2000 New York Gift Show Review: Nostalgic, Asian Trends Continue To Steer Design

This summer's excursion to the New York International Gift Show resulted in a wealth of new discoveries. The consumer's search inward continues to keep Asian-inspired tabletop hot, while the country's sense of nostalgia is also influencing design. Products illustrating the romance of the Victorian era also stood out at the show, along with designs created with alternative materials that ranged from hemp to resin.

Shelter Trends

Retro- and Asian-inspired trends in home design continue to heat the tabletop market with growing introductions of milk glass, square and rectangular shapes, and bubble glass.

A noticeable shift in Asian-inspired product is the introduction of brighter colors in both designs and solids. Laquerwood is also giving the Asian trend another power surge. Companies such as Asiaphile are generating interest with brightly colored laquerwood introductions in fuchsia, orange, red, and champagne.

Textured treatments made their own statement with several companies showing tabletop with raised patterns or embossed designs. Del Mar stoneware in trendy hues of azure, sand, seamist, and pearl has from Nancy Calhoun Inc. a deceivingly simplistic design comprised of a series of raised circles along the border. While the line offers a square serving platter, a standard in today's pattern offering, it also offers a unique square divided platter.

A clue to the popularity of textured design may be in the nostalgia movement. For example, At Home's Vintage Home collection is a modern transformation of baby boomers' childhood kitchens. Vintage Home comes in yellow-green, blue, and white and is complete with canisters, an embossed teapot-shaped spoon rest, and a trivet. Hackman Tabletop expanded its popular Aino Aalto design from iittala. Created in 1932, the design has been modernized with the introduction of a smoky Grey and a new charger plate. The glass design features graduated circular levels, creating grooved textures.

An antique design, the fleur de lis, had a high profile at the show with both formal and whimsical translations. In addition to being central to many wrought iron introductions such as wall-mounted plate holders, the French-inspired signature could be spotted in many tabletop introductions. Abigails introduced its Fleur de Lis pattern, an Italian-made white-glazed dinnerware line featuring crimped edges and fleur de lis accents.

Nature is also coming to life in tabletop. Dragonflies, roosters, and monkeys were popular creatures popping up in patterns throughout the show.

Present Tense is up to their own Monkey Business with a 9/-inch four-plate series depicting a whimsical monkey playing games. They also opened their doors to a rooster with Proud Fools, another 9/-inch four-plate series with a strutting rooster calling the shots. Mariposa took its own inspiration from nature with Passion Fruit, a dinnerware collection featuring the tropical fruit and dragonflies. The company complements the line with Dragonflies ceramic serveware, Brillante metal accent pieces (Harvest and Flutter-By which includes a huge dragonfly), and dragonfly bubbleglass beverageware.

Metallic treatments in tabletop stood out at the show. Whether it be complete line extensions to incorporate pewter, copper, or silver serveware, mixtures of metal and wood in flatware design, or hand-painted metallic designs on glassware, metals of all kinds are growing in strength.

While Vance Kitira introduced Anna, a line of flatware which combines bronze and rosewood, Ceramica Varm showcased its new pewterware collection designed to complement its tabletop patterns. The Ceramica Varm line consists of oval/round platters, a charger, and serving utensils. The company also displayed its new Melissa pattern, a soft and pretty leaf design created with red-purple combinations on a yellow wash. Zrike introduced Waverly's Mistral pattern to its porcelain tabletop collection. It features a fruit motif with a rich color palette of reds, yellows, and greens, making it perfect for holiday and everyday use.

Wrap Up

A mass of impressive gifts were exhibited at the show with gift basket vendors scattered throughout the aisles, in addition to exhibitors ready to tie it all together with ribbons and bows.

Basket design and materials trends were similar to those in textiles and tabletop. Metals, hemp rope, wood, and combinations thereof were plentiful in gift basket exhibits. Many exhibitors showcased see-though mesh wire baskets in gold, silver, and bronze in a variety of shapes. Ribbons in taffeta, silk, and organdy repeated the trend, making statements on the table with a strong show of chartreuse, peacock, and emerald green luminescent fabrics.

