During spring at Formakademin, we got the task to develop a new collection. As I love working with food, I decided to try and find a restaurant to do it for, to make it a bit more real. No strings attached, just as inspiration.
Thanks to my dear friends at Smygehuk hostel, I got set up with Jimmy at Victoriasalongen (one of the best chefs in south of Sweden, I would say). And all of a sudden, this project got more amazing than what I could’ve dreamt of! Victoriasalongen is a replica of the first class salons from the ship S/S Drottning Victoria, built in 1909. The interior panels and details are all original from the ship, and oh so beautiful!
The project resulted in a 6 piece collection, inspired by details in the salon and with valuable input from Jimmy. There is a bowl with the same pattern as one of the lights, a bread serving plate with handles inspired by the chimneys, a piece for amuse bouches that takes inspiration from the carved columns and ceiling decorations. The dinner plate got a green glaze, just as the seating and curtains, and another plate got a wavy rim - as the waves of the sea. Palm trees were everywhere in the original salons according to old photos, so the mug got a decoration of a palm leaf. And lots of gold decorations on top of that.
This design is so far from what I usually do, and it was such great fun to challenge myself! To create something to fit a specific location, but still add a bit of modern touch to it. Last week I took the pieces to the salons - and they looked right at home! To be honest, it was even better than what I imagined…
All in all such an amazing project! I learned so much, and loved working with Jimmy! The input he gave me on details to consider when plating food in a restaurant was really interesting. The discussions with Nina @formfabriken on how to best put my ideas in to production was also wonderful, and I couldn’t have done this without the help from her and Åsa at Formakademin. A big thank you to all!
This really got me even more hooked on working with restaurants, creating bespoke tableware to enhance the vision and experience they want to give to their guests.
And yes. Even though the project was with no strings attached, I’m hoping that a few of the pieces will find their way to the salons of Victoriasalongen in the end…
