I was treated to a lecture last night by a designer buddy at of all places the loading bay at Harrods.

The talk was about design icons and the speakers included fashion designer Roland Mouret and Matteo Alessi of the family who produce that really cool lemon squeezer that looks like a 1950s rocket ship. See http://www.alessi.co.uk/ashop-uk/design-products/kitchen-accessories-90143/citrus-squeezer-juicy-salif-110.html

Much of the talk centered around how often items that are nice to look at are not always terribly well designed for their purpose singling out rear engined sports cars like the Porsche and Matteo's lemon squeezer, which it was alleged on its spindly legs was so inherently unstable that when you used it, it would often end up flying across the kitchen while the glass smashed on the floor.

So it was argued that the purpose that the lemon squeezer was designed for was not just for squeezing lemons it was designed to be a present that people would take joy in giving and receiving. Then Mouret added that he had seen it used as a murder weapon in a film.

As the lecture closed the chairman left us with a question "What sort of person would you buy an Alessi lemon squeezer for?"

A stylish murderer obviously who else?