Frankfurt, Germany - Yellow and orange, purple and turquoise and especially green - there are more colours available in this year's early china collections than ever before. There's also a counter trend - no colour at all expressed in white china and glass that is very unpretentious, but not exactly plain. The two trends don't cancel each other out. On the contrary, the right combination of white and colours or modern and old, can really show the pieces' cachet.
This was obvious at a recent interior design show in Frankfurt. The trends for 2008 combine opposites, such as nature and high tech or luxury and abstention, according to the show's organizers. The essential elements are modernity and clarity. Despite the many intense colours, the overall picture appears calm compared with that of past years mainly because designers have foregone patterns.
Max Peter Plaenker of an interior design company in Meerbusch near Dusseldorf said patterns are not in presently. When colour comes into play, it generally is full colour. Tables are being brightened by red plates, blue cups and green vases. Red, orange, yellow and especially green are the hot colours.
"In fashion, green already has established itself. Now it's spilling over into interior decorating," said Plaenker. Many decorators orient themselves based on whatever is new on the catwalks.
"Naturally, we go to the fashion shows and look to see what colours are hot," said Torben Kasimzade of Danish china maker Stelton, which is known for its tall, narrow thermoses in various bright colours.
This year in addition to white and beige, light green is being encouraged - a nod to the natural trend, which also has inspired many designers' white china creations. Buyers looking for china with painted blossoms or leaves this year will do so in vain. The ceramics themselves should hold the effect through fancy forms, for example, and through embossed or featured design elements.
This can be seen in a design called Landscape by Patricia Urquiola of Spain. Urquiola, who is actually an expert in furniture, has collaborated for the first time on dinnerware with the German china maker Rosenthal. The result is a collection of filigree bowls, plates, cups and mugs in various sizes. There also is cutlery and glasses, all decorated with reliefs that resemble crochet, blossoms or animal paw prints.
"Normally, a design comes out in white china first and in the following year with a coloured pattern," said Urquiola. She wanted the decorative pieces straight away. "And they should be part of the china."
The collection Diamonds & Pearls by the German china maker Kahla also uses elemental design structures for a particular effect. They are only visible on the under side of the dishes. On the upper side, they emerge as a structure reminiscent of a crystal.
British designer Sebastian Conran's collection iCon, created for the German maker Leonardo, is limited to organic forms. Plates of different sizes stacked on one another in an imitation of a tree's rings. Much of the new china is supposed to conjure up such imagery.
The Gourmet collection by another German china maker, Arzberg, for example, aims to create a stage for culinary enjoyment. The plate is trapezoid shape and comes in enough sizes to provide plenty of space to arrange appetizers.
Villeroy and Boch is taking its design ambitions over the edge of the plate. The German china maker took the entire table into account when it came up with the collection Urban Nature. Plates in extra large sizes and bowls in the shape of wooden troughs are meant to combine with bridge elements to create a landscape and arouse playful instincts. Marketing director Alexander Lohnherr said that's something that is often overlooked when arranging a table. Lohnherr said tables should be decorated spontaneously and loosely, but most people find that difficult.
Danish designer Louise Campbell shows considerably less inhibition in her works. While developing the Elements collection for the traditional china maker Royal Copenhagen, she smashed expensive china to see how patterns from different eras could be combined with modern elements. Campbell ultimately combined her own ideas with patterns from the 18th and 19th centuries. They can be seen on a total of 15 pieces, which come in white or decorated with strong colours.
Most of the white dinnerware collections have individual characters. Even pieces made by machine, like hand-made pieces, should not seem completely perfect. The Frankfurt trade show indicated that luxury is continuing to grow in importance. And this continual desire for precious items is expressed in the increasing preference for individual, unique pieces and custom-made products.
The traditional china service for six or 12 people is increasingly being replaced by china collections from which consumers can pick and choose to fit their own needs. Urquiola said this reflects constantly changing lifestyles. She recommends keeping old china and complementing it with new pieces.
"Mixing provides surprises and it endows personal identity," Urquiola said.
