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TABLETOP 1 8 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW ■ JULY 2014 ■ www.kitchenwarenews.com BY DONNA BOYLE SCHWARTZ Suppliers of housewares, tabletop and home décor are serving up a smorgasbord of style for the upcoming holiday season, including elegant and easy entertaining items; trendy tabletop designs; great gadgets; and a bevy of beverage accessories. The traditional warm reds and greens of the holiday season will be joined this year by trendy tones, including rich sapphire and cobalt blues, passionate purples and luscious golden hues. Metallic accents are increasingly important, including the ubiquitous silver and gold, as well as an up-and-coming adornment, copper. Seasonal motifs that transcend Christmas time are proving popular among consumers, and suppliers are offering an abundant assortment of patterns that can stay on the table f rom autumn through the holidays. Eigen Arts, for instance, is introducing a 19-inch platter and serving bowl with an embossed pinecone design, as well as painted holly pattern on platters, chargers and mugs. The handmade earthenware platter is in a soft sage green shade and the bowl is finished in a butter glaze. The company is also featuring a dreidel platter and dreidel menorah, both highlighted by a rich blue glaze on a cream background. "Our customers have been asking for patterns that will transition around the holidays," points out Paul Brothe, President. "The pinecone was designed for fall table settings, for Thanksgiving and will still be appropriate for the December holidays." Similarly, Jason Products Ltd. is introducing three new placemat and coaster designs: Birds and Berries by artist Elena Vladykina features a cardinal and chickadee surrounded by winter foliage, pinecones and berry branches; Charming Street by painter Marco Fabiano captures the magic of traditional shop fronts at Christmas with a decorated snowman on the street; and Berry Branch by artist and designer Sally Eckman Roberts highlights a holly and berry stem on a f resh white background, set off with a deep Christmas red textured border. Placemats are gift- boxed in sets of four; coasters are gift-boxed in sets of six. "Birds and Berries is a special design that can be used to set a beautiful Christmas table and enjoyed all winter long," notes Angela Loughran, National Sales Manager. "The beautifully decorated store f ronts in our Charming Street design remind us of the time we walked outdoors from store to store to do our Christmas shopping. And the traditional Christmas palette of classic red, green and white have been given a contemporary twist with Berry Branch. "Overall the trend has a classic homey warm feel to it," Loughran continues. "During turbulent times, everyone is drawn to home. The rich classic colors of Christmas past in reds and greens draws our thoughts to wonderful celebrations and the warmth of family during the holidays." Enamelware designer Julia Knight is adding elegant trays, bowls and platters that can be used through the fall and winter seasons. "I love to celebrate the fall and winter holidays and have added new festive finery to dress up both occasions," declares Julia Knight, Designer and Chief Executive Officer. "A fabulous fall icon adorns my Squirrel Centerpiece Tray, which is a conversation piece that can be used all season long. We have added the perfect piece to our Holly Sprig collection with our new Rectangular Tray and our high-wattage gold will be combined with pearlized enamel in Lilies and Roses for a shimmering garden garland. I am very excited about the addition of a new color, sapphire blue, which brings a bit of regal flair to our color palette. "My sense is that this holiday season you will continue to see a romantic aesthetic and feel in décor and the resurgence of rich, luxurious jewel tones to add a punch of color," Knight continues. "I love the idea of an eclectic mix and my tables will combine the refined with relaxed and the exotic with high style." Red Pomegranate is spotlighting entertaining at home for the holidays, with canapé plates and dessert plates in its Damask and Rabat collections, and tear-drop-shaped serving plates in its Casa Blanca line; colors include black velvet, dazzling blue, brilliant red and gold mirror, accented with gold, copper or silver leaf. "The colors used in this series are bold and can transition from holiday easily into year-long entertaining colors," comments Sudi Taleghani, Co-Founder. "Today's shoppers are more globally aware of environment and no longer buy on impulse and think 'disposable;' we have to create designs that are long lasting and have a huge value for the dollars spent." Of course, there is still a huge market for classic Christmas, and Portmeirion Group is expanding its iconic Spode Christmas Tree line with new serveware and a ceramic/wood collection. "Our 2014 sentiment imprinted on our collector's plate, 'Wishing you the joy of family and the happiness of friends,' truly embodies the idea of celebrating with loved ones at home for the holidays," Ho-Ho-Holiday: Housewares, Home Décor & Tabletop Poised For Sizeable Sales states Wendy