Giftware
The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market Grows to Second Location
Momentum is fueling an expansion of temporary exhibition space at Las Vegas Market. The temporary exhibit area —known as The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market— is growing with the addition of a second location allowing for a 50 percent gain in exhibit space for the Winter 2016 Las Vegas Market, January 24-28, at World Market Center Las Vegas.
“Last August’s repositioning and reimagining of temporary exhibits to The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market was met with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from buyers, which has fueled record rates of exhibitor renewals,” said Dorothy Belshaw, President of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. “The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market are an important component of our overall strategic reorganization of the Las Vegas Market, which has become the leading buying platform for furniture, home décor and gifts in the western United States.”
The expansion of the Pavilions into two locations allows for significant growth of the GIFT, HOME, HANDMADE and DESIGN categories, which will be presented in Pavilion #1, as well as for considerable expansion of DISCOVERIES: The Antique Vintage Marketplace, which will be featured in Pavilion #2. In total, a record 430+ exhibitors are expected to be featured in the two venues this winter.
In Pavilion #1, key changes to the exhibit floor will include the launch of a new, 5,500-square-foot juried luxury section within HOME; double-digit growth within GIFT, specifically in tabletop, gourmet housewares, stationery, publishing and souvenir categories; significant expansion of HANDMADE; and continued curated growth in DESIGN. Other changes in Pavilion #1 include the creation of dedicated seminar space within the exhibit hall, with plans for daily presentations; and the addition of a bar within DESIGN, to allow buyers to relax and enjoy refreshments while shopping the expanded temporary offerings.
Demand for temporary exhibit space in Pavilion #1 has been highest in the GIFT segment, with more than 160 companies expected to participate at Winter Market, including anchor exhibitors Adams & Co.; Colonial Candle; Gratitude LLC; The Grommet; The Naked Bee; PaperSalt; Primal Elements; True Brands and Ulster Weavers. Newcomers include: AvoSeedo; Baby Bazaar; Bear Bottom Candles; Caroline Walker; Coelacanth; Erimish; Ethics Supply Co.; Fresh Frances Inc.; The Home T; J. Johnson & Company; Jodi Bombardier Jewelry; Lightmark Press; Lovin’ Summer; The Napkins US; Paperwings Studio; The Rare Orchid; Santoro; Sedona Spirit; Vinotive; Wendy’s Closet and Zutano. Returning from a hiatus are Abbey Press; Cardthartic; Creative Gifts; Down to Earth Distributors; Elizabethan Productions; Karen Luu – Home Couture; LPG Greetings; Mierco and Willow Creek Press.
More than 100 companies are expected to participate in HOME, with a new 5,500-square-foot juried HOME segment uniting all of the home décor temporary exhibitors in one area. This new area will feature leading home décor, textiles, and accent furniture suppliers, including anchors Eangee; Creative Art & Mirror; Modelli Creations and Royola Pacific Designs. Expanding resources include A&M Home Décor; FabFunky; IICART and Rustic Arrow. Newcomers include Alkhayat Inc.; Busatti; Infinite Trend; Kevin O’Brien Studio; Little Living Shop; and Steve Vigar Design.
Based on increased demand, the HANDMADE area also is expanding, with category growth expected in jewelry and accessories, candles and stationery, as well as home décor, home textiles, tabletop and wall art. More than 50 companies are expected to participate in HANDMADE, including anchor exhibitors 12 Small Things; All Across Africa; BarrelWerks; Dunitz & Co.; Erin Smith Art; Hamamlique; KOZAKH; Maurice Milleur; Mine Design Mine Design, Sweet Gumball and Vital Industries. Expanding resources include Dana Herbert Accessories, and Lizzy James Designs. Newcomers include Alice Sturzinger LLC; Brilliant Imports LLC; Objects With Purpose; O.D.A.A.T. LLC/One Day At A Time; Pilgrim Imports; Sarah Cavender Metalworks; Silk Road Bazaar, Slow Burn Glass and Thumbprint Artifacts. Returning after an absence from the Market are Language Arts; The Porcelain Garden; Sawdust City and Southwest Inspirations.
Curated growth also is expected in DESIGN for Winter 2016, with some 20 companies exhibiting. Returning resources Alexandra Ferguson, American Design Club and Yamazaki will be joined by newcomers bambu, Devall Design & Home, Martone Cycling and Nuop.
