If you’ve ever dined at the Copenhagen café Atelier September, you may have been as struck by the tableware or furnishings as by the food, overseen by local star chef Frederik Bille Brahe. Mette Hay, co-founder of Hay, was, so she enlisted Brahe to contribute his eye and expertise to a new line of kitchen goods and tableware produced by the Danish brand. The pair had worked together in 2016 on a pop-up café during Milan Design Week and the result of their latest collaboration launched in August at the MoMa Design Store in New York. Hay Kitchen Market, as the new venture is known, combines “diverse backgrounds and shared passion for design” to create a collection based on function as well as style.
It’s a wide-ranging effort, encompassing everything from dishes, cups, glasses and cutlery to pots, pans, peelers and graters. Thematically, the collection marries a warm and whimsical retro feel (think pastel plate sets and diner-style shakers and sugar dispensers) with an unabashed globalism (handblown glasses from Morocco, Japanese steel containers, Italian metal ice cups).
Here are five picks from the line embodying both high function and quirky form:
The collection’s large-handled porcelain coffeepots come in two sizes – a tall, chocolate-brown one and a squatter, buttery yellow version. Lids in contrasting colours top the carafes, which contain an innovative SoftBrew brewing device that infuses the coffee through a micro-thin stainless steel filter to enhance flavour. For tea drinkers, a grey teapot with a contrasting red lid is also available.
2 Everyday and Sunday flatware by BIG-GAME
Comprising tablespoons, teaspoons, forks and knives, Hay Kitchen Market’s elegantly minimalist flatware is made of stainless steel with either a gold or silver finish. Pieces in the Everyday range have seamlessly smooth surfaces, while the Sunday range features ridged handles. The dishwasher-safe collection was designed for Hay by BIG-GAME, a product and interior design studio based in Switzerland.
Made in Turkey, the collection’s Rainbow family of dishes, plates and bowls starts out as white lacquered porcelain, which is then coated with another layer of coloured lacquer to give it a glossy, almost translucent shine. The tableware is available in up to eight colours, from baby blue and soft pink to turquoise and sand. The pieces, which are sold individually, can be mixed and matched or collected by hue.
The bodies of these sleek wooden pepper grinders are painted one of two understated colours: mint green or slate grey. Inside, an integrated function allows users to adjust the size and coarseness of the pepper grains. The grinders were also designed for Hay by Sowden, the veteran British-born designer and inventor.
Likely to be among the most collectible of Hay Kitchen Market’s wares, these mugs feature boldly coloured bark patterns, a signature of the artist Richard Woods. To create the effect, the patterns are hand-painted and then glazed onto the stoneware mugs, which are available in six shades: red, pink, yellow, blue, green and white. Woods’ work is in the collection of the MoMA, where Hay Kitchen Market was launched, in its brick-and-mortar shop in Soho and online, on August 22.
In addition to the MoMA Design Store, Hay Kitchen Market will also be rolled out at the Picasso Museum in Paris on September 8, at Selfridges in London on September 11 and at all Hay stores in Europe by November 1.