An icon of sixties utilitarian chic, Massimo Vignelli's stackable melamine plates and mugs tower on. Made in the US by Heller in their heyday, they've been reissued thanks to demand. And though we don't usually get behind plastic, Hellerware, as it came to be known, is an exception.
I myself grew up in a house outside of Boston laden with the stuff—it provided the perfect companion to my mother's Marimekko tablecloths from Design Research in Cambridge. (And though some of the plates and bowls are admittedly looking a bit less pristine of late, my mother still uses her stack.) Vignelli, who died just last year—and with his wife and design partner, Leila Vignelli, left his imprint on everything from NYC's subway signage and maps to the Bloomingdale's bag—would not be surprised. "If you do it right," he said, "it will last forever."
Four to Buy
Above: Again made in the US by Heller (using the original molds and a BPA-free techno polymer), the classic Heller Dinnerware Set—dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl, and mug—is available from Unison for $46. Unison, MoMA and Design Public also offer the pieces individually starting at $8.
Above: Vignelli created the first of his melamine tableware in his native Milan in 1964, and it won that year's Compasso d'Oro Award for Good Design. He explained to Edible Manhattan: "I had a client making plastic tiles. I went to see the factory and noticed that they were also using the plastic to make ashtrays with Mickey Mouse and things like that. I thought, 'Can’t you make anything better than that?' And a set of compact dinnerware came to my mind. I went back to the office, and in two hours I had the design fully completed." In 1971—the year Massimo and Leila founded Vignelli Associates in New York—Alan Heller's new company introduced the line in the US as its very first product and went on to produce it for the next three decades.
Above: Vignelli designed the signature box for Heller in his beloved Helvetica (and later explained his affinity for the typeface in the documentary Helvetica). Heller Clear Mugs are $12 each from DWR.
Above: Vignelli's original tableware was in bright yellow; Heller introduced a range of bold colors in the mid-seventies and created a best seller. Rainbow Mugs are $60 for a set of six from MoMA (and examples are in the MoMA Design Classics collection). They're also available at DWR. Photograph via Placewares, a design shop run by a couple who met at Design Research.
Above: Vintage pieces are easy to find on eBay and Etsy, by the piece and by the stack. Look for ones that have had little use. Photograph from Etsy seller Object of Beauty.
For more iconic modern tableware, see our Object Lesson on Finnish designer Kaj Franck's Teema Dinnerware, and go to 10 Easy Pieces: Architect-Designed Flatware.
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