Liveable elegance is one way to describe American designer Adam Lippes’ approach to fashion. Before working at Oscar de la Renta – where he was creative director between 1996 and 2004 – he also designed for Polo Ralph Lauren, before starting his eponymous label in 2004. Based on the concept of understated sportswear with an emphasis on refined tailoring it’s so very now. As well as practical, Lippes also does pretty. In fact I could quite happily have invested in his entire SS18 collection – an East-West mash up with hand-painted ceramic buttons and the sakura or cherry blossom motif a key detail. 

It’s this painterly style which I find particularly appealing – and harks back to his love of decorative arts and interior design. His mother was a decorator and his father an art and antiques enthusiast. Lippes told AD, “I’m obsessed with furniture, obsessed, more than with clothes any day of the week.” His own home, a duplex in Brooklyn Heights, as profiled in numerous magazines, is old school glamour personified with clear nods to French romantic decorator Madeleine Castaing – some of his wicker furniture came from her house – whom he calls his muse. “She took super grand spaces and made them liveable.” 

His fashion prints have shown his delight in researching French and Italian decorative arts and porcelain, so it’s no surprise that he has transferred these patterns to actual tableware. Lippes’ latest collaboration is with Oka – the eclectic British furniture and home accessories company whose ethos is all about making interior design accessible. No wonder it’s well matched with Lippes who, over the last two years, has created a collection to transform the table for entertaining at home. His inspiration and sources included auction catalogues and the Met Museum. 

Featuring two different but complementary “mix and match” patterns, the collection takes inspiration from 18th-century antique famille rose porcelain (a classic Chinese style which became fashionable in the late Baroque period). Each piece, originally painted by hand, is decorated with detailed, colourful designs including birds, butterflies and florals. Crafted from fine bone china and delicate glass, the range includes plates, bowls, teacups and wine glasses, as well as cotton placemats with ornate hemstitched borders along with two variations of hand-embroidered napkins (prices range from £45 to £215). 

The pieces in the collection look like antiques but are made to be used every day, for every occasion. Says Lippes, “The collection is a decidedly modern take on Chinese designs created in the European fashion. It is both special and everyday porcelain and glassware, intended to be mixed together in any manner to create a tablescape of colour, fun and refinement.” With an increased focus on entertaining at home Lippes has created the perfect mix of pretty and practical which is sure to be highly Instagrammable too. “They look as though they’re your grandmother’s finest inherited china, but they’ll go in the dishwasher.”

Adam Lippes x OKA collection is available on OKA.com