Plissé kitchen appliances by Michele De Lucchi
In 2018, Michele De Lucchi created the Plissé kettle, whose sculptural form quickly caught the public's attention. With its pleated design reminiscent of a haute couture dress, Plissé soon established itself as a new icon of the domestic landscape.
Exploring the expressive possibilities of a dense series of pleats, De Lucchi has created a small collection of household appliances that now includes a kettle, a citrus juicer, a blender, a toaster and a hand blender.
Pleats and volume inspired by fashion
Pleats give clothes volume and convey a sense of lightness and cheerfulness. In a word, Plissé is an iconic form that Alessi chose for its cheerful, festive mood.
Pleating has its roots in the fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, when pleated skirts created stunning effects of floating, frothy fabric. Yet pleated garments such as blouses and skirts are still considered thoroughly contemporary today.
Alessi is convinced that objects such as furniture do not only work when they are in use – they also work as a presence that fills a room. Objects must have formal, aesthetic and symbolic meaning and make a strong impression even when they are not being used.
Objects are also a record of the time in which they were made and reflect changes in taste and contemporary meaning. When you look at an object, you can sense the spirit of its historical moment, perhaps through its colour, its lines or its materials. What is certain is that objects evoke a lifestyle and bear witness to how people lived in the era they belong to.
This approach is typical of Alessi products. They are not mere utility items but represent contemporary culture. They are a pleasure to look at, because their value lies not only in their function but also in their evocative power.
Designer De Lucchi explains: "With the skilful and creative use of pleats, designers give fabrics attractive shapes and create dresses like sculptures. The starting point for Plissé seems to have been a sheet of paper that Alessi folded to create a beautiful object from the world of couture. The pleats give the form its shape, model it and structure it, because a form without pleats is simply a volume without shape. Pleats transform simple, two-dimensional sheets into three-dimensional objects."
