacia collection, which creates the on-trend ombre feel, adding elegance to wood with a two-tone effect.

www.corehome.com 122 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

SHOW PEVIEW Chicago

Chilewich Aesthetic Movement Showroom & Shop, 179 North Sangamon, Chicago Renowned for its innovative textiles, including placemats and napkins, New Yorkbased Chilewich will be presenting two new products as part of its spring/summer 2015 collection at the Aesthetic Movement Showroom during Chicago. Its new Imprint Placemats are luxurious textiles silk-screened by hand with metallic gold and silver inks, the base material woven exclusively for Chilewich in an open mesh so that a soft fringe can be created on all sides of a square placemat. While Imprint looks delicate, it is just as durable and easy-to-clean as all other Chilewich products and comes in Antique Silver and Rustic Gold. Its Glassweave Placemats boast a richly woven texture using proprietary extruded yards from Chilewich. Silver and gold yarns are each encased in a clear covering, allowing the metallic colours to reflect like glass, so they glisten as if under direct sunlight, creating a shimmering surface. Phthalate-free, they are suitable indoors and outdoors and come as placemats and runners in gold and in silver.

www.chilewich.com

Rayware Group Booth S2031

Libbey Booth S1020 Libbey will be presenting its new brand approach based on trends and customer insights, including the introduction of several new products from the company’s major brands, including Royal Leerdam Finesse, Crisa and Libbey. One of the new concepts it will present is The Experts’ Collection from Royal Leerdam Finesse. Developed in cooperation with sommelier Barbara Verbeek, the line consists of five unique designs each dedicated to support the taste experience of a specific type of wine (Light & Fresh, Fruity & Smooth, Round & Mature, Powerful & Spicy, Sparkling). The sleek tapered design is pleasant to the eye, augments the wine’s taste and ensures ultimate drinking comfort. The laser cut fine rim finish and the pure quality Soda-Lime glass make it the perfect alternative to crystal and crystalline glassware.

www.libbey.com

Fiesta (Homer Laughlin China)

With its exciting portfolio of vibrant brands, The Rayware Group will deliver an array of new products. In addition to revealing a new range of vintageinspired canning jars – think unique ribbed design and a heritage strapline originally used in the ‘50s – courtesy of popular brand Kilner, there will be two new striking baking ranges from Mason Cash, the brand renowned for its iconic Cane Mixing Bowl. Baker Street is a sophisticated cream and grey collection comprising everything from storage tins to pudding basins; while the Bake My Day range is colourful and quirky, each item carrying a baking-related pun. From British design-led kitchenware brand Typhoon, there will be a new oven-to-tableware range, Skandi, which combines dark cast iron with white porcelain. Typhoon will also deliver its Vintage Kitchen 10th Anniversary storage range – think six vibrant colours. Finally, Price & Kensington will present a series of filter teapots suitable for two and six people, as well as an impressive selection of teapots, large cups and saucers and espresso cups and saucers suitable for most brands of coffee pod machines.

Booth S2003

www.rayware.co.uk

www.homerlaughlin.com

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At Chicago this year, the Homer Laughlin China Company, makers of Fiesta Dinnerware, will officially announce its exciting wave of colour and product additions. A longstanding tradition, Homer Laughlin China typically has 15 colours in the product line-up and because the brand prides itself on staying on-trend, it will retire colours in order to introduce new ones. Black and Peacock are the two colours it plans to retire. “Black and Peacock were prominent features in the Fiesta colour family for a long period of time,” says Rich Brinkman, VP of sales and marketing for Homer Laughlin. “Every year, as we forecast colour trends, which are ever-changing, it is a difficult choice to select the coloor or coloors that will be discontinued. When we plan the coloors for the future, though, what gets us really excited is the reaction of consumers.” The brand will also move a variety of Fiesta Dinnerware pieces out of production, including the handled carafe, ceramic handle cake knife and individual creamer in order to make room for some innovative new items, which will be on display at Chicago.

