Marni’s Limited-Edition Glassware Collection is an Ideal Gift that Gives Back
Starting on Thanksgiving, the brand will be selling handmade blown glass vessels in its stores.
Designers seem to be getting into hydration these days.
Prada caused a stir last week when they released a run of logo water bottles (Sigg lookalikes complete with rugged carabiners) as part of their “Prada Escape” capsule, and the eco-conscious line Collina Strada just started selling a rhinestone encrusted Hydro Flask.
In an era when brands are being pushed to be more conscious of their environmental impact, making a useful accessory that’s also covetable, accessible and photogenic is an easy way to start making a dent.
For the holidays, Marni has come up with a decidedly more conceptual set of drinking vessels: hand-blown glass cups, bottles and vases made by artisans in Colombia. Like creative director Francesco Risso’s clothes, they’re elegant, whimsical and colorful. Think of them as usable works of art for everyday life.
Marni Wine Glass. Photo courtesy of Marni.
Playful, organically shaped goblets are layered with amber, sage green and deep blue glass. Tall, spindly vases evoke the look and feel of the brand’s artful, oversized resin jewelry—like giant beads stacked on top of each other and fused together. The bottles, some fitted with opaque, cream-colored necks or hollow, donut-shaped handles, are fit for only the finest of liquids (or maybe just water, since just thinking about cleaning one makes me anxious).
Like the best gifts, they also give back: The pieces, which will be available in select Marni stores around the world staring November 28th, are part of the brand’s annual holiday charity initiative in collaboration with the OTB Foundation. (Past examples include a set of papier-mâché animal sculptures and painted wooden marionettes.) This year, sales benefit children hospitalized at the pediatric oncology department of the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome.
Give a quartet of mismatched goblets to a friend who balks at the idea of a basic stemless wine glass, or an artful bottle to a colleague who could use one at her desk instead of a million paper cups. The vases, lined up in a row and filled with flowers, leaves, feathers and grasses, would turn any dinner table into a surrealist fantasy.
We think the whole set would be perfect for the fun-loving hostess who has everything, and isn’t afraid to do some extraordinarily delicate hand washing.
A vase by Marni. Photograph courtesy of Marni.
