New China Collection: Marchesa by Lenox

Marchesa brings their signature style and grace to the table with a new china collection.


What do you do when your six-year-old fashion line has already become an awards show staple, with your gowns on every star from Sandra Bullock to Rihanna? If you're Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, you bring your flair for the beautiful and ethereal to a place that's less glamorous, but just as chaotic as the red carpet: The dinner table. For their first collection with Lenox, the designers created eight china patterns inspired by their dresses. "It was very different to design this collection," Chapman explained. "When I design a gown, I drape it, I'm there through the whole process. With the china, it was more collaborative. A lot of times we gave them the artwork or embroidery, or we just gave them a feel for what we liked, what colors we wanted. And they were able to translate it into a beautiful collection," she told us.

I asked Chapman for her advice on accessorizing such intricate pieces and she was quick to make it personal. "You ought to follow your heart. I think you should let your personality come through and have fun with it," she said. But flowers won't hurt either -- her favorites are peonies and camellias.

Of course, just because they have a new home line, it doesn't mean they don't still have fashion on the brain. Craig told me the the placesettings should be used at an event where "everyone is wearing a Marchesa dress as they sit at the table." Everyone? "Except of the men, of course. We'll give them a little wiggle room." If you don't have a closet full of designer gowns, she also recommends candles. (Diptyque is her favorite brand and she's even planning to include candlesticks in their next collaboration with Lenox.)

She also told us that they're considering candlesticks for the next collaboration with Lenox. Watch out for the collections (starting at $100 for a four-piece place setting) on Lenox.com and in stores this Fall.

See what our friends at AisleDash had to say about the collection -- and all of Stylelist's coverage of Marchesa.