A few steps in any direction and retailers discovered a myriad of items perfect for the gourmet basket or for impulse buys near the register. Instant Gourmet Crown Mulling Spices come with recipes and unique packaging suggestions. Recipes include Apple Date Crisp, Apple Muffins, and Spiced Apple Pie. Twelve gift box patterns provide for year-round gift giving.

Bella Cucina set its holiday table with new pesto gift box sets and packaging for its biscotti and Death by Chocolate cookies. La Piccolina and Company, Inc. is also wrapping its product neatly for the holiday in a Gourmet Shop gift box. The whimsical packaging houses pasta, pasta sauce, breadsticks, biscotti, and party dip. The easy-to-carry package is complete with a handle and pop-out recipe cards on the back.

Stephany's Chocolates displayed its new fall/winter packaging complete with an innovative Halloween box in an understated black-and-silver design. Tom & Sally's Handmade Chocolates got into the Halloween spirit with the introduction of gummi Nose Worms to its novelties line of candies. Their other fun candy products include Corn off the Cob, Bag of Coal, Sugarplum Fairies, and Reindeer Noses.

It may not be a new idea, but Chocoholics Divine Desserts is packaging its chocolate body frosting in a gift set that includes a Cooking in the Nude Quickies cookbook, a paintbrush, two jars of frosting, and a see-through apron.

More fun painting with food was discovered at Bark & Bradley with the introduction of its new Cookie Paint Boxes and Icing Mix. Each set, in rainbow or pastel colors, comes with a concentrated color powder similar to watercolors, except it's edible.

Under the headline of fake food, a few fun gift items go gourmet by way of packaging. Three fun candle ideas packaged as food were interesting.

For customers seeking the perfect pie without the calories, check out what Candy Mountain Candle Company is baking. Retailers packed the company's booth to check out their realistic Apple, Cherry, Lemon Meringue, and Very Berry pie candles. You can wash down the pie with Candle Lite by Robinwood. Twelve-ounce drink-flavored candles served in a frosty glass — Strawberry Milk Shake, Vanilla Milk Shake, Chocolate Milk, Green Tea, Grape Juice, Lemonade, Iced Coffee, Orange Juice, and Raspberry Lime Rickey — are served up in their own decorative drink cartons.

Earth Potions' "To Go" line of Chinese food take-out containers are great for point-of-purchase or gift baskets. Spirit "To Go" contains 15 bath pearls, a three-ounce travel candle, and a fortune cookie, while Tea Light Garden "To Go" contains three tea light candles and tranquility stones, along with black sand. The box rests in a ceramic tray and is tied with a ribbon.

Alda's Forever provided samples of its gourmet concentrates which blend with cream cheese, whipped cream, butter, or sour cream. Perfect for gift baskets, they come with recipes and are available in flavors such as Southern Praline Pecan and Tropical Key Lime.

Now Designs and Mary Lake Thompson Ltd. both introduced kitchen textiles packaged nicely as gifts. Now Design's set contains four cotton towels in different designs wrapped up with a white ribbon, available now in three colors: green, red, and royal blue. Mary Lake Thompson packaged kitchen fun in its towel and soap set called Kitchen. The set, illustrated with realistic whisk, hand blender and slotted spoon design, is comprised of a flour sack towel and glycerin soap and tied with a ribbon. A twill apron with two large pockets is also available in the same design.

Material World

Table settings are getting special treatment as consumers continue their quest to create the ultimate home environment. Fabrics are becoming more luxurious and designs more intrinsically artistic as tablecloths, napkins, and table runners gain in consumer popularity.

Exhibitors made bold statements in fabric samplings. Supple organdy in eye-catching hues of purple, lime, yellow, and red floated across tables finished with soft silk napkins. Gold, silver, and copper made their presence known in this category as in the dinnerware category.

