This year I really wanted to bring out Kastehelmi as one of our featured items in tableware at Unison. Not only because it is one of my personal favorites having grown up with it, but also because we love the designer, Oiva Toikka and wanted to honor his famous design, Kastehelmi (dew pearls in Finnish) as it celebrates it’s 50th year in production. I selected blue because it is a new color and it brings about that feeling of water and it complimented so well the Aerial cobalt table linens we developed with Chicago artist Stephen Eichhorn. We hope that those who purchase these seemingly simple blue glass plates and bowls will enjoy them for serving a special dessert or as a beautiful gift set for a marrying couple. They will last for ages and endure trends for generations to come.
Oiva is truly an icon in glass design, someone we should all be aware of. His work spans from glass, ceramic, art pieces, costume design for operas and so much more. We had the extreme pleasure, Alicia and I, of getting to know him a little bit while we lived in Finland and worked at Marimekko from 1999-2004. You can watch and listen to Oiva in this video piece by Iittala, which I think is quite special because it reveals Oiva’s personality so well, a true artist and a wonderful person indeed.
