Starck TV

Design is the latest victim of the reality TV craze currently coursing through our television sets. Last month saw Philippe Starck’s new show, ‘Design for Life’, debut in the UK. Starck is on a mission, it would appear, to shake up the British design industry, his theory being that Terence Conran was the last remarkable footnote in the history of modern British design. How the Brits feel about this little nugget of condescension is anyone’s guess.

So, twelve students must battle it out to impress the effusive Frenchman. The contestants have to complete a series of design tasks and Starck sends the weakest home whenever he deems it necessary. At the end of the series, one lucky British designer is rewarded with a six-month placement at Starck’s design agency in Paris.

Of course, rumour has it that by the end of the show, Starck didn’t think any of the candidates were particularly worthy, which was quite the coincidence because, by that point, none of the candidates were particularly enthralled at the prospect of working with him either. But those are just rumours.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before this new trend in televisual invasiveness settled its sights on the design industry. And when it came to a frontman, Starck was the obvious choice because, let’s face it, design is surprisingly thin on industry personalities. When it comes down to it, there are very few big names that are recognised outside of industry circles.

This is particularly true of interiors. Spaces may sometimes achieve critical acclaim but the names behind them seldom receive mass recognition. The new Switch restaurant at Dubai Mall is a good case in point. The space was designed by Karim Rashid but one can’t help wondering if that holds any weight at all for your average family wandering past on their way to the ice-skating rink.

Unlike your big-name fashion designers and celebrity chefs, there are very few ‘celebrity’ interior designers... which probably means that we’ll be inundated with Mr. Starck for some time to come.

Selina Denman is the editor of Commercial Interior Design.

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