SHOW PEVIEW Spring Fair

Table & Kitchen makeover for Spring Fair 2015 In the run-up to Spring Fair 2015, the UK’s largest retail trade exhibition, the crucial sector of tabletop and kitchen is rebranded and relocated for better cross-buying opportunities

S

pring Fair may well be the UK’s largest and most important retail trade exhibition, but it’s certainly not a show content to rest on its laurels as plans for Spring Fair 2015 prove.

Due to take place from February 1-5, 2015, at The NEC, Birmingham, Spring Fair has seen a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in exhibitor numbers – a positive indicator for the trading year ahead.

Spring Fair 2015 will host some 3,000 British and international exhibitors, with 400 of them new this year. These exhibitors will deliver some 300,000 new product launches across the show’s 14 different market sectors.

“We look forward to welcoming 3,000 of the best British and international suppliers to the show, offering our visitors the opportunity to source from hundreds of thousands of superb new products, as well as gain invaluable business insights

51%

and trend information from our content theatres,” says Naomi Barton, interim portfolio director for i2i Events Group.

And, while many of the sectors focus on Gifts – from Contemporary Gift to Children’s Gift – the Table & Kitchen sector is a sector showing growth. “Up until Spring Fair 2014, the Table & Kitchen sector was in decline,” says Spring Fair’s event director Anisha Patel. “However, for 2015, the sector is in growth. This includes tableware where UK ceramic companies, in particular, are either back at the show or exhibiting for the first time,” says Anisha.

Such companies include British brands like Hudson & Middleton and Geraldine Mattis Design, brands which have been attracted by the changes that have been put in place for the Table & Kitchen sector for 2015. Changes include rebranding and relocation, with a strategic new location announced for the sector in Hall 9.

This is expected to provide strong cross-buying opportunities via a covered walkway linking Table & Kitchen directly with Gift Hall 5, and underscoring the huge importance of kitchen products to general gifting.

With such a location, Spring Fair says that buyers will be perfectly poised to discover thousands of innovative new kitchen and tabletop ideas from a stylish product range that includes glass, barware, tableware and cutlery, as well as kitchen gadgets, SDAs, cookware and bakeware. The new home for Table & Kitchen is also adjacent to The Summerhouse in Hall 8, which includes some of the most prestigious British brands in this product category, such as Joseph Joseph and Maxwell & Williams. This new location also puts it within easy reach of Europe’s largest volume offering in Halls 10, 11 and 12, providing even more superb cross-over buying opportunities.

The percentage increase of international exhibitors in the Table & Kitchen sector for Spring Fair 2015.

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More than 150 companies will exhibit within Table & Kitchen this year, including 45 that are brand new to the fair and 25 that are international. “The UK market has shown growth potential in certain sectors at the show and, as a result, we have seen a huge interest in international exhibitors wanting to capture market share,” says Anisha, explaining how the Table & Kitchen sector for 2015 has increased 51 per cent on international exhibitors with new international tableware companies including Monno Bone China, Canvas Home and CNB Oriental.

Also new to Spring Fair is Exclusive Distribution, the sole UK distributor for leading tabletop brands Vista Alegre, Atlantis Crystal and Casa Alegre.

Nespresso, FBA International, Polder Housewares, Stow Green, Meld Home (Merry Berry Collection), Magicup, HSCL Gourmet Gadgetry and Meyer Group are also new to the sector.

They will join other well-known tabletop brands, such as Denby, Portmeirion Group, Arthur Price, Creative Tops, Rayware Group and Churchill China, as well as kitchen

NEW FOR 2015…

Retail Shop New for 2015 is the Retail Shop brand, which has evolved from the hugely successful e-commerce zones. Located in Hall 4, Retail Shop will provide a full-spectrum offering dedicated to cuttingedge technology and retail sector solutions. Here, retailers and buyers will find a multitude of products and services essential to successful multi-channel retailing, including in-store and online solutions, marketing platforms, payment providers and specialists in packaging. An e-commerce seminar theatre will offer seminars and presentations on challenging areas in online retail. brands like Kitchen Craft, Sabichi, RKW, Kuhn Rikon, Ethos and BergHoff, among others.

Exhibitors are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the change of scene for Table & Kitchen, says Spring Fair, glad of the opportunity to reach a larger proportion of Spring Fair’s huge contingent of gift retailers, alongside thousands of specialist kitchen shops, department stores and garden centre buyers.

