Oh la la, Philippe Starck, the so-called enfant terrible of design – though that is a bit of a misnomer given his advancing years – is at it again. In a recent interview, he courted controversy by, in effect, saying he believes design is dead. “Everything I designed was unnecessary,” he said. “In future, there will be no more designers. The designers of the future will be the personal coach, the gym trainer, the diet consultant.” An unusual burst of self-awareness about his contribution to the worst excesses of late 20th-century design, or just the views of a middle-aged fat cat who needs to trim some of the evidence of a life well lived?

Then again, Starck is a man who likes to brew up a storm in the proverbial teacup – although the humble teacup is one of the few interiors items he has yet to turn his hand to. As a design polymath – or is that tart? – he has had a bash at anything and everything from pasta and taps to watches and hotels, not to mention the more familiar kitchenalia, seating and lighting.

You might have worked out by now that I am not really a Starck fan. When his work is good, it is very, very good – see the much emulated Miss K lamp, the deservedly lauded Louis Ghost chair, the fabulously Jetsonesque BaObab desk – but when it is bad, it is horrid. Take his Gnome stool: in some quarters, it is still viewed as a witty, even ironic piece, but I see a lazily upscaled blob of cheesy plastic. And what about the Juicy Salif citrus squeezer? For me, it sums up the worst of late-Thatcherite extravagance, being the essential accessory for every bachelor-pad and show-home kitchen – a real case, if ever there was one, of form not following function. I can’t have been the first person to consign it to the back of a cupboard to gather dust once I realised it did not do the job for which it was intended.

Maybe I am misreading Starck; maybe, he means that, while designers will be falling in life’s great pecking order, gym trainers will be gaining in status. Even so, in our looks-obsessed culture, designers shouldn’t be consigned to the dustbin of history just yet – after all, we need them to come up with the sexy gym kit we will be wearing for all that be buffing and toning.

1 François Ghost mirror, from £172; www.onedeko.co.uk.

2 Louis Ghost chair, £156; www.aria-shop.co.uk.

3 Miss K table lamp, from £140; www.aram.co.uk.

4 BaObab desk, £1,928; www.utilitydesign.co.uk.

5 Napoleon Gnome stool, £131; www.icone.co.uk.

6 Juicy Salif, £40; www.alessi.com.

STATUS SYMBOLS

A couple of years ago, Phaidon, the art-book publisher, brought out a comprehensive three-volume encyclopaedia of 999 Design Classics – and very useful it is, too. Now, Harrods is bringing bits of the book to life with its Design Icons selling exhibition. From tomorrow, in every department throughout the store, about 50 key products with “iconic design” status will be promoted, from the Rubik’s Cube and Fendi Baguette bag to great interiors pieces such as the Gaggia coffee machine and Ligne Roset’s Togo sofa (above, £1,070). Accompanying each will be a quote from the designer or manufacturer, to give customers some background. So, if you want to wow your peers with your knowledge of what makes great design, whether it’s a lava lamp or a Coke bottle, whizz over to SW1. An accompanying series of lectures, starting on Tuesday, will be held in conjunction with the Design Museum, both in the store and at the museum.

Design Icons, until May 24, Harrods, Brompton Road, SW1; 020 7730 1234, www.harrods.com

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