Based on the success of the summer 2015 launch, DISCOVERIES: The Antique Vintage Marketplace is expanding into Pavilion #2, to accommodate a record number of returning vendors as well as a significant number of newcomers. Utilizing some 30,000 net square foot exhibit space, DISCOVERIES, a unique array of immediate delivery exhibitors will offer buyers a quick inventory restocking opportunity during the first quarter of 2016. More than 100 suppliers of vintage and antique merchandise, ethnic handicrafts and cash-and-carry goods are expected to participate in Winter Market, including returning anchors Blue Ocean Traders, Go Home and Silk Route. Growth categories within DISCOVERIES include antiques, with newcomer Charleston Antique Mall bringing eight to 10 dealers; returning exhibitors Arbor Antiques International expanding to present 12 dealers, including John Lane of Vintage Studios. Growth also is coming from smaller vintage exhibitors, including suppliers of repurposed, recycled and “shabby chic” products, with an estimated 10 to 15 percent expansion in this area.
DISCOVERIES in Pavilion #2 also will feature a food court on the exhibit floor; and exhibitor demonstrations on Market days. Distinguished Transport, recognized as an industry leader in specialty moving and preferred shipper of antiques shows across the country, will provide onsite shipping services – of one item, partial/full truckloads or containers – to any destination within the continental United States.
Other highlights of Winter Market include continued expansion in the gourmet, housewares and casual/outdoor furniture categories; enrichment of better home décor offerings; and the enhancement of top furniture resources, and leading gift and lifestyle vendors. Beyond exhibits, the Winter Las Vegas Market will present a variety of special events, educational programming and buyer amenities.
The Winter 2016 Las Vegas Market runs Sunday, January 24, through Thursday, January 28, 2016, with staggered show hours. Permanent showrooms and casual temporaries will run Sunday to Wednesday, January 24-27, from 8 am to 6 pm, and Thursday, January 28, from 8 am to 4 pm. The Pavilions & DISCOVERIES will run Sunday, January 24, from 9 am to 7 pm, Monday and Tuesday, January 25-26, from 9 am to 6 pm, and Wednesday, January 27, from 9 am to 4 pm (The Pavilions and DISCOVERIES are closed on Thursday, January 28). The B2 Home Furnishings temporaries will run Sunday to Wednesday, January 24-27, from 9 am to 6 pm, and Thursday, January 28, from 9 am to 2 pm.
Las Vegas Market is the leading furniture, home decor and gift marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 2,700+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. The Winter 2016 Las Vegas Market runs January 24-28, 2016, at World Market Center Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.
Kiyasa Partners With Domenico Vacca to Develop & Launch a New Collection Made by Prouna
Kiyasa Group, the exclusive distributor of PROUNA in the U.S., has partnered with the celebrated Italian fashion designer, Domenico Vacca, to launch a complete line of luxurious and stunning tableware and gift collection for the designer.
Along with his logo, the tableware features an embossed alligator print throughout the collection, using a real alligator skin to guide the design, drawing inspiration from Domenico Vacca’s iconic alligator Julie bag. Remaining true to the spirit of the Vacca’s brand, a twist on classic design, this beautiful collection comprises four different styles of tableware. They include a white alligator print on fine bone china; bone and hand-painted 24-karat gold; bone, hand-painted 24-karat gold and hand-placed Swarovski crystals (marking the first for a fashion designer to use Swarovski on tableware); and tableware in jewel-toned hues such as Alligator Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and Safari.
This stunning collection is created by PROUNA, known for its high quality of bone china and regarded as a pioneer in developing technical expertise and knowledge for embedding Swarovski Crystals, with a dishwasher durable technology, on to fine bone china.
The tableware collection is set to launch this October simultaneously with the opening of Kiyasa Group’s new flagship showroom at 41 Madison on the 17th floor and the designer’s new 8,000-square foot flagship retail store in Manhattan. The tableware collection will also be available at retailers such as Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, and on www.Kiyasa.com.
Gift Baskets: From Base to Bow
Ah fourth quarter, that special time in a retailer’s life when shopping is at its peak and gift baskets have the potential to fly off shelves. As that time of the year quickly approaches, now is the moment to begin planning ahead so you don’t let yourself get caught behind or off-guard.
At AJ’s Fine Foods in Tucson, Arizona, the local gourmet foods retailer sells hundreds of gift baskets during the Christmas season. AJ’s begins putting the baskets together ahead of time in October for the 11 locations across southern Arizona. They use foods that will remain shelf stable over the coming weeks and brace for the rush while they continue selling everyday baskets on a daily basis.