“On speaking with tableware exhibitors, we see them continuously evolving their range to keep up with market trends,” explains Anisha.

“Within the Table & Kitchen sector, tableware is a very competitive market but companies are actively thinking of ways to bring new design and innovation at competitive prices,” says Anisha, pointing to Portmeirion’s latest collaboration with British designer Ted Baker.

“This brings consumers a diverse and eclectic offering and, more importantly, maintains that wonderful British cutting-edge design and heritage, inspiring both domestic and international visitors,” Anisha comments.

Other changes at Spring Fair 2015 include the unveiling of Spring Fair’s transformed Home sector, which has been relocated to Hall 1. This new location puts the rebranded Home right at the forefront of the show, where it represents one of the most important growth areas for Spring

Fair and the wider retail trade.

“Home showed enormous growth in 2014 in terms of the number of exhibitors and space sold,” says Anisha, highlighting Home growth figures of 64 per cent in 2014 compared to the previous year. “With the housing market picking up, consumers are now having to spend money on home furnishings and lighting, which are the first items that are bought for a new home. Eventually, this will filter through to table and kitchenware.”

Anisha says that it is also becoming increasingly common to give tableware and kitchen items as gifts, and so retailers – and independent retailers, in particular – are stocking more and more of these items thus increasing demand.

In addition to sourcing for new products and brands, retailers and buyers can find expert advice from a variety of sources and seminars. At the rebranded Trends Theatre, discover the key seasonal trends in a presentation from World Global Style Network ( WGSN), as well as advice on effective branding and merchandising techniques from industry leaders. Finally, for inspiration, buyers and retailers should check out Designgap, a presentation of unique British artisans and designer makers.

Spring Fair takes place February 1-5, 2015, at The NEC, Birmingham, UK. www.springfair.co.uk

TABLEWARE BRANDS Sabichi, Rayware Group, Denby Brands, EPE International, Grunwerg, Portmeirion Group, Arthur Price, Creative Tops, Churchill China, Ethos, Exclusive Distribution, Meyer

Tradestock Hall 5 Stand J41 Having taken on the Royal Mail licence earlier this year, Tradestock will be unveiling two new Royal Mail collections – British Birds and British Butterflies – on its new stand in Hall 5. British Birds (pictured) features vivid illustrations of four distinctive and much-loved birds, whilst British Butterflies offers delicate hand-painted illustrations of these enchanting garden visitors.

Both designs will deliver across a selection of tabletop and gift items, and will be presented alongside the iconic Definitive Collection, which was launched last summer following the company’s licensing agreement with Royal Mail. In addition to these new ranges, the company will present some striking new designs from both Howard Shooter and the in-house design team across a host of tableware, kitchenware and giftware items, including placemats, coasters, mugs, lap trays, glass worktop savers, trays and FreeForm Gallery.

www.tradestockltd.co.uk

Portmeirion Hall 9 Stand E30F31 One of the leading homewares manufacturer will launch exquisite new ranges from its portfolio of brands – Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel, with the highly-anticipated Ted Baker Portmeirion collection sure to be a huge hit. The exclusive collaboration delivers two distinctly-styled capsule ranges – a 41-piece vintage floral fine bone china dinnerware range and a 22-piece porcelain giftware range. Portmeirion has also extended its award-winning Sophie Conran for Portmeirion range with the introduction of the new Sophie Blue pattern, as well as a new colourway – Pebble – and extensions to the core collection and glassware. Sister brand Spode, will showcase its stunning new tableware collection Winter’s Scene, which features a vibrant and contemporary red border of holly leaf and acorn illustrations. Royal Worcester is set to build on the popularity of the Wrendale Designs collection with new animal characters and giftware pieces. Royal Worcester will showcase Up, Up & Away, a range inspired by the winning design of the 2014 Fired Up Design Competition created by Staffordshire University student, Jemma Moore. Finally, Pimpernel will showcase a range of innovative new placemats, coasters and tabletop accessories – from the loveable Puppy Club and Kitty Club coasters, to the rustic seaside Coastal Signs range, which incorporates placemats and trays.

