Alessi is more

ALONGSIDE the Sony Walkman, Christian Dior's 'New Look' of 1947 and the Coca-Cola bottle, anything by Alessi is hailed as a design classic. During the hedonistic late 1980s, Alessi artefacts, often over-hyped and over-priced, were iconic indicators of yuppie-ness. Any matt black 'n' chrome kitchen worth its mineral sea-salt would have the obligatory Alessi kettle artfully displayed on the hob. Any washroom worth its bathsalts would have an Alessi cactus-shaped toilet brush strategically parked by the U-bend.

Although Alessi sanctimoniously claimed to be bringing design to the masses, its prohibitive prices meant it remained, by and large, exclusive. Until now, perhaps.

Alessi has just launched a range of small kitchen appliances in conjunction with Dutch industrial giant, Philips. The funky pastel-coloured kettle, toaster, citrus-press and juicer combine the technical expertise of Philips with the creative vision of Alessi.

Philips, which has a repuation for reliable, yet visually unexciting products, gets the kudos of being associated with a trendy designer label. Alessi, known for its innovative designs but dubious functional quality, gets the backing of a tried and trusted company. It is so obviously a mutually benefiting venture, it's only surprising no one has thought of it before.

This is Alessi's first foray into electricity, so we can be relieved that it has enlisted expert advice. In the past, the company stuck to non-electrical goods, taking humble household products like coffee pots and turning them into domestic sculptures.

Collaborations, however, are not new to the company. There are no in-house designers at Alessi and all work is produced in conjunction with leading international architects, designers and artists. Recently, the company has been working with younger designers, injecting wit and humour into a world of otherwise dull, utilitarian objects; the blatantly phallic Firebird gas lighter, the Nutty The Cracker nutcracker and Mister Meumeu, the cow-shaped parmesan cheese grater, to name but three.

Although Alessi products are instantly recognisable, the company keeps a fairly low profile and managing director Alberto Alessi is in no hurry to reveal all. 'We leave the publicity for the designers,' he says humbly. 'We are the manufacturers and I'm just the design manager.' Alberto's paternal grandfather was Giovanni Alessi, who founded the Italian family firm in 1921. His maternal grandfather, Alfonso Bialetti, invented the classic octagonal cast-aluminum coffee pot, which enjoyed a revival after the ubiquitous vogue in Italian eating in the '80s. They were both heirs of the old artisan tradition of producing small wooden and metal objects typical of the Strona Valley, a narrow mountain valley in the Italian Alps. While Bialetti continued to manufacture the one product, of which four million are currently produced every year, Alessi has produced thousands of different objects and today has a catalogue of around 2,000 designs.