Anna G & Alessandro M

There's nothing more pleasing around the kitchen than utensils made by the Italian company Alessi. From the 1980s onward, Alessi has been particularly associated with the notion of "designer" objects - otherwise ordinary tools and objects executed as high design, particularly in a post-modern mode, from designers such as Philippe Starck. Most of the memorable "designer kettles," "designer toothbrushes," "designer graters" and so on were Alessi products. For some years we've had an Alessi "Anna G" bottle opener and it's always a pleasure to use, and it works. I do think that the "Anna G" and (her husband) "Alessandro M" range are great fun.

Alessi was founded in 1921 to produce crafted products in metal for eating and drinking, by Giovanni Alessi. In 1935, Carlo Alessi (born 1916), son of Giovanni, was named chief designer. In 1945 he ascended to chief executive and designed the coffee service Bombé, an industrial piece manufactured in four sizes. That same year Carlo's younger brother, Ettore Alessi, joined the company as a technician.

By the 1980s, Alberto Alessi took over the management of Alessi (which he still does today) and launched the Alessi company into the design decade through collaborations with designers and architects such as Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass, Richard Sapper, and Achille Castiglioni.