Thomas Fuchs and partner Michou Mahtani have created Foxware by Thomas Fuchs, which is selling its first collection of drinking glasses through Costco.com. The Roly Poly line is hand blown from recycled glass, condensation free, and ergonomically designed. Its rounded shape is smaller at the top and widens to a sphere like bottom, and can gently rock but will not tip over.

Fuchs is the founder of Otium, a to-the-trade lighting line sold through showrooms nationwide, and Thomas Fuchs Creative, a retail tabletop line sold at Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue and other high-end stores.

In the Q&A with Editor at Large, Fuchs shared some interesting facts about the new retail partnership.

EAL: How did this collection come about?

TF: I have been doing chandeliers in Murano, Italy, for quite a while now. This has given me the amazing opportunity to work with glass, a medium I love. It is luminous, colorful, textural, transparent and has lots of other attributes that are all great as inspiration. Why not take this passion and do drinking glasses that everyone can have and enjoy and hopefully cherish like they would one of my chandeliers but not with the tens of thousand-dollar price tag.

EAL: Why did you want to do a collection with Costco?

TF: Sometimes when we are designing or working with beautiful things we forget that this is a business too. Costco is wonderfully run, respectful to designers and very professional and streamlined. I enjoy working with a well-run company almost as much as designing. And, I trust them to uphold the quality of customer service I would give my chandelier clients.

EAL: How was designing this collection different from the others?

TF: It was a lot less stressful. No electricity or engineering weight, wattage, etc. It was fun and very creative.  At our first meeting I was so not intimidated. I created 250 prototypes in 15 different colors.  Some were very cool and some will never see the light of day, but these 4 are the color, shape and texture that made the cut.

EAL: From Barneys to Costco, that's a big jump. Have you been wanting to do a more mainstream collection?

TF: It is a different product. Our 3 brands, Otium, Thomas Fuchs Creative and now Foxware are very different in my mind, but my aesthetic and full attention to the design and details are in each level. 

I could very well see a client who buys a chandelier from Otium put the Skull Marble Champagne bucket from TFC on their dining table under the chandelier and use the Roly Poly glasses from Foxware to drink from. This is how our table is set at home. Your life should be an exploration and your home should reflect the things you gather along the way. It is about good design not the price or the store.

EAL: What was your inspiration for the collection? 

TF: The Roly Poly collection was  inspired buy a 17th century drinking glass I saw in a museum. People carried this glass with them and were able to use it outside. Because it has no real base or flat bottom but is perfectly balanced, the Roly Poly rests beautifully in the sand, grass and even on your dinning table. 

EAL: What are your thoughts on the final result? 

TF: I could not be happier, the texture is stunning and it sits so comfortably in your hand. I like the fact that it comes in different colors so you remember which glass is yours as well. The funny thing is, it looks small but really is not, it hold 8 oz of liquid so although we use it for wine it can be used with any beverage.