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Licensing focus
Brand and deliver In the run-up to the mega trade exhibition Brand Licensing Europe, PH puts the spotlight on a diverse array of housewares licensing collaborations including media and publishing, leading charities and fabulous designers.
When east meets west Multi-award winning British designer Nick Munro and premium international cookware brand Winnington recently unveiled a preview of an exciting new licensing collaboration – Versatiron - at Exclusively (August 24-25, Islington Business Design Centre), fanfaring the next level in cast iron cookware. Winnington’s Dennis Ng and Nick Munro have collaborated many times over the years, and their latest collaboration extols the versatility and virtues of cast iron pans.
Top left: The Versatiron pans by British designer Nick Munro in red, blue and yellow. Inset: British designer Nick Munro has created a set of Versatiron cast iron pans for Winnington.
Elaborating on the inspiration behind the new licensed range, Nick explains: “the collection celebrates the versatility, the durability and the cookability of cast iron which can, of course, be used for different types of cuisine. It’s international, it’s east meets west. Focusing on both versatility and cast iron we created a word – Versatiron – then worked on the pans.” As he highlights: “Most hobs are round, burners are round, induction hobs are round. So, we looked at traditional cast iron pans which are either round or oval, and then did some shape development to get a circle to evolve into an ellipse. In other words, to go from round to oval in one single pan to create a unique, elegant silhouette that nobody has ever seen before.”
For flavoursome adventures
Inset: SAVEUR Selects is an Excellence in Housewares Awards 2021 finalist in the Excellence in Cookware category and has scooped a GOOD Design award.
Leading US food and lifestyle media brand SAVEUR has partnered with Winnington to develop cookware and bakeware that complement the recipes and traditions it has covered for over 25 years in publications and online. Designed by Prime Studios, SAVEUR Selects Cookware features “heirloom quality enamel-coated cast iron, which is rustproof and non-reactive,” with an “innovative lightweight double-walled stainless steel lid, which ensures better temperature retention and less evaporation,” explains Winnington’s Dennis Ng. The SAVEUR Selects collection also features “a non-stick coating that guarantees an easy release and quick clean up, while carbon steel and heavy-gauge metal resists twisting and warping, maintaining its shape,” adds Dennis.
PROGRESSIVE
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Nick continues: “It gives virtues in cookability that matches the hob shape. Plus, cast iron distributes the heat very evenly. The other big benefit is that you create a left hand/right hand virtue, because there is a pouring option from the lip. For example, you can tip it right, or you can tip if left, either with your right hand or your left hand, giving versatility by shape too.” Although the original briefing document featured a long list of pans – casserole, brasier, grill pan, frying pan and so on, Nick’s wife Ali, who has a background in fashion, textiles and colour, pointed out that the vocabulary might be off putting to a millennial customer. “It was therefore decided to simplify the whole thing, with Ali’s vibrant Bauhaus colour palette complementing the ergonomic shapes,” explains Nick. “It’s no longer the casserole or the brasier or the saucepan. It’s simply the red, blue or yellow pan, so it’s child’s play. It’s an artistic concept, that translates to the east as well as the west: a combination of European art and east and west cuisine, while elevating functionality and blending traditional and modern forms.”