Ideas going Gaga

The singer Victoria Beckham's foray into fashion design (own label) and car design (Range Rover) has prompted her footballer husband David to turn designer too (underwear and T-shirts for H&M), two examples that illustrate how design ideas are being launched by celebrities. But lamenting how branding rather than real design thinking is shaping the design industry, product designer Kenneth Grange says that whereas in the past firms like Braun, Pirelli, Olivetti, and Hermann Miller all had powerful design identities now corporations in straight forward heavy duty commerce will bring in someone like Lady Gaga to boost the brand’s image (and the company's share price).