ANYONE WHO treats themselves to Versace’s new collection, a couple of Jasper Conran designs, the latest Missoni pieces or an old favourite from Paul Smith might be considered a spendthrift. Yet it is another matter entirely if these designs are destined for the dinner table rather than your wardrobe. The sheer pleasure of being able to impress your guests with “designer china” might well be enough to persuade you that it is money well spent.

Paul Smith was among the first when he emblazoned his vibrant signature stripes on a collection of china for Thomas Goode in 2000. He then designed a white dinner service, decorating rims and handles with unexpected splashes of colour, and a range of tartan tableware. The designs are fun, yet smart and practical. As such, they neatly bridge the gap between formality and everyday use.

What Sir Paul recognised is that we eat and entertain in many different ways these days and need a variety of tableware for different occasions. “It is no longer a question of having one set of china or one look,” says Joanna Wood, an interior designer. “My clients have tableware to suit different types of meals — for example oriental, informal Italian and traditionally English.”

There is a further factor at play. Homeowners are not only expressing their personalities through furnishings and interior decor but also through their tabletops. Out goes the uniformity of matching dinner services and in comes an informal pick-and-mix approach. “There’s no doubt that fashion has its place at the table,” observes Emma Bridgewater, of the eponymous British pottery company.

“People now buy china like they choose clothes. They buy plain white basics very cheaply, then add more expensive pieces to provide interest. They will play up colour and pattern for dinner, then dress down for breakfast in the garden.”

Rosita Missoni, doyenne of the fashion label and now creative director of Missoni Home, says: “A little like fashion, the way we furnish our homes reflects our individuality.” Last year she launched several porcelain dinnerware ranges, transferring vibrant colours and bold graphics from catwalk to table. Further patterns were introduced this year: Harlequin, an eye-zapping, kaleidoscopic colour combination, and Futura, a monochrome version of the same design. These are joined this autumn by Carousel, with a colourful vortex effect, and Pierrot, a crisp white porcelain with touches of black lacquer. Expect to pay about £69 for a Carousel dinner plate and £39 for a Pierrot dinner plate.

This year the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta made his first foray into homeware with porcelain dinnerware. Like Missoni’s tableware, it is made by Richard Ginori, one of Europe’s oldest porcelain and bone china manufacturers, but the three patterns were all designed and painted by the fashion designer himself. Alhambra has a Moorish feel with a terracotta, blue and white pattern edged in delicate gold leaf (dinner plates from £25). Liria is a geometric yellow and red design, while Cana depicts tropical floral motifs.

Also new to the table is Cacharel Home, which has just arrived at Selfridges. As with Missoni, the tableware collection draws on its fashion heritage — notably florals and stripes — and mixes colour and pattern with plain white pieces to create greater impact when plates are put on the table. Dinner plates cost £22.

Versace’s tableware is even more flamboyant, although this autumn the company launches its prettiest designs for years. The Hot Flowers collection, available in various colours, combines decoupage-like roses with funky zebra stripes. It is as strong and vibrant as any Versace outfit.

Like the fashion houses, some well-established manufacturers are now injecting a shot of catwalk style into their tableware. Jasper Conran’s work with Wedgwood, for example, has given a contemporary twist to this historic company’s shapes and patterns.

Having started with a simple, white, fine bone china range, Conran is now creating more ornate designs such as Chinoiserie, a modern take on 19th-century patterns, and a Platinum Striped range. A thick band of luscious modern colour such as mint, fuchsia or turquoise borders the dinner plates in the Colours collection. His new china ranges are stocked at Waterford Wedgwood stores and at Jasper Conran, 36 Sackville Street, London W1.

Similarly, Zandra Rhodes has worked with Royal Doulton on a special collection, called My Favourite Things, for its Royal Albert range. “I took an ornate butterfly print from one of my fashion designs and used it in many different ways so that the pieces mix and match,” says Rhodes. “On some plates a large butterfly design wings its way across a plate in gorgeous rich ruby or palest aqua. On other designs, like the teapot, there is just a tiny butterfly. I even got them to make fantastic butterfly-shaped plates. My patterns live!” We all become fashion victims, it seems, when catwalk designs are served up on a plate.

Bridgewater stockists: 020-7371 5489; www.emmabridgewater.co.uk; Cacharel Home tableware is stocked at Selfridges, Oxford Street, London W1 (0870 8377377); further stockists: 01672 521594; Missoni Home and Oscar de la Renta tableware stockists: 01603 488019; www.ictc.co.uk; Paul Smith tableware at Thomas Goode, 19 South Audley Street, London W1 (020-7499 2823; www.thomasgoode.co.uk; Royal Albert tableware stockists: 01782 284056; www.royaldoulton.com; Versace tableware at Harrods, Knightsbridge, London SW1 (020-7730 1234; www.harrods.com) Wedgwood: 0800 028 0026; www.wedgwood.co.uk

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