Feature: Tableware
high-end porcelain. We help our customers to visualise and conceptualise their ideas, while meeting tight timelines and budgets.” Both companies also highlight the importance of the materials used, as well as the looks achieved. Piper says: “Apart from aesthetics, it’s important to understand the operational and manufacturing constraints involved in the pieces you create. For example, depending on the clay used, you have to compensate for how the shapes will move in the kiln and design-in a structure to your shape that will help eliminate movement in the material when fired. You also have to consider both the contact points and strength so this is really coming back to structural engineering essentially.” GIP has been using fine Meti china to create a wide number of styles and designs of tableware (formal, casual, traditional and contemporary) for First and Business classes. The company chose fine Meti chinaware for
“customer trends going in two basic directions: a resurgence of elegant and modern lines coupled with a desire for a simple look. ”
its resilience on board aircraft. The porcelain is very white in colour and durable, having been fired at very high temperatures to create a strong, chip resistant final product. Utopia Tableware has become a major supplier in the sector by putting its focus on strict quality control and high standards of customer service. It operates from the UK, with offices in London and Chesterfield, to supply a comprehensive range of bespoke glassware, ceramics and cutlery to the trade from its production units in Turkey and China. LSG Sky Chefs drew its inspiration from
its client for its latest series of ‘Silver Age’ tableware. The product was specially designed for one of the biggest Russian airlines and the brief was that it should mirror the unmistakable brand image of the airline. The Business tableware range was to serve all the airline’s flights with a consistent design style
Main picture: A Silver Age setting from LSG Sky Chefs Below, from left; Global Inflight Products; Y+ Studio’s Stone range and Cobble from Asian Pioneer
that would complement the brand image and tie in with the seat colours and crew uniforms. The line developed took its style from the 1920s and was derived from the ‘Wedgewood’ and ‘Floral’ branding of the airline. The Golden Twenties, referred to as the ‘Silver Age’ in Russia, was a very apt hook for a concept that was designed to raise the airline’s image. This era is regarded as a period of great creativity in Russia so the line carried added kudos through this association. Volker Klag, director design for LSG Sky Chefs, says: “We took the influence, ideas and the creative spirit of Russian writers, architects and artists from this ‘Silver Age’ era and gave it a modern twist.” The ‘Silver Age’ concept also worked as a way
to create positive perceptions around customer service and pointed up the high-end standard of the service. Luxury and style was absolutely affordable for high society in the 1920s and replicating this deluxe guest experience helped established the idea that boarding the airline’s Business class offered passengers the chance to step back in time to an era that was all about quality service and personal touches. Art nouveau depictions, exquisite styling and the use of the Russian national symbol: the Birch Leaf, added to the exclusive style. The floral pattern appears to be strewn over the individual tableware elements, helping to provide an air of lightness and ensuring harmony when all items are arranged on the table. LSG Sky Chefs used porcelain for this series, within its ‘Enlight’ product line, optimised to suit the airline’s complex catering requirements and the logistics of using facilities all around the globe. The components and sizes of the tableware were designed to suit all kinds of services on short-, medium- and long-haul routes. On legacy flights, tableware is placed on the table, whereas on charter flights it’s presented on a tray. Functionality was further supported by
the shape. The oval tableware items have an elegant one-sided curve, which can be easily gripped and stacked over each other.
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