Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The organiser of the Spring/Summer 2018 edition of Top Drawer has revealed the results of its inaugural Spotted Award.
Spotted is a showcase of market-ready, design-led brands new to the London trade exhibition. Since Spotted’s inception, the initiative has helped to launch more than 150 small businesses.
A total of 49 new brands were accepted into the Spring/Summer 2018 edition of Spotted at Top Drawer, which took place from January 14 to January 16 at Olympia, and all were eligible for the Award.
Ten shortlisted companies were judged on originality and innovation, commercial viability, clarity of brand, communication of message, and the overall quality of their products.
The judges were Charlie Gladstone, founder of Pedlars and The Good Life Festival, Heal’s buyer Hannah Thistlethwaite, Selfridges buying manager Geraldine James, V&A senior buyer Annabelle Dodds, designer Ella Doran, Top Drawer show director Alejandra Campos, and style journalist Charlotte Abrahams, who was Spotted’s curator.
Spotted Award winner: Stay Sixty
Stay Sixty is a crafted reusable double-walled water bottle. It is designed in London and made from food-grade, BPA-free, stainless steel. The company aims to highlight the levels of plastic pollution in the UK by offering a modern alternative to single-use plastic bottles.
The judges said:
*‘This is a crowded marketplace, but these may just be coming to the market at the right, post-‘Blue Planet’, time. They are well designed, have a good RRP and are backed up with good-looking point of sale.’
*‘Plastic waste is out of control and we urgently need to change it. This is a simple and bold product with a strong identity and clear direction for growth and collaboration.’
*‘A strong, innovative design, tapping into the current and urgent concern with plastics.’
Spotted Award runner up: Cult Vinegar
This runner-up is ‘all about the love of live vinegar’. Consumers can make their own live vinegar with the Cult Vinegar vase, which is a contemporary take on the traditional vinegar fermentation crock, cast by hand in porcelain by ceramicist Billy Lloyd. The vase comes in a kit with a bottle of Cult Vinegar starter culture, a recipe booklet, a how-to guide, and labels.
The judges said:
*‘A well-designed, unique product that perfectly taps into the food and craft movement.’
*‘A very ‘now’ product with a lovely design and a strong point of view.’
Spotted Award runner up: Divine Savages
This runner-up is a design-led interiors brand delivering a collection of glamorous home accessories, luxury wallpaper, fabrics and limited-edition art prints. ‘with a flourish of both the divine and the savage’.
The judges said:
*‘A fresh and opulent addition to the contemporary interior landscape.’
*‘A nice mix of decadence and humour with a strong identity.’
The winning company, Stay Sixty, receives a free stand at Top Drawer Autumn/Winter 2018, a showcase at Pedlars and/or a stall at The Good Life Festival 2018.
Stay Sixty and the two runners-up will receive mentoring from experts including designer Nick Munro; Andrew Tanner, head of design at Sainsbury’s; Daniel Flower, owner of AIM Brands; Sharon Good, founder of Good Results PR; and Heal’s buyer Hannah Thistlethwaite.
Spotted’s curator Charlotte Abrahams commented: “All three brands are making considered, original products that will enhance the lives of those who buy them. I’m thrilled that the Spotted Award will help them take their brands forward.”
Winner: Stay Sixty