Floral Boutique Manager Jenny LeGate says the store has been steadily moving gift baskets even during what is considered to be the off season during the summer. AJ’s gift baskets range in price from $50 for a fresh fruit basket on upwards to $140 for a basket with wine and cheese. LeGate has even seen a $300 basket filled with caviar, champagne and strawberries. AJ’s uses a formula for pricing baskets that accounts for the retail price of the contents, the price of the basket, and a make-up fee that is calculated based on the price of the contents. For example, a basket with $60 to $75 worth of product might have a make-up fee of $12 tacked on.
AJ’s does custom gift baskets by customer request and also has some on-hand at all times that are ready to go. LeGate finds that the most time-consuming part of creating gift baskets is the actual shopping for the items that will go inside. She must keep in mind the size of the basket that will be used and staying on a budget because one can easily get swept up in products that raise the price of the basket. She also takes the basket theme into consideration so that the result is cohesive.
“It is better to go with quality products rather than quantity because it makes a nicer impression,” says LeGate. “Quality items are usually the stuff you wouldn’t buy for yourself, so they make for a nicer gift too.”
Gift basket making at AJ’s Fine Foods in Tucson, AZ
After selecting product to fill the gift basket with, LeGate gets to work by filling the baskets with a natural coarse wood excelsior. Most of the baskets at AJ’s are for local gifting, so LeGate doesn’t do much else to create the basket base like other gift basket makers might if the basket is to be shipped.
Deb Condo is the owner of Gift Basket Junction, based in Goodyear, Arizona. Since she sells her baskets online and ships them all over the country, the base of the basket is of the utmost importance.
“It’s all about the foundation,” says Condo, who has had her own gift basket business for 10 years now and has taught gift basket design at the National Gift Basket Convention for the last four years. “Foundation, foundation, foundation. You cannot build a house without pouring concrete: it’s the same concept … You have to use pieces that are going to hold it together, whether it’s kraft paper or a box or foam – something that helps keep everything high and visual.”
LeGate finds that the excelsior filler AJ’s uses does a great job of providing height and being malleable enough that she can tuck in product here and there, with it actually staying in place. She does note that it’s not cheap, so if you are on a budget it might be best to explore other creative options.
Hand-making bows
After filling the basket base, she then rolls out enough cellophane to cover the front, back and bottom of the basket. Once the basket has been centered on the cellophane, it is time to begin filling the basket with product. LeGate approaches this by centering the largest item that will go in the basket. If the basket has a handle, it is easy to center the items around the midpoint of the handle. The rest of the items go around the larger centerpiece product with labels facing outward for a nice appearance. Since the baskets are displayed in the store’s floral section, LeGate like to make her baskets so that they can be viewed from either the front or the back, although she says that there is typically one side that is nicer.
While LeGate doesn’t bother with glue dots or any hidden adhesives to keep the products in place, this is a method that Condo takes advantage of for her baskets that move across the country. Both LeGate and Condo do rely on the cellophane wrapping to completely pull the look together.
“I like to use cello because it gives better for me. I can use it to wrap around the product to make like a tunnel, and so when I’m wrapping it, I can pull everything up and really tight,” says Condo. “I can still get a nice clean line like I would with shrink wrap, without having to get out a heat gun. I wrap it around things, I tuck it in things, and so when I finally do tuck it, roll it and tape it, everything stays. I do use shipping tape and glue dots, depending on how heavy the product is, to keep things stabilized – just like anybody else who’s shipping across the country or overseas. Be sure to always hide your mechanics too.”
Condo goes so far as to ensure her baskets will pass an upside down test, but for many local retailers this should not be necessary. After everything is in place, LeGate pulls the cellophane around the basket and neatly folds and tapes the sides with regular clear tape. She then pulls the cellophane to the top where she secures it with a chenille stem. She cuts a length of ribbon to make a bow by hand – a feat she can now do in about 30 seconds, but she says took her six months to learn! Opting for pre-made bows are a good option for busy retailers trying to multitask. The handmade ribbon is placed over the chenille stem holding everything in place.
