Product Preview is a weekly series spotlighting the latest and greatest debuts in the marketplace. Check back every Friday for what’s new and notable.
Maybe it’s because we are all yearning for a bit of pre-pandemic normalcy in our lives, but a solid assortment of design brands seem to be feeling nostalgic right now. While some are turning to century-old craft-making techniques for inspiration, others are digging into their archives and releasing updated versions of classic designs. Here are some standouts from the latest round of launches.
Los Angeles-based furniture and lighting designer Lulu LaFortune released an insanely cool second collection called Le Passé est Present. The designs fuse classic 19th-century craft techniques with contemporary materials and pop culture-inspired color palettes, including an ultramodern metal table lamp with an old-school stained glass shade and a puffy, quilted, sky blue club chair inspired by Britney Spears’s legendary denim dress at the 2001 American Music Awards.
Country Floors tapped Chicago-based interior designer Julia Buckingham for a dreamy collection called Desert Wildflowers. The assortment of glazed matte ceramic tiles features abstract watercolor motifs in five gorgeous colorways, including our personal fave, the pink-hued Kiss Me Quick.
Rochester, New York–based Chelsea Fay, a goldsmith turned textile designer, unveiled a delightful debut line of table linens inspired by midcentury interiors. The colorful selection combines bold patterns and saturated hues in designs ranging from the 1950s-style bright Citrus napkins to the Kew table runner in a blue-and-yellow botanical motif.
Danish company Carl Hansen & Son has introduced a handful of carefully crafted furniture designs: The FK10 and FK11 Plico chairs feature adjustable backrests and can be folded down to a compact shape for simplified storage, while the BM0488S table bench, a shorter version of Børge Mogensen’s famous canework design, easily transitions from seat to side table.
Machine-washable-rug company Ruggable debuted 16 new designs in collaboration with Jonathan Adler. True to the designer’s signature statement-making style, the assortment features an array of eye-catching color combinations and geometric motifs, including the graphic Op Art rug and the backgammon-inspired Carnaby.
Home accessories designer Kim Seybert released a gorgeous line of table dressings just in time for fall. The festive selection features an impressive assortment of fanciful embellishments and sumptuous materials, including the gemstone-and-sequin-adorned Jewel Fringe placemat and glass-beaded Aspen table runner.
Artisan-made home decor brand Bloomist introduced its first-ever furniture line in collaboration with Danish design company Skagerak. The clean-lined collection offers 10 pieces composed of sustainable natural oak wood, including the three-tiered Dania letter tray, the Georg desk and the Georg Jubilee stool (which comes with a Swedish leather cushion to boot).
Irish design brand Orior’s new seven-piece collection is a study on form and function. The sustainably made assortment features handcrafted furniture pieces that combine traditional techniques with modern shapes and materials, including the curvy, velvet-cushion-clad Bianca ottoman and the wood-joint Riva bench.
California-based brand Principle Faucets debuted a state-of-the-art foot pedal that minimizes water waste by up to 44 percent. Available in three sleek finishes, the Step allows you to start, stop and change the flow of water with the press of the pedal—so you won’t keep the tap running if you need to step away from the sink for a second—and it can be integrated into most types of faucet systems.
Homepage photo: The Watts table lamps by Lulu LaFortune | Courtesy of Lulu LaFortune
