One of the most-complimented home goods I own is a set of colored wine glasses I received as a birthday gift last year. The two mint green glasses offer a refreshing, colorful contrast to the clear cocktail glasses on my bar cart. And when people ask where they’re from, I’m always ecstatic to tell them they’re made by the Black woman-owned brand Estelle Colored Glass.
The story of Estelle Colored Glass begins with founder Stephanie Summerson Hall’s childhood memories of antique shopping with her grandmother.
The Holly Hill, South Carolina, native described “treasure hunt kind of days” when the pair perused antique stores and yard sales in search of various niceties ― particularly colored glass. This led to Hall’s love for colored glass in adulthood, resulting in the launch of the company in 2019.
“I was looking for some forever pieces for my new home and I wanted colored glass,” Hall said. “But I couldn’t find [it] on the market at the time. It was very surprising and disappointing, but I felt that if I was looking for them, someone else has to be too.”
Today, Estelle Colored Glass — named after Hall’s grandmother, Estelle — offers an array of vibrant tableware, from stemmed wine glasses and champagne flutes to cake stands and decanters. Each item is carefully hand-blown by an artisan glass manufacturer in Poland that Hall said she’s developed a great creative relationship with.
“When I first started, I was sending [them] pictures of iconic things I liked for color inspiration,” she said. “For instance, with our cobalt blue, which is our most popular color, I sent them a picture of a vintage sofa that was a blue shade I thought was beautiful.”
“Color is something universal that makes people happy.”
- Stephanie Summerson Hall
In addition to the Estelle website, the colored glassware collection is available through popular retailers like Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie and West Elm.
As for why Hall thinks her company appeals to so many people — the brand’s Instagram account has over 300,000 followers — she points to the importance of community and family.
“Color is something universal that makes people happy and our initial thoughts were that the glass pieces make great gifts,” she said. “We have these beautiful white boxes with the gold lettering that really make them nice statement gifts. Then when we combine that with sharing our story, I think it resonates with a lot of people. It is almost nostalgic and people start thinking about their own grandmothers.”
If you’re looking to add some color to your bar cart, countertop or table, you can find Estelle Colored Glass’ most popular products ahead.
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