It goes without saying that Starck is also into kitsch - a little table in the form of a colourful plastic gnome is all you need to know there - but what is perhaps more interesting is that he now also seems to be into modernism. A good ten years after the world of architecture finally backed out of the stylistic cul-de-sac of postmodernism, the latest Starck designs appear to be either organically curvy, or crisp and hard-edged - both features of mainstream architectural modernism for the past decade.

It’s red alert time. If Starck is doing this, then it is because he now regards fin-de-siecle modernism as another historical period to be plundered. Which means that, as a current event, he considers it over. Which in turn means that - given his contrarian tendencies - the world is indeed about to plunge back into postmodernism, as various straws in the wind have been telling us for some time. Well, maybe it will be more interesting this time round.

I don’t hate Starck. I admire his huge design talent, his application, his humour. There are even precisely two Starck objects I like, one of which I own: his 1991 “Miss Sissi” little table lamp with its boudoir ambience. The other is new: the air-moulded plastic chair known as “Soft Egg”, which is one of the best of its kind and relatively cheap. No, what I hate is the idea of a world full of Starck. A world where you just can’t get away from the man. How sick everyone must have got of Art Deco in the 1920s and 1930s. That’s the stage we’re now approaching with Starck. Amazing that he is a one-man design movement. Respect is due: not since Raymond Loewy in America in the mid 20th century has the world seen such a successful showman designer. But that doesn’t mean I won’t utter a dull moan of despair the next time I see one of those bloody useless lemon squeezers.

http://www.philippe-starck.com - prepare to be enraged as much as enchanted.