www.portmeiriongroup.com

ETHOS Hall 9 Stand J24-K11 Since its launch in 1998, Ethos has rocketed to success in the UK, bringing leading names and good design to the kitchens and tables of the style- and price-conscious consumer. At Spring Fair 2015, Ethos will introduce the Bistro & Co collection. Designed to accentuate modern dining, it takes cues from classic Scandinavian design and European artisanal tradition.

www.ethoshousewares.com

SHOW PEVIEW Spring Fair

Creative Tops Hall 9 Stand G10-H11 One of the UK’s leading suppliers of tableware and kitchenware products, and known for being a market leader in setting trends in tabletop, Creative Tops will be showcasing two new launches for spring 2015. In addition to the launch of a modern French press Monaco under its coffee brand La Cafétiere, Creative Tops will unveil a brand new dinnerware collection from bestselling brand Katie Alice. Rustic Lace by Katie Alice (pictured right) is a collection of terracotta dinnerware inspired by a vintage lace bracelet that Katie found in a boutique in Paris. This core range encourages customers to buy beautiful individual pieces, without the need to buy a whole new collection each season.

www.creative-tops.com

Maxwell & Williams

The Just Slate Company

Summerhouse Hall 8 Stand C12-D11

Hall 6 Stand G19

M&W will showcase three new collections on UK distributor stand Valerie Graham.

In addition to its new collection with Royal Historic Palaces (page 26), it will present two new dinnerware collections.

An extension to the Cashmere Charming range is the vintage-inspired Charming Bluebells range, which features graceful bluebells in a repetitive pattern on a range of scalloped shapes. Extending the White Basics range is White Rose, classic white dinnerware with scalloped edges.

www.maxwellandwilliams.co.uk

Scottish brand The Just Slate Company will unveil its two new collections, The Studio Collection and Stoneware Classics. The latter combines handmade stoneware with The Just Slate Company’s signature slate, delivering a minimalist and elegant serveware collection. The stonewere’s natural muted tone features a striking crisp white dip glaze and acts as a striking contrast to the natural contours and deep colour of the slate. Carefully crafted by skilled artisans, this mixed material range offers six classic designs, including a pinch pot set, a gourmet cheese baker, mezze, condiment, tapas sets and a milk and sugar duo.

Denby

www.justslate.co.uk

Hall 9 Stand C10-D11 In addition to revealing the new look and feel for its brand, Denby will unveil several launches, including two new dinnerware ranges in the Monsoon Home Dinnerware Collection. It will also present a new look with its Denby Lifestyle Accessories Collection, which includes accessories in mixed materials, from classic corked back tablemats and coasters, to woven, vinyl, trendy slate and chic glass, with colour options to suit all Denby tableware patterns. The collection is enhanced with useful trays, stylish work top savers and textiles, with each presented in sturdy and practical branded packaging.

www.denby.co.uk

DON’T MISS… Arthur Price Hall 9 Stand E44-F45 Historic British family-owned flatware/gift brand, Arthur Price, will have its biggest launch for decades at Spring Fair. Going back to its roots to create new patterns for future generations, it will launch the next generation of cutlery. “We are known by many as a traditional company and we hold many of those values, including quality close to our heart. But I want to make sure such trademarks are future-proof and our products find their way on to peoples’ table for years to come. This will be the biggest launch in a generation targeting the next generation,” said CEO Simon Price. Simply called Arthur Price, the premium collection of three new patterns will come in 6, 8 and 12 place settings, plus a serving set and pastry set. “It is a quality, premium range created for people who want style, elegance and a classical design at an affordable price,” says Simon.

www.arthurprice.com

128 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

The English Garden collection, designed by Katie Alice, will add a touch of vintage sparkle to your OVTL 0UĂ…\LUJLK I` OLY SV]L VM eclectic design and her beautiful English country garden.

