Tina Frey’s Modern Tableware

Twelve years ago, Tina Frey started her namesake label after transitioning out of a career in corporate finance. While she has always been a natural creative, she explored not only one but two different career paths before finally taking the full plunge into design — funding Tina Frey Designs where she focuses on unique objects and modern tableware.

She, like I, both transitioned out of a career to pursue a passion. While I myself had less of a drastic change, we both are women in business who decided to take a risk.

Tina was born in Hong Kong where she led a creative childhood; from drawing to sewing, not a day went by where she wasn’t creating something. But she didn’t realize at first that she would later be able to monetize this into her career. After getting a degree in Biology and her CPA, she finally decided to abandon the “safe” path and start doing what she really loved — creating by hand. Twelve years later and she’s able to have a hands-on approach, sculpting each piece under her eponymous studio.

She ultimately knew that she wanted to specialize in a material — her brainstorming eventually led her to work with resin. While she had dabbled in the medium before, she was finally able to combine her eureka moment with past experience, and thus, Tina Frey Designs was born.

Environmental and social responsibility are at the heart of Tina Frey collections. The modern tableware is hand cast and poured by her small team so the highest possible standard is maintained.  Her ethos is founded on minimalism, simplicity, and above all functionality. Tina hand sculpts each piece in clay before they are molded and cast into resin so everything has a 3-dimensional design and comes together translating through your hands.

 “I love being able to sculpt the pieces in clay and molding and casting in resin. There is a human quality to being able to form the clay with your hands and there is also an imperfection to the shapes since you can see where each finger pushed on the material and created the uneven edges of the vessels.” Her inspiration comes from the world around her — the fluid lines mimic the movement of the blue sea while each organic curve emulates the endless contours of nature.

Resign is a material based on functionality, but Tina Frey has merged this utility with an effortlessly chic aesthetic. Whether you’re shopping to replace your current tableware collection or just looking for new serveware, Tina Frey and I can guarantee it’s a collection that will last.