Textile brand AURA by Tracie Ellis has branched out into the kitchen, launching a new range of tableware designed for modern entertaining.
Known for its bold patterns and colour combinations, Melbourne-based AURA started in 2000 with bed linen and the brand has since grown to include products for almost every room in the home apart from the kitchen, something Tracie Ellis, AURA creative director, wanted to rectify.
“I’ll let you in on a secret—the kitchen is my favourite room in the house,” she says. “I love entertaining and spending my weekends cooking for friends and family, often with produce we’ve grown in our garden in Kyneton [in country Victoria]. So the ceramics collection is really for me—I needed a dinner set so of course I designed one. I am hoping our AURA customers like it too.”
The collection, which debuted at Life Instyle Melbourne, includes porcelain and stoneware ranges with coffee mugs, tapas plates, stacking bowls, tea cups, side plates, dinner plates, salt and olive bowls, dip bowls, tapas bowls and serving trays.
Each range has a different aesthetic, with the stoneware items in subdued pastel tones and the porcelain pieces reflecting the colourful designs seen in the rest of the AURA collection, but can be mixed up for a stylishly eclectic look.
“Our entire range of homewares is designed that way,” says Ellis. “We love seeing how our customers mix our styles and colours. We are looking forward to seeing some creative table settings on Instagram soon.”
The ranges were both inspired by Ellis’ frequent trips abroad. “My meanderings take me from Europe to Asia and back. My designs are always inspired by my travels, but yes—the ceramics collection reflects the bed linen range. They transferred beautifully and we loved seeing our designs on a different medium.”
If the reaction from retailers at the fair is anything to go by, expanding into tableware has been a smart move for the AURA brand. “We have incredibly loyal retailers and they are always so supportive of our collections but I have to admit they were particularly overwhelmed at the launch of our new ceramics,” says Ellis.
Aside from the exciting expansion into tableware, AURA also launched a new summer range of bed linen, cushions, throws, table linen and bath and beach towels, but Ellis can’t reveal what’s next.
“We have a small but great team at AURA and we work closely on new products and ranges. Actually we’re working on winter 2016 now but it’s top secret.”
The patterned porcelain will be available in store and online from late August with the stoneware hitting shelves in early November.
By Ruth Cooper
