How Baccarat, Dior, Hermès and Marimekko are redefining the modern dining table through craftsmanship, colour and sculptural design
Entertaining at home is an art, and tableware is its essential collaborator. It sets the tone before a word is spoken or a bite is taken. Guests encounter the table before the food arrives, and thoughtful plates, glasses, and cutlery signal care, generosity, and an understanding of the evening’s register: formal or relaxed, intimate or celebratory.
From fine china and crystal that evoke a restaurant’s precision to stoneware and rustic glassware that invite ease, every choice carries meaning. Size, shape, and colour matter as much as material: the right plate sharpens a dish visually, giving it presence and vibrancy, while a poor match can render even the most carefully prepared food unremarkable.
Ultimately, it comes down to the story you wish to tell. Here, we explore how Baccarat, Dior, Hermès, and Marimekko can make every gathering at home an occasion worth remembering.
Baccarat
Nothing signals formality quite like crystal, and with Haute Cristallerie, Baccarat presents six limited re-editions that showcase its mastery of the decorative arts. The Pierreries decanter exemplifies its expertise in ‘rich cutting’: a slender double-cased cone in deep emerald crystal that, beneath the wheel, reveals a constellation of clear crystal octagons refracting light with remarkable intensity.
Other pieces include the open-worked Halo decanter, which recalls a Greco-Roman vessel reimagined entirely in light. The Canopée and Trocadéro bowls—originally created for the Russian imperial court and the 1925 art deco exposition, respectively—traverse Belle Époque opulence and striking modernity, pink ‘golden red’ cabochons appearing suspended within clear crystal.
Dior
Lighting sets the mood for any dinner party, and Dior offers the Corolle lamps by French designer Noé Duchaufour- Lawrance. Tracing their lineage to Christian Dior’s watershed 1947 collection, the pieces translate couture into light and form. Their name references the flower-like silhouette that redefined post-war fashion and femininity. More than decorative objects, the Corolle lamps are portable fragments of Dior’s world: each one carries movement, lightness, and memory while quietly affirming the brand’s commitment to craftsmanship and creative exchange.
Hermès
The humble water jug typically occupies the dining table as an afterthought, but not at Hermès. Here, it becomes theatre: a hand-hammered metal vessel extended with a cassia-wood handle elevates a simple function into a work of craft. Another often-overlooked accessory, the vase, is transformed into a sculptural presence. Sheathed in black horsehair and Swift calfskin edged with lizard skin, its tactile composition recalls the Toupet bag.
At the centre of the table, a boldly conceived disc serves as a contemporary centrepiece. Its appeal rests on contrast: the cool gleam of palladium-finished metal set against the warmth of leather. Together, they echo the house’s earliest vocabulary—harnesses in which leather and metal were inseparable—anchoring the piece firmly in Hermès’ origins while allowing it to read as entirely modern.
Marimekko
For those who lead with colour, Marimekko delivers with conviction. The Helsinki-based brand extends its bold visual language into the Summer 2026 home collection, a celebration of pattern and pigment inspired by the year’s theme of ‘the art of printmaking’. Blending ease and elegance, the collection debuts with statement tablecloths that lay the foundation for the entire setting, dictating the palette for the tableware, vases, and decorative accents that follow.
Jenni Tuominen’s Pikku Omppo pattern pairs with rounded Sukat Makkaralla glasses in soft blue, and Unikko-shaped dishes in deep red, earthy beige, and translucent blue. Sculptural vases in vivid green and electric blue complete the arrangement, while Unikko place mats in the same graphic language provide a confident finishing flourish.
This story first appeared in the July 2026 issue. Purchase it as a print or digital copy, or consider subscribing to us here