Adding a fancy cut to the top of the cellophane
The last step is making the cellophane at the top of the basket look nice. Cutting it straight across is easy and doesn’t look bad at all. When LeGate has time, she does a fancier cut that is hard to describe. She bunches the cellophane in her hand and follows the creases that are created from the folds. She then cuts at these tips in an angled upward motion that results in fanned out points that almost have a leaf-like quality. Condo notes that she pays attention to the colors, patterns and textures going into the basket to help make it cohesive. For example, a yellow label on one of the items to be placed in the basket might help her to decide on the complementary bow. Or she might choose a different type of fill for the base if the basket is lacking in texture overall.
While there are many tips and tricks to making gift baskets, ultimately LeGate points out that, “There is a wrong way to make a gift basket, but there is really no true right way to do it.”
This story was originally published in the September 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.
Edible Gifting with Sweet Creations by Good Cook
Sweet Creations Layer Cake Pan Set
Sweet Creations by Good Cook is the newest brand from Bradshaw International looking to make a name for itself among the DIY crowd inspired by Pinterest. The brand focuses on the concept of edible gifting by offering customers the tools they need to take a stab at a trendy baking project and then see it through from start to finish with useful tools, specialty bakeware, and creative gift packaging.
First introduced in 2012 for the holiday season, Sweet Creations has since expanded to include an everyday collection along with seasonal collections for spring, summer, Halloween and Valentine’s Day. Where Good Cook has been a grocery and mass accounts staple, Sweet Creations seeks to appeal to independent specialty retailers through its assortment of unique baking tools and gadgets that are competitively priced for the average busy mom who doesn’t want to invest too much in baking gear, but still wants great results.
Silicone Sandwich Cookie Chocolate Mold
“Our customer is somebody who enjoys doing do-it-yourself projects, she probably spends time on Pinterest, likes to find different images that her friends are posting on Instagram and Facebook,” says Keri Anderson, Sweet Creations Senior Product Manager. “She might also keep up with some of the magazines, like Martha Stewart, Home, Food Network, those kinds of things. She shops at a variety of retail channels, but she really does enjoy the process of making and sharing with people she cares about.”
Sweet Creations seizes on the popularity of Pinterest projects and the social sharing of recipes through products that are aimed squarely at current baking trends to make the pinned pictures customers see online become an accessible reality in their own kitchens. Take for instance the layering trend within baking, where cakes and cookies take on height to stand out, and desserts are layered on top of desserts for extra decadence. Sweet Creations has just introduced a Layer Cake Pan Set ( $11.99) for this trend that includes two scalloped non-stick baking pans and a knife to level off the cake layers after baking. There is also a Silicone Sandwich Cookie Chocolate Mold ($7.99) that is like a silicone ice tray for pouring in melted chocolate, sticking a cookie in that chocolate, and then letting it set to release later with an embossed pattern, which could then decorate a cupcake or cake top.
Ugly Sweater Cookie Cutter Set
“We try to do the packaging and concept around something that a home user, with not a ton of time, can finish and be happy with,” says Christi Lowell, Vice President Sales & Marketing for Sweet Creations. “So it’s not something that you would have to have a long history of classes, or a real expertise of any kind of training or level there. It’s something that you could just read about, see the item, and then finish it that night or weekend and be happy with the project.”
Most of Sweet Creations’ specialty baking items will include a recipe along with directions and color pictures on the packaging for ease of use. So if, for example, a customer sees the Ugly Sweater Cutter Set ($9.99) from the holiday collection on the shelf and decides it looks like something they want to try, they have along with the actual product, a sugar cookie recipe that is going to work best for the purpose and directions that will guide them through from baking to decorating. They can also visit the brand’s Pinterest page for further inspiration and recipe ideas.
Giftable Jar
Knowing that baking is often done for special occasions, like birthdays and parties, Sweet Creations makes it easy for customers to transform their homemade treats into homemade gifts, or to dress them up for event presentation. There are a variety of treat bags, gift tags, and boxes to complete the edible gifting cycle after baking, decorating, and wrapping the sweet treats. Standout items include Resealable Treat Bags ($5.99) in a six count that have a blue back with a clear white polka dotted front, a label for personalization, a gusseted bottom, and white ribbon. The Giftable Jar ($4.99) is another standout that reflects back on the whole DIY concept, since users can either fill it with treats they made themselves or simply fill it with ingredients so that the recipient can make their own baked goods. The white top provides an airtight seal to the plastic jar and says “Enjoy” in cursive and has a blue ribbon threaded through it for an extra thoughtful touch. Both the Giftable Jar and Resealable Treat Bags are also available in red and white versions for the holiday season.