Motlaq, Corporate Vice President. "Within the concept of entertaining, we are also seeing growth in elegant gold collectables, embossed border patterns and other fine details that add distinctive and memorable touches to holiday entertaining." Portmeirion Group also is presenting the Sophie Conran Christmas Collection in four mix and match styles inspired by Conran's favorite antiques: Candy Cane, Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Flakes and Christmas Star. Anything to make food preparation easier, faster and less stressful around the holidays is popular with harried hosts and hostesses, and suppliers are offering a plethora of gift-able gadgets and housewares items. Core Home, for example, is introducing a festive and fun bamboo Christmas cookie stamp; bamboo cutting boards in assorted holiday colors; bamboo and silicone utensils in gold metallic, silver metallic and bronze metallic; and acacia serveware in a natural/rustic finish. "We see metallic as a trend for holiday 2014," comments Juliet Morrison, Marketing Director. "We've incorporated this by offering our color boards and silicone with bamboo utensils in gold metallic, silver metallic and bronze metallic. We've also offered blue metallic for our mini silicone with bamboo tools. You will see warmer tones take charge, including gold as a metallic mixed in with the traditional colors of red and green. Blue has become a top tier color and will be trending alongside the frosts and simple, natural looks. Acacia serve pieces always do well during holiday entertaining because of their elevated, rich look." Joseph Joseph is introducing a large number of tools and gadgets, including compact can openers, knife sharpeners, cutting boards with integrated knife honers, potato ricers, dough cutter and scrapers, and mixing bowls. "As with all Joseph Joseph products, the key detail is the problem- solving aspect," explains Damon Willmott, Senior Vice President of Sales. "We are continuously looking for ways to improve our existing products and will apply design tweaks if we feel it will benefit the user with a functional advantage." Lifetime Brands is focusing on function with its new Savora kitchen tools, adding a food chopper, herb mincer, berry colander, and martini shaker, all in a range of bright and bold shades, including Savora's signature hue, passion. "We continue to see trends that enable us to cater to a consumer who is entertaining at home and for whom food prep and entertaining has become a lifestyle choice," asserts Sid Ramnarace, Vice President of Design, Global Brand Integration. "This holiday, we'll be introducing a series of items that underscore Savora's commitment to kitchen tools that function beautifully. Savora tools are beautifully designed and crafted to address the continuing trend of at- home entertaining." Libations are an important component to many celebrations, and manufacturers are introducing wide range of both fun and elegant beverage accessories for the holidays. Creative Danes is offering a new Beer Foamer under its Menu brand that allows consumers to recreate the dense foam that comes from a draft beer. "No matter how skilled you might be at pouring the perfect beer, beautifully f rothy head and all, Copenhagen-based Norm Architects makes a compelling case to spring for a beer foaming device," avows Lars Nielsen, Co-Founder, Creative Danes. "Norm's battery-powered beer foamers are a clear tribute to two things Scandinavians excel at: beer and beautiful design. "We saw last season that everything we launched with copper was very strong," Nielsen adds, "and with a number of new copper items, including the Beer Foamer, we expect this trend to continue. Our core wine accessories, the Wine Breather and Blade Aerator did very well for us last year and we expect those to do really well this holiday season as well." Oenophiles will be pleased with a new collection of specialty glassware from Lehmann Glass, "the wine lover's label." The new Jamesse Prestige Collection is a full range of wine and champagne mouth-blown crystal designed in partnership with chef sommelier Philippe Jamesse of the famed three-star Michelin- rated Domaine Les Crayeres. "Wine and champagne are key in holiday entertaining," points out Pamela Burke, Senior Vice President of Sales for Lehmann representative Prouna USA. "Lehmann Glass has a collection for the most intimate dinner or wine event, as well as the 'perfect glass for champagne' to toast the New Year. The Jamesse 'Grand Champagne' has a pointed bottom at the bowl of the glass that creates a chimney of bubbles to enhance your champagne experience. "Lehmann has a special 'Black Oenomust' tasting glass created by Master Sommelier Gerard Basset; the Oenomust range is a wine tasting tool and enhances your oenological experience," Burke adds, noting, "The wide bowl creates the perfect rotation of the wine and gradual narrowing opening at the top enhances all aspects of the wine experience." www.corehome.com www.creativedanes.com www.eigenarts.com www.jasonproducts.com www.josephjoseph.com www.juliaknightcollection.com www.portmeirion.com www.prounaUSA.com www.redpomegranate.net www.savorastyle.com For More Information