Popping Up Picnics

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The New York Sun

Maybe it was a reluctance to see summer end or perhaps just anticipation of autumn apple picking, wine-tastings, and tailgate parties, but picnic merchandise kept popping up at the New York International Gift Fair this week at the Jacob Javits Convention Center and Passenger Ship Terminals.


Beginning Saturday, 2,700 exhibitors (more than 200 of them new to the show) hauled their wares – home accessories, tabletop, glass, linens, and textiles, among others – to exhibit to nearly 45,000 merchants from around the world at the semi-annual show, offering an indication of what goods will be on store shelves in the next year.


Kevin Longstaff, of Concept International, a purveyor of leisure products from Surrey, England, manned a tiny booth that brought to mind “cubicle” rather than “countryside.” Still, the English have been walking the lake country for some time, and they have an idea of how to assemble a modern-day picnic hamper.


Concept International’s Hot Stuff line (so named for the products’ abilities to keep your food hot), available online throughwww.autosportcatalogue.com(search for “hot stuff”), provision the owner on cooler-weather outings or any early morning or evening jaunts when hot beverages are in order.


A two-person or four-person shoulder bag (retailing for $99 or $119) or backpack model sports three stainless-steel vacuum flasks, the largest for soup, one for coffee or hot water, and a third for milk. The set also includes stainless-steel containers for tea, coffee, and sugar, cotton napkins, stainless-steel insulated mugs, spoons, and a large food box.


A second compartment, easily accessed, opens to a fully zippered food-storage section, lined with Acticool insulation for keeping food hot or cold. Individual rug pads, with waterproof backing, stow in a rear pocket. (“You park your backside there,” Mr. Longstaff explained of the mini rugs.)


Mr. Longstaff said that the National Land Trust, the English historic preservation society, had commissioned several products from his firm. He took a lightweight rucksack stool, “for when you’re queuing up,” down from a display shelf. “Try it,” he suggested. Other Concept picnic products can be purchased online at www.finegardenproducts.com (click on the “picnic fun” link).


Another vendor with a similar idea, the California enterprise Picnic at Ascot, carried a line of upscale gear with names like the “Hamptons Insulated Cooler Tote.” Robbie Agustin, who bubbled with Los Angeles energy, reported that many New York emporiums, among them Kate’s Papiere and Tartare, carry the company’s products.


Ms. Agustin said that the Hamptons Backpack (around $100 for the two-person version) is a best seller. Equipped with a detachable insulated wine pouch, the kit includes all the standard accoutrements: cutlery, cloth napkins, and lightweight plastic but colorfully edged plates, wine glasses, opener, wood cutting board, and knife.


One of the gift fair’s most whimsical participants was Lushlife, a La Jolla, Calif.-based outfit, whose party-line products include “glass slips,” a frivolity essential for the household consumed with entertaining. Macy’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and At Home Gramercy Park (234 Third Ave.) carry Lushlife wares.


The glass slips, a combination coaster and glass identifier, come in sets of four ($7.99), in feather, tinsel, or bouquet designs. Color choices include fuchsia, lime, lavender, and bubble gum.


For those who like to add a personal touch even to their refrigerated goods, Lushlife also offers a way to dress up half-gallon cartons of orange juice and milk, with a Holstein-design fabric geared for the milk and an orange motif for the juice container ($7.99).


To liven up the chore of dish washing, Lushlife has also created the rather ingenious Sponge gloves ($9.99).They come in black latex with leopard-print cuffs, pink with a striped cuff, or blue with a circle-design trim. Each pair has sponges embedded in the palms and fingers. Not in stores just yet, Manhattanites can look for them soon.


For those who spend more time in the bedroom than the kitchen, the sophistication and quality of the Lily Juliet collection beckoned. The line sells locally at Henri Bendel, Bloomingdale’s, Only Hearts, Jan De Luz in SoHo, and at Neiman Marcus nationally. Lilly Juliet products can also be purchased online atwww.uncommongoods.comorwww.plumparty.com.


The owners, husband-and-wife team Joel and Binny Levin, now work out of the Hartford, Conn., area, but Mr. Levin lived for many years in New York, and his wife grew up in Vietnam, where all of the goods in the collection are hand-crafted.


The Levins present a combination of American-Vietnamese sensibilities that culminate in the sleep masks with slogans such as “Wake me when you’re ready” penned by Mr. Levin and embroidered by Ms. Levin’s Vietnamese artisans ($16). “We’re not only happy that the business is a success; we’re interested in bringing the quality of their life up,” Mr. Levin said of the Vietnamese needle-workers. “We could mechanize, but we don’t want to do that. These people divide their time between growing rice and embroidering,” he explained.


The company makes a variety of attractive fabric items. Reversible silk throws ($110) in bright colors roll neatly with the help of ties and store easily. For storing shoes, there is a charming black cloth bag adorned with a hand-stitched design of red boots with white polka dots. A popular item, according to Mr. Levin, is the wet bikini bag ($24). Another favorite, the “Wear Me/Wash Me” dual-compartment lingerie bag, is perhaps the outfit’s best invention.


The New York Sun

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