Select pieces from tableware collection presented at an exclusive dinner and exhibition at Spazio Pontaccio, Milan, April 8th – 13th 2014

Following its successful launch at Maison et Objet last month, Bethan Gray's first tableware collection, Alice, joins her studio's expanding product range. Fast becoming known for her love of working with luxurious natural materials, Bethan fuses black and white marble in geometric formations to create the striking monochrome tableware pieces. The collection was born out of Bethan's designs for the famous Wallpaper* Handmade project, where she was invited to design a tableware range for the 2013 edition.  As part of the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition, the original collection was showcased at Milan 2013, Harrods, and Art Basel Miami, receiving much critical acclaim.

In a timely fashion, Bethan Gray returns again to Milan during this year's Salone with her Alice collection presented at a one-off theatrical dining event that will take place in the windows of Spazio Pontaccio. Spazio Pontaccio is an international design boutique located in the Brera district in the heart of Milan, offering limitededition design masterpieces, edgy furniture creations and exclusive collaborations with designers such as Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders and Oki Sato. With a Michelin-starred chef, and limited-edition tableware featuring select pieces of Bethan Gray's Alice collection including the Herringbone and Stripey chopping board, and spectacular cheese dome, this exclusive event will be attended by leading names from the international design community, giving Bethan's beautiful creations a platform in which to shine amongst her peers. Following this illustrious dinner, Spazio Pontaccio will display the carefully curated products as part of an exhibition in their showroom.

Bethan Gray comments “I am thrilled to have been invited to present the Alice range at Spazio Pontaccio during this years Salone - this gallery's original and inquisitive approach to beautiful objects is so befitting of my own design ethos.

Comprising an Alice Herringbone Chopping Board, Alice Stripey Chopping Board, Alice Cheese Board & Dome, and bespoke Alice Cake Stand and Alice Shallow Bowl, the initial inspiration for the Alice tableware collection came from the iconic architecture and designs Bethan saw on her various trips across Europe and the Arab states.

Bethan Gray adds, “The idea for the geometric patterns of the Alice tableware range came from the pattern, form and use of light found in Arabic design and the spectacular black and white stone configurations I'd seen on various trips across Europe. Specifically the ninth-century Amalfi Cathedral in Italy and the twentieth-century San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Switzerland. I'm especially fascinated by the combination of black and white stone and the stripes and chequerboard patterns which make them such striking buildings.

Two major retailers, Paul Smith US and La Rinascente in Milan, have already signed up to the Alice tableware range, providing an excellent platform for Bethan Gray to present her work.  The Alice tableware range is available to order directly from Bethan Gray Design and her Alice Cake Stand and Alice Shallow Bowl are available as bespoke pieces, made-to-order via Bethan Gray Design - www.bethangray.com
 
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For further information and images please contact Caro Communications:
Lucy Price, lucy@carocommunications.com
Berna Sermet, berna@carocommunications.com 
Antonia Peulevé, antoniap@carocommunications.com
020 7713 9388 www.carocommunications.com @carocomms

Notes to Editors

Bethan Gray
The winner of the prestigious Best British Designer Award 2013, Welsh designer Bethan Gray combines a passion for using luxurious natural materials - leather, marble and solid wood - with an extensive knowledge of craftsmanship and cutting- edge manufacturing technologies. Her warm and contemporary designs reflect her personal history. Her maternal ancestors, famous for being artistically inclined, travelled from Rajasthan to Persia hundreds of years ago before eventually settling in Wales in the 18th-century. Bethan's designs are hence strongly rooted to both traditional Welsh culture and craft as well as to the geometric patterns and forms, and use of light found in the East. She is further inspired by everyday items that surround us all, and to objects and buildings discoveredwhilst travelling the globe. Her great-great-grandmother defied 19th-century convention to become a cabinetmaker, whilst her grandfather worked as a forester and made small carved objects for Bethan as a child - nurturing her love of crafting objects from those natural materials.

Following her graduation from DeMontfort University, with a degree in Three Dimensional Design, Bethan was discovered by Tom Dixon in 1998 when he awarded her the prestigious New Designers Innovation Prize, which led to a role at Habitat. Six years later she was their Design Director. Whilst there, she designed their best selling Parker and Hana ranges and overall her enduring designs accounted for 20% of global turnover.  During these years she also gained invaluable experience working with manufacturers and craftspeople from all over the world. She left to establish her own eponymous studio in 2008, to both broaden her client base and work with the luxury materials she was so passionate about. Having previously established a successful program of collaboration at Habitat, commercially successful design collaborations are now at the heart of the approach to work at Bethan Gray Design.

Whether it's working on bespoke commissions and collaborations, such as her elegant and timeless collection of tableware for Wallpaper* Handmade; her collection of solid marble and brass tables for stone specialist Lapicida; through to her own boutique collection of occasional tables, G&T, Bethan's warm and contemporary, timeless and elegant aesthetic is instantly recognisable. Her deep understanding of the needs of a retailer and the manufacturer have led to best-selling collections for the Design Collective at John Lewis and newly launched major collaboration with US retailer Crate & Barrel and her exclusive collections can be seen is some of the most prestigious stores globally, including Lane Crawford in Asia and Liberty and Harrods in London.

www.bethangray.com
@bethangray

Spazio Pontaccio
Founded in 2002, its distinctive offer of contemporary furniture and decorative accessories is personally curated by owners Alberto Pellini and Eleonora Negri. Bethan Gray's select Alice tableware will be on display from 8th – 13th April 2014. Spazio Pontaccio, via Pontaccio 18, 20121 Milan, Italy. www.spaziopontaccio.com