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Ceramic company Wedgwood has partnered with legendary interior designer Sheila Bridges for a new fine china collection.

The Harlemnite has designed a number of special items for the collab including a decorative teacup and saucer along with a four-piece table set that all bare her signature Harlem toile pattern. Bridges’ whimsical Harlem Toile designs often depict images of Black joy while exploring nuances of African American history. One image in the collection captures little Black girls playing double-dutch as they laugh and smile while another drawing depicts a group of young Black boy’s tossing a basketball.

“I love to travel to France, I love toile, but I never saw anything that expressed my point of view as a Black woman,” Bridges told Town and Country Magazine about the inspiration behind the collection.

“There is a strong relationship between Harlem [where I live] and France and so I made a toile that has that storytelling aspect that both addresses stereotypes in Black culture and celebrates it. I love that it has resonated with so many people.”

 

Initially, Bridges constructed the carefully crafted toile to be used as a wallcovering, but eventually, she expanded the concept to include fabrics, bedding, plates, glassware, umbrellas, and clothing. This is a full-circle moment for the star, who grew up admiring her mother’s personal Wedgwood Jasperware collection as a child.

“When I think of Wedgwood, I think of symmetry and classicism,” Bridges, who has had her work displayed at The Studio Museum In Harlem and the Museum of Art and Design in New York City shared.

“For this collection we pulled from original Wedgwood colors like Jasperware blue, white, and yellow, but we put things slightly off-center, placed some designs in the center of the bowl or underneath a platter. It was about designing a piece as a whole, making it whimsical and fun.” 

The New Yorker said that she also wanted to keep functionality in mind. Items in the collection were created with a special Black material that is dishwasher and microwave safe.

“As an interior designer I am always executing someone else’s vision for their home. This is a way for me to share my vision with everyone,” the inimitable artist added.

Bridges’ collection with Wedgwood is available exclusively at Bloomingdale’s as part of their Bridgerton shop in honor of the buzzing Netflix series. Check out the full collection here.

In related news, Bridges, who was recently crowned as 1stDibs’s 2022 honoree, wore one of her stellar Harlem toile designs to the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club presidential dinner event last week.

“I had a tough time figuring out what to wear to the annual @kipsbaybgc President’s dinner but eventually chose my own Harlem Toile gown (in African Violet) with a vintage leopard print jacket,” the designer wrote, captioning a photo of herself decked out in the stunning gown.

“I guess you could say that I was channeling my inner @bridgertonnetflix?!” she added, before giving the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes a shoutout.

“Thanks for the inspiration @shondarhimes.”

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