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The Spring 2008 New York tabletop show was a very busy one for us. This is the last major show before the summer gap and this year’s show was even crazier as the shift in the schedule condensed the show into three days. Although the halls were open over the weekend it was a ghost town.

Most of our customers also had successful shows, although the recession, or slow-down, of the US economy did seem to be weighing heavy on the minds of retailers. This trickled down to their ideas on dinnerware designs where people seem to split two ways.

The majority tend to look for safe, traditional designs. Classic english tableware companies are a beneficiary of this trend as are large well-established brands. Royal Doulton is great example. More retailers look for floral designs, although there are subtle changes. Tableware trends are moving from the silhouetted flower patterns that have been popular for so long to more expressionistic, artistic detailed painting with splashes and brush strokes.

Another faction goes in the opposite direction. Instead of going back to more traditional designs they take greater risks. The thinking being that in harder times people are looking for something different. The Chirp pattern by Lenox Simply Fine (which we did not design but wish we had) is a perfect example. This is a bold, risky design that many would say is too contemporary for American tastes. We are happy that Lenox has been very successful with this pattern and think it shows that design risks do pay off.

There is always a lot of bridal in New York and this show was no different. Formal china is often paired with bridal designers, Vera Wang for Wedgwood and Monique Lhuillier was introduced by Royal Doulton. The casual end, particularly white-ware is often branded with celebrity chefs from Jamie Oliver with Royal Worcester to Mario Batali and Rachel Ray.

It is hard to differentiate, especially in all white ware, which is good news for celebrities looking for endorsements. Patterned tableware still comes down to what is on the plate and tougher compettion will lead to more expressionistic, lively sketchy patterns where the artists work can show through and less rehashing of silhouetted flowers and motifs from Chinese pattern books.

A letter-sized, PDF version of our presentation on tableware trends is now available to download through ‘Resources’ to the right of our blog posts. The presentation consists of five mood boards and headline points for the trends that we see coming to the table.