Dentelle

Industrial design is deeply rooted in popular culture, or rather it thrives on it. Alberto Alessi understands this better than anyone. So when Alessi was asked to come up with a dish to serve fries in restaurants, his natural reflex was to involve us, the first Belgian design studio the company ever worked with.

When you say ”Belgium”, people think of chocolate, beer and of course fries. They are part of Belgium’s national heritage: you’ll find a “frituur” on virtually every street corner! It’s a tradition passed on from generation to generation.

The popular street food is traditionally served in the iconic paper cone. However, this is not suitable to serve fries in restaurants: firstly because it won’t stand by itself and secondly, it looks cheap. We found the solution by combining the popular paper cone with a highly valued Belgian craft: lace.

The result is a surprising blend between two aspects of Belgian cultural heritage – the iconic cone shape to contain the fries and the lace skirt around the bottom to create a stable base that is also a coaster. It is a design that feels at once modern, yet very familiar.