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Christmas in July Festival
Holiday decorations from Danish retailer Flying Tiger shown at the Christmas in July Festival in London, July 11 2018
For British pottery company Emma Bridgewater, personalization will be hugely popular, but not just for holiday gifts. The company now offers mini mugs with people’s names on them that can be used as place settings for the Christmas table. “We designed them as a decoration and in the second year we saw (via social media) people were using them as place names so we expanded our photo shoots, (to reflect that),” PR manager Sarah Davis told CNBC.
The countryside is the inspiration for the range of plates, bowls and mugs that are designed by Emma and husband Matthew Rice at their Oxfordshire home, and the company had revenues of £17.5 million in 2017, up 14 percent on the previous year. For Christmas, a poppy-printed mug designed in collaboration with charity the Royal British Legion to mark 100 years since the end of World War I is set to be popular, as is a “black toast” design, ceramic bowls with black lettering that will be available in Christmas colors.
British favorite “The Snowman” was also represented at the festival, where visitors could have their picture taken with the famous character, complete with snowy background. Author Raymond Briggs created and illustrated the story of a little boy whose snowman came to life in a 1978 book, which has since sold 5.5 million copies and been translated into 21 languages.
