Alessi’s Long-time Love Affair With Star Designers [Slideshow]

At a time when you can buy Michael Graves tea kettles at Target and Philippe Starck colanders on Amazon, it’s easy to forget that high design only recently entered the everyday kitchen. Much of the credit goes to Alessi, the Italian manufacturer that has built a business out of partnering with famous designers, from Graves and Starck to Ron Arad and the Campana Brothers. Next month, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will unveil Alessi: Ethical and Radical, a retrospective of the company’s landmark collaborations. We’ve got a preview here.