Philippe Starck Is Considered One

Philippe Starck is considered one of the most prolific designers in the world today. Thanks to his collaboration with Target, not only are his designs unique and chic, but they are affordable for the mainstream public. However, Starke has also designed some of the most intimidating interiors in the world, such as the Royalton, Paramount and Hudson in New York City, the Delano in Miami, Mondrian in Los Angeles, Clift in San Francisco, and St. Martins Lane and Sanderson in London (Lowthorpe). Moreover, he has also designed expensive Italian furniture, the Yoo apartment projects, motorbikes, scooters, and regatta yachts, thus his creativity spans the entire spectrum of design (Lowthorpe).

Born in Paris in 1949, Starck dropped out of school, mainly due to boredom, but was inspired by his father's work as an aircraft designer, and spent hours "sawing, cutting, gluing and sanding" (Lowthorpe). Author Rebecca Lowthorpe notes that according to the official company profile on Starck, he attended the Ecole Nissim de Camondo in Paris, however he claims that although he enrolled at the design school, he never attended (Lowthorpe). He founded his first company, which produced inflatable objects, in 1968, but his big break came in the late 1970's when, as a club promoter, he brought the Sex Pistols to Paris for the first time, and for the events, decorated the Paris nightclubs La Main Bleue and Les Bains-Douches (Lowthorpe).

His latest project, Starck Reality, designs products for the home, office, kitchen, bathroom and baby for the U.S. retailer, Target, that range in price from $2.00 to $40.00 (Lowthorpe). Says Starck: "It is the final goal for me. For 20 years or more, I have been trying to show the real elegance is in the multiplication. Meaning that when you are lucky enough to have a good idea, you have a duty to multiply it and to give it to the maximum of people" (Lowthorpe). Starck's creations for Target are not only elegant but are useful, and include a "letter rack, magazine holder, tape dispenser, plastic stool, ultrasonic toothbrush, and plastic food pots" (Lowthorpe). However, according to Lowthorpe, Starck is most proud of his creations for mother and baby. He explains that he was "inspired by the daily small problems of women," calling the "ugly yellow and purple things covered with flowers and elephants...cultural pollution for the baby," thus Starck's baby bottle resembles a perfume bottle with a top that doubles as a rattle (Lowthorpe). And according to Lowthorpe, his "potty could also perform the duties of a sophisticated wine cooler and his baby monitor, in the form of a silver pebble that hangs from a necklace, is a piece of other-worldly jewelry" (Lowthorpe). Starck believes his work will change the face of design and force other distributors to compete, saying, "This means good objects of good quality everywhere at the right price. And that's what interests me" (Lowthorpe).