Private Label · Home & Garden · Everyday 2027

Everyday Collection: Retro Revival

This is a core collection built around familiar shapes, warm colour and tactile ceramic details. The idea started with retro references, but I did not want the range to feel like a direct copy of the past. I was more interested in the softness of that era: rounded forms, warm glaze, playful details and objects that feel easy to live with. The collection brings those cues into a modern home and garden setting. Glossy vases, pedestal planters, bubble details and raised patterns create a range that feels nostalgic, but still clean, fresh and commercial.

ROLE

Trend Research, Concept, Collection & Surface Design, CMF

BRIEF

Private Label

TIMELINE

1-week sprint

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01 RESEARCH

The trend, the
direction & the brief

THE TREND

Retro is becoming less about decoration and more about feeling. Consumers are drawn to products that feel familiar, tactile and emotionally warm. In ceramics, this opens up a strong core direction: pieces with vintage memory, but modern finish and clear shelf appeal.

THE DIRECTION

I translated retro through shape and glaze rather than heavy pattern. The collection uses soft curves, pedestal forms, rounded side details, vertical relief and warm colour. The result is playful, but not childish. Decorative, but still simple. It has enough character to stand out, while still fitting into a calm home.

BACKGROUND

Create a core ceramic collection for home and garden that feels warm, collectible and easy to style. The products should have a clear design identity, but still work as everyday planters, vases and decorative pieces.

+0.6ppt

Growth in “mismatch retro” conversations shows that retro is moving beyond one fixed era. The direction is becoming more personal, collected and expressive for home interiors.

86%

Gen Z and Millennials say touching and feeling products are essential purchase drivers. For ceramics, this makes glaze, relief, curve and weight just as important as colour.

23%

Designers identify midcentury modernism as the retro era to watch. This supports rounded pedestal shapes, warm colour stories, soft geometry and graphic ceramic pattern.

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02 MOOD & MATERIALS

A collection from the archive

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03 IDEATION & SKETCHING

From retro references to a retail collection

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Private label design sketches for a pink retro ceramic vase.

The design process started with simple retro codes: a rounded pot, a flared vase, a loop handle, a flower motif, a stripe, a raised ring, a checker edge.

From there, I looked at how these details could become a full retail story. A good core collection should not depend on one hero item. It needs a rhythm. Some pieces should be clean and easy. Some should carry pattern. Some should add charm at a smaller price point.

The strongest products are the ones where the form and decoration support each other. A rounded planter can carry a bold stripe. A small vase can hold a flower relief. A pedestal pot can become more modern through one clean colour. A mug or mini planter can carry a tiny retro icon without becoming too novelty.

04 PROTOTYPES & SAMPLES

Testing shape, glaze
and shelf appeal

Once the design direction is set, the work moves from concept into production development. I send the drawings, renders, colour notes and finish references to the team in China, then coordinate with the factories through the mould stage. At this point I advise on every detail, from shape and proportions to face placement, glaze finish and shelf presence, so the samples stay true to the original design before I approve them for mass production.

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DESIGN HANDOVER

Sending the full design package to China, with drawings, renders, colour references and notes that explain the feeling each piece needs to keep.

MOULD STAGE

Working with the team and factories while the moulds are built, checking proportions, openings, feet, rim details and character features before sampling moves forward.

FINAL APPROVAL

Reviewing the bisque, glaze tests and shelf appeal, giving corrections where needed, and approving the pieces for mass production once they match the design intent.

05 FINAL COLLECTION