Come and see this stunning collection and many others at Spring Fair International Hall 9 Stand G10, 1st - 5th Feb Creative House, Corby, NN17 4DU. Tel: +44 (0)1536 207710 www.creative-tops.com

INSPIRING BUYING

For more info about this range or to order our latest brochure. email: sales@creative-tops.com, marketing@creative-tops.com

Last Word

EYE ON DESIGN

Anouk Magis Jansen

Name: Anouk Magis Jansen Job: Design director, Jansen+co Email: anouk@jansen co.nl About me: After gra duating in fashion design from the Fashion Management and De sign Academy of Amsterdam in 199 5, I started work as a junior des igner and buyer of gifts and interior pro ducts for Presen entt Time, creating trend forecasts and com omplete new collec In 1999, I became cre l tio ti ns. ative director and sha reholder of Present Time BV, travel ling the world, visitin g international trade shows, factories , workplaces and sho wrooms. I then became a creative con sultant for a while, tak ing on some great assignments for national and internatio nal retailers and wholesalers. I als o worked for several broadcasting companies – as co-ho st of interior design shows and presenting TV shopp ing reports of cities; and I taught product design and media communicatio n at the Artemis Academy and the De sign Academy of Am sterdam. I also worked for Clarion Eve nts in London, settin g up a design concept for an intern ational trade show. Wit h my partner, I set up Jansen+co in 2006 – we design, pro duce and distribute products, including tabletop. As of January 1, 2015, Jansen+co bec ame a division of Ser ax.

Clients: Tate Modern, Foundacion Juan Mir o, Douwe Egberts Masterblenders, Joh n Lewis, Saatchi Galler y – all have commissioned Jansen +co.

Each issue, we cast a spotlight on a designer in tableware. This month, we chat to tabletop design director Anouk Magis Jansen What exactly do you do?

I am the design director of Jansen+co; I am in charge of the products, from the design and development, to the final look and content of the complete collection, including packaging, photography and catalogues.

Why tableware?

In 2010, when the market became more difficult, we decided to focus on one group of products, rather than trying to do too many groups. The idea of being a tabletop company has, for me, been the natural result of a passion for great food and drink. My husband and I love cooking and shopping in the markets for the finest and the freshest ingredients.

What is your design aesthetic?

Contemporary, vivid and original.

We are known for our unique and colourful aesthetics, innovative use of materials and a positive Dutch vision. Customers smile when they see Jansen+co products.

What, in your opinion, makes up the main elements of ‘good design’?

Function, quality and price are most important. All our products are made of high-quality durable materials, combining the best of industrial production with hand finishing; classic shapes with modern sensibilities and bright colours, blended with more subtle complementary tones. Social

responsibility is important. We travel the world to discover highquality ethical manufacturing – local factories and skilled craftsmen who share our passion for original handmade design.

independent as a designer, and to work with people and companies I like and respect. That’s the reason why we have teamed up with Serax – they recently acquired the worldwide licence of Jansen+co.

Describe a typical day in your design life…

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

First thing in the morning, we have meetings with our team to ensure we are up-to-date with production, orders and finance.

Every day we work on new design concepts and engage in discussions with our suppliers to ensure quality and price are right.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Calling all designers – would you like to be featured in a future ‘Eye on Design’? If so, email our Editor, kate@lempublishing.co.uk 130 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Jansen+co is now a wellknown tabletop brand and we sell worldwide to the best department stores, concept and design stores and museum shops. We are still a small company but I am proud that we have been able to design products that have been so well received by such a large audience across the globe. I am proud to make my own world, to be

Tableware history is rich and interesting – varied across cultures and historical periods. Setting your table is a social habit, reflecting the occasion, the traditions and the way we live. Good quality is what we should all ultimately aim for – this is what tableware should reflect in the future.

Which designs, designers or collections are personal favourites?

I am a food, art and design lover, and I like companies who respect their history and play with it in a modern way – companies like Marimekko and Vlisco. I also like companies like SCP who work with designers and local craftsmen.

TO BE UNWRAPPED AT AMBIENTE!

It’s well worth waiting for: Villeroy&Boch, Hall 4.1, Stand A05.

Also visit us at HOMI MILANO, Fiera Milano Rho, Hall 2 Stand F02/G10, 17th – 20th January

ne o y r e For ev es gifts! ov who l

WWW.VILLEROY-BOCH.COM