Colors and fabrics once found only on the fashion runways are heading for the table as rich eggplant and sophisticated silvers and grays were presented in cotton-organdy blends and silks. Vance Kitira introduced Briganza, a copper-red or gray-silver boxed silk pattern offered in a 44-inch tablecloth. Hedges & Ivy wove together a beautiful silk and wool Mediterranean Collection in combinations of rich ruby, azure, onyx, and golds.

While rich, luxurious fabrics gave retailers something to run their fingers through, other designers chose to stimulate the mind instead. From Benza comes the Bite Me placemat — a polyethylene mat with a bite out of it by designers Giovanni Pellone and Paul Williamson. Pellone also created a chip n' dip mat, a coaster for two, and a Peacock hanging coaster and placemats, all made of the same durable material. Luisa Cevese Riedizioni fuels the imagination with a collection of products made out of textile scraps and plastic. The effect is attention-grabbing, with shreds of beautiful material matted between layers of transparent, supple, thin plastic to create unique placemats. Studio Bazar created its own funky style with placemats woven from what appears to have been a plastic Easter basket in a past life.

Retailers will be pleased to discover a plethora of round placemats now available for consumers battling for space on their round kitchen tables. The Sak Home introduced round placemats composed of either seagrass or pandan. The pandan mats were dressed up with a border of nylon crochet.

Interesting use of alternative materials in table settings was noticeable throughout the aisles and showrooms. Tablewear by Marsha Blanke gave retailers a great image to pass on to customers with resin tablemats, coasters, trays, and chargers. The line consists of natural leaves pressed in an opaque resin to form a simple design. Finished with bamboo borders, the style mixes well with both Asian- and contemporary design-oriented tables. Candle plates, as well as lanterns, also complete the line and can double as trivets.

One World Projects packed its booth with handmade products created from natural resources such as oval placemats made from Fique and napkin rings made from Tagua nuts. Zen-Zen introduced a myriad of Asian-inspired products making use of natural resources. Warm-colored Indonesian grass in round placemats, coasters, and napkin rings sparked considerable interest as illustrations of durable craftsmanship. Anugrah Inc. made its own statement with contemporary rectangular placemats of bamboo tiles and plastic cording. The tiles are reminiscent of the famous Asian game pieces of Ma-Jong; the mats are sold in sets of four and come in natural, tan, green, and coffee. Drulane is also working with straw this year, introducing a rectangular placemat in eleven colors with eight wooden buttons sewn down each side.

Ancient Graffiti used nature to inspire its slate product line which includes gray-green slate bases (for use with candles or food service) and coasters quarried and handcrafted in Vermont.

Trillium Design Imports brought nature to the table with Luau, a cotton/bamboo weave placemat. The natural bamboo material is woven together with hearty primary colors of juniper, garnet, or medieval blue to form the rectangular mat.

Bellissima Designs brought a group of Swaziland artists to the table with the Gone Rural collection of woven tableware and accessories. This African women's cooperative is creating placemats, coasters, and napkin rings by weaving lutundzi grass. The table settings are complemented by hand-woven napkins, come in eight colors, and are sold in sets of four.

Additional hand-painted linens also stretch the fabric with creations on silk, polyester, linen, hemp, and cotton canvas. Carol Shiber Designs introduced new table art with her Artforms designs. The collection is created on polyester with vinyl backing and marketed to a more everyday lifestyle consumer than is her linen line. The fun and decorative pieces come in oversized flower, leaf, fruit, fish, gift-box, and ornament shapes and are complemented with matching coasters. Her linen/cotton canvas collection sets a more formal table and includes runners, napkins, napkin cuffs, placemats, and crystal stemware.

Peggy Walz Inc. debuted her hand-painted Vineyard line on taupe damask. The colorful grapes signify the French varietals of Merlot, Sauvignon, Anjou, and Pinot Noir.