Unbreakable

By Milena Damjanov
August 25, 2011

There’s no doubt about it: with life these days as hectic as it is, we're all craving anything that lowers our stress levels. With outdoor dining season in full swing (we don't know about you, but we'll be grilling at least until October), we need to rely on dishes that we don’t have to think about twice.

Melamine

Melamine plates from Bongenre: Winchester Mandala ($65); Tangiers ($60); Tatiana Susani ($58)

Enter an old-fashioned alternative that’s seeing a huge rise in popularity: melamine dinnerware. Known for being lightweight and durable, these resin dishes—originally popular in the 1950s when convenience was key—are once again crowding store shelves around the country, and are being reinterpreted in all kinds of bright styles and colors by modern interior designers such as king-of-all-things-mod Jonathan Adler and pattern whiz Thomas Paul. Even mega-chains like Target are treating melamine dinnerware more like design objects than utilitarian items, having recently invited chic brands from the fashion and design worlds like Calypso St. Barth and John Derian to lend their stylish eye to melamine dishware.

“With melamine, you don’t have to worry about what’s going on on the table. You don’t have to worry about colliding with people too much,” says Jill Fenichell of Bongenre, who intended her six-year-old collection of melamine, known for its rich, luxurious patterns, to be used by college kids and grown-ups alike. She adds, “It allows you to be fun and fanciful in a way that’s very hard to express in traditional tableware.”

Imarialistic ($30); Sky Seashell and Coral Melamine ($60); Texas Hill ($50)

The melamine craze first surfaced in the 1940s and ’50s under the brand name Melmac. As Americans embraced all things modern and new, this very moldable resin was used to create everything from children’s school lunch trays to everyday dishware, which was meant to replace traditional—and highly breakable—china. Interior designers such as the famed Russel Wright and Kaye LaMoyne, who fashioned pieces for the Branchell Company, were two of the biggest names in melamine dishes, and their products remain some of the most collectible.

Today, melamine fanatics can have the best of both eras, collecting both vintage and new styles. On eBay, sales for "melamine" items are up 14 percent in the past 90 days compared to the prior period. As for what's available, 1950s-era bubble-gum pink and aqua tableware from companies like Branchell, Brookpark and Boonton reign supreme. Patterned pieces as well as minimalist, stackable dishware from Heller (some of which is still being produced today), both produced in the 1960s, and also pop up here and there. Of course, there’s plenty of new styles to be found, from Thomas Paul plate sets—which feature lighthearted motifs of, say, marine life—to colorful dinner sets and speckled mixing bowls from Zak Designs. On eBay, the melamine world is your oyster.