Design

New kid

town

Just 18 months after launching his own crystal and silver collection, British designer David Redman is fast becoming a 'name' in the US, with his blend of high-end giftware and his craftsman's credentials
Redman's trademark black crystal, aboard a crystal table Known for his use of black, purple - and more recently, white - crystal, Redman loves having the creative freedom that so many 'corporate' designers are denied. 'Some big companies take a very exciting design and anaesthetise it, make it plain and safe. The designers know they'll never see their designs through to a product they would actually want on their tables and this is very frustrating.' Redman is finding that his blend of 'urbane cosmopolitan' with craftsmanship is proving popular with the American market. 'It is surprisingly traditional, but in a way that makes it easier to get into because there's more of a "wow factor". Americans like this product because it lives up to its strapline, "deliberately different". They are of a very confident personality and are open to new things. Modern products appeal to them and the endorsement of it being by a British designer adds to that appeal.' Cracking the States was an obvious next move for Redman after establishing himself in the UK and Ireland through key accounts such as Harrods, Liberty, Thomas Goode and Fortnum & Mason and opening accounts in Singapore and Canada. Gaining a Manhattan agent in the form of David Freiman was the real start of Redman's US push: Freiman introduced him to major buyers at last year's April Tabletop Week in New York. And attending the Atlanta Gift Fair in January this year was also 'very helpful'. Redman has gained a presence in

With his June debut at the Michael C Fina store in Fifth Avenue, New York, British designer David Redman has taken another step towards cracking the notoriously challenging US market. It was the latest in a series of high-profile luxury retailers who have bought into the David Redman brand of high-end crystal and silver giftware since it was launched in February 2005. Redman had previously worked as a designer for private label clients such as Mappin & Webb and Asprey & Garrard. Earlier he had designed for Bulgari and Armani. So he was used to seeing his work go to overseas markets, albeit under the client's name. What changed last year was having his own name on the packaging, and suddenly becoming a 'personality'. 'It was perhaps a little intimidating but it was so exciting,' he says.

56
.c

Infer nation a

Michael C Fina on Fifth Avenue, New York: the latest in Redman's move into the US market Crystal and silver combine in the topaz perfume bottle

a number of high-profile American stores: LV Harkness (Lexington, Kentucky), House & Paper (Miami, Florida), Miss Jacksons (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Crystal Leaf (Boca Raton, Florida), Philip Warner (New York) and Bromberg (Birmingham, Alabama). He has also gained 'significant' orders from Geary's in Beverly Hills and from Gumps in San Francisco, where he did personal appearances in December and hopes to do so again this December. The personal appearances were great: Americans are so interested in the person behind the products - much more so than the British are.' The David Redman Collection, he says, is aspirational and appeals to people who would also buy into expensive fashion brands. 'We're attracting consumers who might have bought traditional French luxury brands. French crystal tends to be rather formal and the product's sold as "tableware" whereas what we sell is a gift, an occasion. For instance, if you're sitting on a terrace drinking champagne it's actually nothing to do with "tableware", it's about you and the other person, it's about romance, and using beautiful glasses to enhance that experience.' With this in mind, the collection is packaged very much as gift items, in smart lilac and black-lined hand-made boxes with black tissue and lilac ribbon. 'We believe the experience of gift purchasing, which is the essence of the collection, should be further enhanced by luxurious presentation.' Redman says the differing consumer attitudes in the UK and US are helping his progress in the US. The British have a "disposable" mindset, so products come and go. In the US, on the other hand, they tend to want continuity.' Redman says a prime example of this is the rather unexpected way that his products are becoming collectable. 'Some people are buying not one but four or five decanters. The products have an iconic quality and though people are buying them as a gift, that gift is forming the basis of a collection. That is very flattering.'

_ l liter n a t i o n a l