Resealable Treat Bags
Presentation and transportation items allow users to take their treats on the go and then set them up in a festive and eye-catching manner. The Cupcake Take-Bake-Serve ($24.99) is a 12-cup cupcake pan that has a lid so users can bake and then transport within one item. It also has a three-tiered stand that stores flat under the cover handle and can be easily assembled for presentation anywhere. A large variety of cupcake papers in an array of colors and motifs, along with products like doilies, cupcake toppers, and cake boards round out the options for setting up a nice dessert presentation at home or at an event.
“Our goal is to give a consumer products from start to finish,” says Anderson. “Not only do we have the gadgets and bakeware, but we also have an assortment of different envelopes, treat bags and boxes, so that someone can have the full experience of baking and gifting.”
Cupcake Take-Bake-Serve
Sweet Creations also offers merchandising displays and fixtures to suit different retail settings. There is everything from corrugated countertop display units on up to larger rolling racks, both for the everyday collection and the seasonal collections. Sweets Creations hopes that the combination of unique baking items and retailing solutions will appeal to independent kitchenware retailers.
“We do have a really great and competitive cost … it allows the independent retailers to have some things that are unique to them that not every mass account has a huge section of,” says Lowell. “These products are things that are more specialty and would be newer, and probably a lot of their individual consumers that are walking in the door may not have seen a lot of these things.”
This story was originally published in the August 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.
Tabletop Crawling with New Life and Buzzing Color
Ted Baker Portmeirion Rosie Lee Collection 5-Piece Dinner Set
Unexpected colors and patterns, along with a touch of whimsy, were some of the dominate trends emerging from the latest tabletop collections showcased this spring. You could say that tabletop is crawling with new life when you consider all the bugs and critters that could be found on pieces ranging from the traditional dinner plate to the tiered cake stand. Unexpected color trends also created a buzz for tablescapes, with new incarnations of blue providing an updated take on the classic blue and white color scheme beloved by so many for centuries.
The influence of runway fashion trickling down to housewares could be seen in Ted Baker’s Rosie Lee Collection for Portmeirion Group. The designer created a series of fine bone china dinnerware featuring a nod to vintage floral patterns, colors and shapes that drew inspiration from the Ted Baker Spring/Summer 2015 apparel collection.
Ted Baker Portmeirion Rosie Lee Collection
The formal Rosie Lee collection has a floral pattern of roses in various states of bloom with dragonflies sparsely perched here and there or coming in for a graceful landing. The pieces have either a black or white base, with select items in a pastel lemon or mint color base. The roses are assorted pastels in pink, lilac, and lemon, with leaves and stems done in a darker moody green for an overall look of a garden seen through overcast skies. All of the 41 pieces in the collection are hand gilded with 22-karat gold on the rims, or on the knobs of lidded items like the covered butter pat or teapot. The collection of varying hues and concentrations of patterns lends to mixing and matching for a modern take on table setting.
“From the beginning Portmeirion has pushed the boundaries of the tabletop category,” explains Wendy Motlaq, Corporate Vice President of Portmeirion Group USA. “When Susan Williams-Ellis launched her ground breaking Botanic Garden design in the 1970s it featured mismatched dinnerware before any other manufacturer. Ted Baker has done the same and shaken up the fashion world. The creation of Rosie Lee is a natural combination for Portmeirion and Ted Baker.”
PROUNA My Honeybee Tea Cup & Saucer
Indeed, taking a mix and match approach to a table layout is a great way of updating tabletop, asserts interior designer Jennifer McGee, of Jennifer McGee Design, Inc. based in New York City.
“Tabletop has become much more lifestyle and much more relaxed,” says McGee, who began her interior design firm 16 years ago. “I think people are mixing it, they’re not doing the traditional china sets anymore. It’s much more about modern luxury and contemporizing what is different about tabletop. It’s like what I do with my clients, they may have something from their grandmother, but we’re not putting the entire table set together … They’re mixing in many more things. Colors are a fun thing to mix into your traditional mix of patterns.”
From PROUNA’s Jewelry Collections, My Honeybee and My Ladybug are fine bone china lines that combine the namesake bugs along with distinctive colors and patterns for each set. My Honeybee features a firey orange that takes on a honeycomb pattern in honey yellow along the rim of the dinner plate and is solid orange around the rim of the charger plate. My Ladybug has a deep maroon jewel tone for the red and black ladybugs to stand out against. Patterned items from My Ladybug radiate abstract lines in gold and a lighter shade of maroon. Both collections feature their namesake critter jeweled in Swarovski crystals accents that are delicately done in moderation so as not to be overwhelming.
