Lorena Barrezueta (who is of Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican descent) was born in New York and earned a BFA in Product Design from the celebrated Parsons School of Design in 2003. She dabbled in jewellery and furniture while at university but finally admitted pottery was her real love. Her rich and culturally diverse background combined with extensive world travelling led her to question etiquette and social norms. ‘While at college and travelling I saw a lot of take-out containers ending up as waste material’, says Barrezueta. ‘I realised how beautiful the form was and wanted to translate that into porcelain and bring a bit of home-cooked meal value back into busy urban lives.’
Barrezueta’s observations have resulted in the creation of one of the most successful homeware products sold in Brooklyn. Her ‘Gourmet Collection’ includes beautiful slip-cast porcelain in the form of disposable, aluminium take-away containers, crinkles and all!
The first pieces to go into production were plain white plates, platters and cups, rimmed with gold leaf, now known as the ’Classic’ collection. As time went on Barrezueta added pieces with delicious colour over-glazes, in Salmon, Celadon, Tomato, Butter, Chartreuse, Turquoise and Lemon – known as the ‘Fresh’ collection. Her latest addition is the ‘Lush’ collection, literally lush and rich in its colourways of Espresso, Liquorice, Butterscotch, Dark Olive, Plum, Deep Teal and Milk…
