When the French interior designer Camille Vergnes throws a dinner party in Paris, she opts for unfussy white table linens and white plates. This allows her Art Deco-style set of serving spoons, salad servers and carving knives, all with almond green shagreen handles, to take center stage. “I use [the serving set] as the key piece of the table along with the flowers or candleholders,” she says. Vergnes’s approach reflects a shift in focus when it comes to tableware, away from handblown glassware and patterned napkins to sculptural utensils. - Host Gift Guide: What T’s editors and contributors are bringing to thank their hosts this summer, including surreal serving spoons and cozy quilts.

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Persons: Camille Vergnes, ”, Olga Bonne, Alessandra Williams, Frank Traynor, Ben Bodman, Yann Nury Organizations: Fair Trade, Bodman, Credit Locations: French, Paris, Copenhagen, Danish, Brighton, British, Zimbabwe, Nairobi, United States, Melksham, Wiltshire, England, Ibiza, Long, Amsterdam