Philippe Starck

Philippe Starck (1949-) is a real design star. Parisian by birth, with a histrionic and brilliant personality, he has managed to reach levels of popularity never even approached by any other designer before him. “The popular is elegant, the rare is vulgar”: this is one of his most famous motto, which best exemplifies his style, applied to projects of a very different scale. From small everyday objects produced in millions of copies (such as the Juicy Salif orange juicer for Alessi, perhaps his most famous product), to the gigantic luxury yachts destined for a few millionaires, all his creations are characterized by surprising shapes but at the same time functional, often tinged with irony. After his beginnings as an interior designer, specializing in particular in the construction of hotels, Starck reached the peak of his success between the 80s and 90s thanks to close collaborations with some Italian companies, such as Baleri, Driade, Flos, Fiam, Cassina and above all Kartell, with whom he found the perfect partner to realize his ideal of pop design.