PROUNA My Ladybug Tea Cup & Saucer
Adding even further to the element of surprise is the fact that the dinnerware is dishwasher safe. Tests done by the Reckitt Benckiser Produktion Gmbh laboratory in Germany, have proven the Swarovski crystals on the Jewelry collections by PROUNA can endure 700 washing cycles in the dishwasher. However, PROUNA highly recommends hand washing to protect the real 24-karat gold that is hand-painted on the dishes.
Interior designer John Douglas Eason, of John Douglas Eason Interior Design in New York City, noted that such a pairing of patterns and colors along with the crystals adds up to an unexpected take on tabletop that is evidence of this larger overarching theme of colors and patterns prevalent at the moment.
“I am so not your Swarovski crystal kind of guy, but there’s all of this beautiful porcelain from PROUNA that has Swarovski crystals embedded into it and it’s all dishwasher safe,” says Eason, who has been in the interior design business for 25 years now. “That’s another thing that just blows me away. In the world I grew up in and started in the design world, if you have beautiful and precious things, they all had to be hand washed. Can you imagine having this beautiful plate with these Swarovski crystals and you can pop it in your dishwasher after a dinner party? I couldn’t believe it … And again, I am so not a crystal guy, but I look at it and it’s beautiful! And that’s a bit of what I am seeing, just these beautiful and interesting patterns.”
Richard Ginori Italian Pois Collection Rim Soup Plate
At Richard Ginori, colors and patterns definitely take on an unexpected twist with two different lines from the Italian brand. The Italian Pois collection of porcelain for everyday use has wild strawberries, vermilion ladybugs and small black polka dots embellishing iconic dish shapes from various Richard Ginori dinnerware collections, all outlined with black edging. The collection is available in a complete assortment of tableware, tea and coffee settings and is complemented with matching accessories and serving pieces, such as coffee mugs and a butter dish.
Further pushing the boundaries of unexpected colors and patterns is the Insetti Collection from Richard Ginori. Insetti is a range of critters done in porcelain with some of Richard Ginori’s most popular dinnerware patterns hand-painted on. The collection features symbolic insects like the butterfly, scarab, stag beetle, cicada, and grasshopper in white with colorful designs painted on in a single color, some with gold accents. The collection of critters could be used for stylish place settings, napkin paperweights, or to create a unique centerpiece. The whimsy ante is upped even further with the Insetti pieces that go meta and have insect designs painted on them featuring ants or different winged bugs.
Insetti Collection from Richard Ginori
“I saw a little bit of whimsy that I thought was really fun,” says McGee, recalling the recent New York Table Top Show and High Point Market that she attended. “I always love to add whimsy to any table. There was a bug theme going on that I saw with a couple different lines that were done artistically and that I thought was fun.”
Villeroy & Boch Floreana Collection
In a different direction, but still playing on the unexpected, dinnerware done in shades of blue stood out for the unconventional patterns it took on as well as the fresh approach to colorization. Floreana from Villeroy & Boch is premium porcelain with a blue floral pattern that is contemporary because of the watercolor technique used to give it a vintage yet modern look. The blue and white dinnerware is perfect for mixing and matching with a plain white set or with the other Floreana colors that are also available in green or red.
The Floreana platter features a tight floral pattern done intricately across the entire dish in all blue with white outlines. Smaller dishes, like the espresso plate, reverse this and reserve the pattern for only the rim of the dish done in white with blue outlines. The effect is one that is mesmerizing when the collection is viewed in entirety along with the dinner plates and mugs that feature a much larger and more willowy floral that is still complementary but different.
Q Squared Cambridge Rose (top) and Hampton Toile (bottom)
Q Squared has also delved into the blues for two different lines of melamine dinnerware. Cambridge Rose adds a touch of vintage English art and romance in the traditional blue china color. Hampton Toile has a delicate feeling thanks to the hand-drawn light blue design that showcases peacocks and florals while recalling a vintage exoticism. The fact that the collections are done in melamine that is nearly unidentifiable as such, until you read the fine print or go to grab them, adds another modern twist to the collections.
This story was originally published in the June 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.
You must be logged in to post a comment.