The Spanish product designer Jaime Hayon recently created a collection, Showtime, which includes the magnificently theatrical Multileg cabinet. In a showstopping shade of petrol blue, it idiosyncratically features legs from a plethora of historical periods. It can be bought in one, two, four or eight pieces and can have from four to 24 legs, which has prompted some to compare it to a centipede. Inspired by 'a love of classic MGM musicals', the collection also features absurdly oversized button-backed chairs in moulded plastic and quilted leather redolent of Fifties hotel lobby chairs or sedan chairs.

Hayon has a flamboyant style and an image to match: his publicity material includes photographs of him dressed in a pink bunny outfit or as Pierrot. 'Designers take themselves too seriously,' confides the garrulous, effusive, amiable Hayon, 31. His image is certainly a million miles from the dour or determinedly ordinary look of many designers. When we meet, in a bar in Barcelona's hip El Borne district, he's wearing blue glasses and shirt in the same cobalt shade as the Multileg. Hayon is not alone: France's Philippe Starck loves dressing up, too, while the slightly older Karim Rashid cuts a flamboyant figure and designs correspondingly extrovert, brightly coloured pieces. Yet dandified product designers are a rare breed - practically an oxymoron.
Last year, Hayon wowed with his bathroom collection featuring its frivolous, feel-good, high-gloss finish (in black, white, daffodil yellow, or blingtastic gold or platinum). The wet-look surface itself cleverly echoes and emphasises the sensuality and fluidity of water. Appealingly hedonistic, the sink, which rests on a vanity unit with tapered, coquettishly curvy legs, incorporates a lamp casting a mellow light; above it hangs an elaborately baroque, laser-cut mirror. The collection - which scooped an Elle Decoration International Design Award - looked fresh for bucking the trend for frigidly hygienic-looking, white minimalist bathrooms.

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