The people who work with the media and run the press rooms at trade shows are always quite helpful. Debbie Teschke, Manager of Media Relations and Communications for the International Housewares Show, fit that profile perfectly. I was glad to have a chance to meet her when I walked into the media room to pick up press kits and get a feel for the show before I walked onto the floor.
I had a long day of looking at product and speaking with people who were anxious to show off everything that was new. When the day was over, I had seen color shifts and interesting forms that made my trip worthwhile.
It was clear that vendors were stepping up with several risk-taking products. One way or another, the companies that developed them were striving to tap into consumer wants and needs that are not currently being met. Here are a few that caught my eye:
l-r: 10 Strawberry Street’s dinnerware; Serving bowls from Gourmet by Fitz & Floyd
– Gibson’s desert/décor plate prototypes, decorated with scenes featuring Jesus and targeted to the Hispanic market.
– 10 Strawberry Street’s dinnerware with a teardrop shaped saucer and an undulating rim on the cup. The image is above.
– Serving bowls from Gourmet by Fitz & Floyd with diagonally cut rims so the bowl seems to open from the front, not the top.
– Kahla’s new, angular forms for dinnerware. I saw these first in Frankfurt, Germany at the Ambiente trade fair just a few weeks ago. Showing some of the same products in Chicago just a few weeks later confirms that trends are moving faster — from all around the world — than ever before.
– Anchor Hocking’s 1930’s revival soup-and-snack sets (a wine-and-snack set updates the concept; it also debuted). If your grandmother had glass sets like this, it is time to dig them out of the attic and put them in your kitchen cupboard.
Kamenstein’s Flo lifestyle products like wine racks, waste baskets, tissue holders and trays, with curvy forms, soft-tactile material and an amazing color palette
– Kamenstein’s Flo lifestyle products like wine racks, waste baskets, tissue holders and trays, with curvy forms, soft-tactile material and an amazing color palette (disclosure: the colors were specified from The Trend Curve Colors™ and Desert Neutrals™. All of The Trend Curve’s color forecasts can be ordered from Janice or by visiting www.TrendCurve.com and clicking on the Trend Store link).
– Rosanna, Inc.’s All I Want dinnerware pattern for the Holidays.
– ISI’s beautifully designed multi-functional gadget that brushes or bastes. The silicone mixing bowl in the picture shown left is also new. I liked how the undulating shape of the rim lets you squeeze the top into a spout that makes pouring so easy! ISI also introduced a silicone spatula with spring steel inside to add some of the rigid qualities you might like in a tool like that to silicone. They were done in the great Red you see here, plus Wasabi Green and an Off-White. These people did a great job with both design and color!